THE NEW GULLIVER is, as the title would suggest, a Russian fantasy based on the world created by Jonathan Swift in his GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. After a slightly laborious prologue, the story is about a young Russian boy who falls asleep to dream that he's in Lilliput and engaging with its miniature citizens.
What's amazing about this film is that for most of the running time it's packed to the brim with stop motion effects to animate the citizens of the city. The stop motion is a little rugged and rough around the edges - as you'd expect from a production made in the 1930s - but otherwise solid and thoroughly engaging. A lot of attention to detail has been made in crafting the faces and features of these little guys, and they even have teeth showing in their mouths every now and then.
The humour is quite surreal as is the situation, but you only have to stop and imagination the effort having gone into the film to enjoy it. At times the story reminds you of the old British kid's show TRUMPTON while towards the end shades of Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS hang over the production in the depiction of the industrial complex. Inevitably as it's a communist production we see the put-upon workers rise up against their oppressors in a barely-disguised allegory. THE NEW GULLIVER is definitely a worthwhile watch.
What's amazing about this film is that for most of the running time it's packed to the brim with stop motion effects to animate the citizens of the city. The stop motion is a little rugged and rough around the edges - as you'd expect from a production made in the 1930s - but otherwise solid and thoroughly engaging. A lot of attention to detail has been made in crafting the faces and features of these little guys, and they even have teeth showing in their mouths every now and then.
The humour is quite surreal as is the situation, but you only have to stop and imagination the effort having gone into the film to enjoy it. At times the story reminds you of the old British kid's show TRUMPTON while towards the end shades of Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS hang over the production in the depiction of the industrial complex. Inevitably as it's a communist production we see the put-upon workers rise up against their oppressors in a barely-disguised allegory. THE NEW GULLIVER is definitely a worthwhile watch.