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Gulliver's Travels 1996



Gulliver's Travels is an American-British TV miniseries based on Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical novel of the same name, produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment. This miniseries is notable for being one of the very few adaptations of Swift's novel to feature all four voyages. The miniseries aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4, and in the United States on NBC in February 1996. The miniseries stars Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Sturridge, James Fox, Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole, Alfre Woodard, Kristin Scott Thomas, and John Gielgud.


In this version, Dr. Gulliver has returned to his family after a long absence. The action shifts back and forth between flashbacks of his travels and the present where he is telling the story of his travels and has been committed to an insane asylum (the flashback framework and the incarceration in the asylum are not in the novel). While the miniseries remains faithful to the novel, the ending has been changed to have a more upbeat conclusion. In the book, Gulliver is so impressed with the Utopian country of the Houyhnhnms that when he returns to England he eventually chooses to live out his life among the horses in his barn, rather than with his family. In the miniseries, he recovers from this obsession and returns to his wife and child.




gulliver's travels 1996



This adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is an American TV miniseries based on the original novel of the same name, produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment. Notably, this two-part miniseries is one of the few adaptations of Swift's novel to feature all four of the voyages from the original story. As aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4, and in the United States on NBC in February 1996, the miniseries starred Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Peter O'Toole, and was filmed in England and Portugal.


This version features a Dr. Gulliver who has returned home to his family after a lengthy absence. The scenes shift between elaborate flashbacks of his unbelievable travels and brief periods in the present where he is recounting the story of his travels, and has been committed to an insane asylum as a presumed lunatic. While the flashback sequences and the incarceration in the asylum are not in the original work, the miniseries remains faithful to the novel, although the ending has been changed for a more upbeat conclusion. In Swift's telling, Gulliver is so impressed with the Utopian country of the Houyhnhnms that when he returns to England, he is so disappointed with British society that he chooses to dwell amongst the horses in his barn, rather than with his family. In the miniseries however, he eventually dismisses his obsession and returns to a happy life his wife and children.


This is the only adaptation of Gulliver's Travels I've seen (and I've seen a surprising number of them) that shows every voyage he makes in the book. And man, some of those later travels are just bizarre. Like when he is at that rich man's house and he summons all these historical figures from the dead. Or when he is on that floating city. Or when he becomes a slave to an intelligent race of horse people. Just wild stuff.


Miniserie televisiva in due puntate del 1996 basata sull'omonimo romanzo di Jonathan Swift. La miniserie ha come protagonista l'attore Ted Danson nel ruolo di Lemuel Gulliver ed è conosciuta per essere uno dei pochi adattamenti del romanzo di Swift a seguire tutti e quattro i viaggi del protagonista. La struttura narrativa della storia si sposta avanti e indietro nel tempo. Gulliver racconta le sue avventure inizialmente alla moglie e al figlio e successivamente alle persone presenti nel manicomio di Londra dove è stato ricoverato, ed attraverso alcuni flashback vengono mostrate le immagini dei suoi viaggi. La miniserie è fedele al romanzo, ma il finale è stato modificato per dare una conclusione più ottimistica alla storia. Nel libro Gulliver è impressionato a tal punto dal paese utopistico degli Houyhnhnms che al suo ritorno in Inghilterra decide di vivere nella stalla insieme ai suoi cavalli, mentre nella miniserie riesce a riprendersi da questa ossessione e si ricongiunge a sua moglie e a suo figlio.


There is also a 1996 TV mini-series starring Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and a young Tom Sturridge. In this version Dr. Gulliver has returned to his family from a long absence. The action shifts back and forth between flashbacks of his travels and the present where he is telling the story of his travels and has been committed to an asylum. It is notable for being one of the very few adaptations to feature all four voyages, and is considered the closest adaptation to the book despite taking several liberties, such as Gulliver not returning home between each part.


ELT 40:2 1997 better book than it is, but this study of Hardy's novel is valuable nonetheless. The more it moves beyond its initial thesis, the better it gets. Kristin Brady University of Western Ontario I Books Received I Kaufman, Peter Iver. Prayer, Despair, and Drama: Elizabethan Introspection. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996. xii + 166 pp. $24.95 Knowles, Ronald. Gulliver's Travels: The Politics of Satire. New York: Twayne, 1996. xiii + 169 pp. Paper $23.95 Kraye, Jill, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xviii + 320 pp. Cloth $54.95 Paper $18.95 Lamb, Mary and Charles. Mrs. Leicster's School: or, The History of Several Young Ladies, Related by Themselves. Jonathan Wordsworth, intro. 1809; New York: Woodstock Books, 1996. 179 pp. $55.00 Landon, Letitia Elizabth. The Improvisatrice and Other Poems. Jonathan Wordsworth, intro. 1825; New York: Woodstock Books, 1996. 326 pp. $65.00 Liebman, Herbert. The Dramatic Art of David Storey: The Journey of a Playwright . Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996. 200 pp. $45.00 MacDonald, Gina. James Clavell: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996. 240 pp. $29.95 McCormick Coger, Greta M. K, ed. New Perspectives on Margaret Laurence: Poetic Narrative, Multiculturalism, and Feminism. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996. 264 pp. $59.95 Mitford, Mary Russell. Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery. Jonathan Wordsworth, intro. 1824; New York: Woodstock Books, 1996. 292 pp. $55.00 Owenson, Sydney (Lady Morgan). The Wild Irish Girl; A National Tale. Jonathan Wordsworth, intro. 1807;New York: Woodstock Books, 1996. 262pp. $65.00 Radcliffe, Ann. A Sicilian Romance. Jonathan Wordsworth, intro. 1792;NewYork: Woodstock Books, 1996. 126 pp. $65.00 Rogers, Pat. The Samuel Johnson Encyclopedia. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996. 512 pp. $85.00 Shad, John, ed. Dickens Refigured: Bodies, Desires and other Histories. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. xiii + 240 pp. Cloth $79.95 Paper $24.95 250 ...


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