, also known as ''Space Gulliver'', is a 1965

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

animated feature that was released in Japan on March 20, 1965, and in the United States on July 23, 1966.

Plot

The story concerns a homeless boy named Ricky, or Ted in the Japanese version. Whilst seeing a movie about

Lemuel Gulliver Lemuel Gulliver () is the fictional protagonist and narrator of ''Gulliver's Travels'', a novel written by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. In ''Gulliver's Travels'' According to Swift's novel, Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire c. ...

he is discovered to have entered without buying a ticket and is thrown out onto the street. Ejected and dejected, he is then nearly run over by a truck, but is knocked unconscious when he is thrown against a wall. He awakes to find a talking dog and then the Colonel, a talking

clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement (clockwork), movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or wei ...

toy soldier A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, Native Americans in the United States, American Indians, pirates, samu ...

who has been discarded in a rubbish bin. The dog suggests the trio amuse themselves at an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

that is closed for the night. The trio enjoy themselves on the rides and in a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

but are pursued by three security guards. The boy, his dog and the Colonel escape on fireworks rockets that land them in the countryside. They meet Professor Gulliver himself in a forest. Gulliver is now an elderly, space-traveling scientist who has built a rocket ship. With Dr. Gulliver's assistant Sylvester the crow (named Crow in the Japanese edition), Gulliver and the trio travel the Milky Way to the Planet of Blue Hope. They discover the planet has been taken over by the Queen of the Purple Planet and her evil group of robots, who the inhabitants of the Blue Planet created to make themselves a life of leisure that turned into a nightmare when the robots overthrew the population of the Blue Planet and seized control. Armed with water-pistols and water balloons which melt the villains, Ricky and Gulliver restore the Planet of Blue Hope to its doll-like owners who regain life as human beings. The boy wakes up in the street. He meets his canine companion who now is an ordinary dog who can not talk and discovers the non-talking non-living Colonel in the rubbish bin. The three walk down the street looking for a new adventure.

Cast

Production

This was one of the first Toei animated features to depart from Asian mythology, though, like Toei's previous animated features, it is modeled after the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

formula of animated musical feature. By borrowing elements from

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, it was hoped that this film would attract a large international audience. However, it proved to be no more popular than Toei's previous, Asian-themed films. After the failure in the U.S. of this and Toei's previous animated feature, this was the last Japanese animated feature to be released in the United States for almost five years, until Toei's '' The World of Hans Christian Andersen'' (1968) which was released in the U.S. in 1971.

Staff

Not yet the internationally popular electronic music composer he was later to become,

Isao Tomita , often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements. In addition to creating note-by-note realiza ...

contributed the original Japanese score. However, for the American edition, songs were composed by Milton and Anne Delugg, who had provided the song "Hooray for Santy Claus" for ''

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' is a 1964 American Christmas science fiction comedy film. It was directed by Nicholas Webster, produced and written by Paul L. Jacobson, and based on a story by Glenville Mareth. John Call stars as Santa C ...

'' (1964). In one of his earliest animation jobs, a young

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

worked on this film as an in-between artist. His contribution to the ending of the film brought Miyazaki to the attention of Toei. The screenplay was written by

Shinichi Sekizawa was a Japanese screenwriter noted for his immense contributions to several films by Ishirō Honda, including several classic Godzilla films. He also contributed material to the original ''Ultraman'' series and several Tōei Dōga films such as ...

, the writer of the first ''

Mothra is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's '' 1961 film of the same name'', produced and distributed by Toho. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, often as a recur ...

'' (1961). Sekizawa also contributed screenplays to some of the most popular films in the

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

series from ''

King Kong vs. Godzilla is a 1962 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'' franchises, as well as the first T ...

'' (1962), to '' Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla'' (1974), including '' Mothra vs. Godzilla'' (1964). In the English language version, former ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' star

Darla Hood Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known as the female lead in the ''Our Gang'' series from 1935 to 1941. As an adult, she performed as a singer in nightclubs and on television. ''Our ...

provides the voice of the Princess.

English soundtrack

Milton DeLugg Milton Delugg (December 2, 1918 – April 6, 2015) was an American musician, composer and arranger. Early years Milton Delugg was born in Los Angeles, California. He said, "There aren't any Deluggs. It's not a real name." He believed the family' ...

composed the score for the English language version of the film. Milton and his wife Anne Delugg co-wrote seven songs, and their son Stephen providing the voice of "Ricky". The songs are: *"Think Tall" *"The Earth Song" *"I Wanna Be Like Gulliver!" *"That's the Way It Goes" *"Keep Your Hopes High" *"Rise, Robots, Rise" *"Deedle Dee Dum"

Reception

In a contemporary review, the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' reviewed an 85-minute English-language dubbed version of the film, and described it as a "charmless animated feature". The review described the animation as "mediocre" and with "little variation or invention and a noticeable lack of perspective"

Home media

Synergy Entertainment released the film on DVD in the US.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gulliver's Travels Beyond The Moon 1965 anime films 1960s fantasy adventure films 1960s Japanese-language films Adventure anime and manga Japanese animated adventure films Animated films about extraterrestrial life Animated films based on Gulliver's Travels Anime based on novels Japanese animated fantasy films Japanese fantasy adventure films Films scored by Isao Tomita Science fiction anime and manga Toei Animation films Toei Company films