Swiss Family Robinson (1960) Rated: Rated G for general audiences. Runtime: 126 mins. Director: Ken Annakin Writer: Lowell S. Hawly Tagline: They turned a lost island into an exotic paradise. Cast: John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro....complete cast Genre: Adventure/Family
Most memorable quote: "The world is full of nice ordinary little people who live in nice ordinary little houses on the ground. Didn't you ever dream of a house in the trees?"
by Frank Wilkins
A family from Switzerland boards a ship bound for New Guinea after they decide to flee the European conquest by Napoleon in the early 1800s. Their ship, under attack by pirates, gets lost in a storm and wrecks off the coast of an uncharted island.
The family makes the best of a bad situation and carves out a wonderful existence for themselves on the island making due with what they can salvage from the ship. They build an elaborate treehouse that was replicated and is featured as an attraction at DisneyWorld. The treehouse is the funnest part of the whole movie and throughout the years as I was growing up, I imagined what it would be like to live in a treehouse like theirs.
In an attempt to discover their whereabouts, the two older boys take out on a courageous journey in a small dugout sailboat to circle the island. They happen upon a band of pirates who hold an old man and his grandson captive. They rescue the grandson and bring him back with them to their tropical paradise where courtship, love and jealousy ensue.
Of course zebras, tigers, elephants, ostriches, sharks, anacondas, donkeys and Macaws don't exist together on deserted islands anywhere in the real world, and like on Gilligan's Island, they had way too many luxury items....why did they have a pipe organ on the ship? The characters aren't very swiss and there are some things that happen that aren't very realistic, but don't worry yourself with these details. Just enjoy the adventure.
I was very surprised at the quality of the transfer to DVD. The imagery was sharp, the colors were vivid and the sound was excellent, especially considering that this movie was made in 1960! The DVD is a two-volume set that is chock full of special features. It contains the original theatrical animated cartoon that played before it in the theater, a director's commentary, a "making of" featurette, several games, production archives and other features.
I highly recommend this movie for family entertainment as all ages will enjoy it. You will never forget it and it will be remembered by your children forever. I give it the maximum for "babysitter factor" because there is truly not a single bad word in it (remember when G movies used to be this way) and all kids will absolutely love this movie. I give it a relatively high "Julia Roberts factor" because there is on-screen kissing and everyone is sweet to each other and to the animals. This is the perfect movie to watch with your in-laws. It receives a bit of a macho factor because there is some gunplay, cannon-fire, pirates and a cool treehouse. I'm giving it a 3 in the "get-lucky factor" category because this is a feel-good movie and if you play your cards just right....who knows? Frank Wilkins
Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
