Swiss Family Robinson (film)
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| Swiss Family Robinson | |
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 Swiss Family Robinson movie poster |
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| Directed by | Ken Annakin |
| Produced by | Bill Anderson |
| Written by | Lowell S. Hawley based on the novel by Johann Wyss |
| Starring | John Mills Dorothy McGuire James MacArthur Janet Munro Sessue Hayakawa Tommy Kirk Kevin Corcoran Cecil Parker Andy Ho Milton Reid Larry Taylor |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | Harry Waxman |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Productions through Buena Vista Distribution |
| Release date(s) | December 21st, 1960 |
| Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Swiss Family Robinson is a 1960 film adaptation of the Johann David Wyss novel. It was directed by Ken Annakin and produced by Walt Disney Productions. A remake is scheduled for 2009.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The Robinson Family: Mother and Father (Dorothy McGuire and John Mills)--who are never referred to by name--and three sons Fritz (James MacArthur), Ernest (Tommy Kirk), and young and mischievous Francis (Kevin Corcoran), are fleeing from Bern during the Napoleonic Wars. They are headed to New Guinea to avoid being pressed into military service. The film opens as their ship is caught in a terrible storm and runs aground on some rocks. The next morning they awake to find the storm has passed and the entire ship has been abandoned, leaving them to fend for themselves with only the damaged ship, leftover equipment, and livestock (consists of a cow and her calf, donkey (named "Lightning"), Chickens, Geese, Pigs, goats, along with the captain's dogs, Duke & Turk) on board.
Fortunately the ship is stranded near a jungle-covered and uninhabited island, and the father and elder sons lose no time in setting up camp on the beach. The island is full of wildlife, as Francis sees a turtle on the beach, Mother finds a reptile underneath one of her sheets, and a tiger, unbeknownst to the family, stalks them from within the jungle.
The next morning, while the three men salvage items from the wrecked ship, a pirate ship, which we learn had chased the Robinson's ship into the storm, appears out to sea. As the boys prepare to fire a cannon, Father frightens the pirates away with the quarantine flag, which warns of black death.
Francis manages to capture an elephant calf (later named "Rocky"), but also has a run in with the island's tiger who tries to make a meal out of them. Duke & Turk come out of nowhere and attack the tiger, causing it to flee.
The ship's livestock and Rocky the elephant prove useful as the family starts construction on a treehouse to replace their beach encampment. The completed tree house is luxuriously equipped with a retractable staircase, windows with curtains, running water, and even the ship's organ. Francis captures yet more wild animals: a monkey and an ostrich (later named "Clementine"), and the family begins to settle down, even finding time to enjoy a dip in a jungle swimming pool. However, Mother still wishes to be rescued so that her sons may marry, so Father gets her to agree to allow Fritz and Ernst to sail around the coast to see if the land they are stranded on is in fact an island.
During their voyage Fritz and Ernst run into the pirates yet again. This time they are on the beach, discussing what to do with an androgynous cabin boy named Bertie and his grandfather, the Captain, who is trying to negotiate their ransom with the pirates. They rescue Bertie only to find that "he" is in fact a girl, named Roberta, who had dressed as a boy when the pirates captured the ship; it is implied that this is so that she would not be raped. Shortly after, Fritz is attacked by an anaconda in the river. While Ernst is attempting to save Fritz, he loses the compass in the water. Roberta begs them to go back, but they continue onwards. On the way the boys have an argument over the pistol. Fritz decides that they are going to continue on, when they come across a zebra stuck in some mud. They rescue it, and Roberta rides on it the rest of the trip. The brothers arrive home on Christmas Day, with Roberta and yet another wild animal--a zebra (later named "Duchess").
The family soon realizes that the pirates will want to reclaim their hostage. They plan to make a stand at a nearby rock formation backed by cliffs and steep hills, and prepare a series of traps for the invaders, such as explosives, collapsing bridges, and a hidden pit in which Francis--much to the bemusement of the rest of the family--manages to trap the island's tiger.
As they work a love triangle emerges with Fritz and Ernst competing for the affections of Roberta. Their tempers flare, and Father decides to declare a holiday to relieve everybody's stress. However in the middle of the holiday, which involves most of the family racing each other on the various wild animals that they have captured, the pirates arrive and they must put a halt to the celebrations.
The family is able to hold the hill well at first, with the traps slowing the pirates' progress quite effectively, but they are eventually outnumbered, and running low on ammunition when a ship appears and fires upon the pirates. Roberta's grandfather, who has been ransomed, has returned to rescue her, and destroys the pirate ship as the pirates are trying to escape.
The film concludes with Ernst leaving for a university and Fritz and Roberta kissing (deciding to stay on the island). The rest of the family, however, opts to stay on the island. The Captain says it is likely to become its own colony, with the Robinson father likely as the governor.
[edit] Reception
At the box office, the film took roughly $40,000,000 [1](around $367,000,000 in today's money)[2], making it one of the most successful children's films ever made.
The film was also well reviewed by critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes average of 85% fresh[3]. Steven D. Graydanus, of the Decent films guide, said of the film: "Chock-full of exotic locations and animals, desert-island DIY ingenuity, and high-spirited excitement, with a poignant subplot involving the rivalry of the two elder sons." [4]. The film is still widely regarded as a classic.
[edit] Differences from the original book
The movie makes many substantial changes to the plot of the original book, among them:
- The pirates and Roberta did not exist at all in the original novel.
- In the novel the family builds a number of structures, including a much less elaborate tree house, but ultimately settles in a cave instead.
- There is a fourth son in the original novel, the third by order of age--Jack.
- In the end of the novel Fritz and Francis return to Europe while the rest of the family stays.
