Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon
Theatrical poster to the 1966 US release of Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon
Directed by	Masao Kuroda Sanae Yamamoto
Produced by	Hiroshi Ogawa Akira Onozaki
Written by	Shinichi Sekizawa Jonathan Swift (novel Gulliver's Travels) Hayao Miyazaki (additional screenplay material; uncredited)
Starring	voices: Herb Duncan (US) Robert Harter (US) Darla Hood (US) Chiyoko Honma (Japan) Masao Imanishi (Japan) Seiji Miyaguchi (Japan) Akira Oizumi (Japan) Shoichi Ozawa (Japan) Kyū Sakamoto
Music by	Isao Tomita (Japanese version) Anne DeLugg (US version) Milton DeLugg (US version)
Studio	Toei Animation
Distributed by	Toei (Japan) Continental Distributing Inc. (1966 US)
Release date(s)	March 20, 1965 (1965-03-20)
Running time	80 min. 85 min. (US)
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon (ガリバーの宇宙旅行, Garibā no Uchū Ryokō, Gulliver's Space Travels), also known as Space Gulliver, is a 1965 Japanese animated feature film. It was first released in Japan on March 20, 1965. Later, it came out in the United States on July 23, 1966. This movie takes viewers on an exciting journey through space.

Exploring the Story: A Space Adventure

This animated film tells the story of a homeless boy named Ricky (or Ted in the Japanese version). Ricky sneaks into a movie about the famous traveler Lemuel Gulliver. He gets caught and is thrown out onto the street.

Ricky's Magical Meeting

Feeling sad, Ricky almost gets hit by a truck. He bumps his head and falls unconscious. When he wakes up, something amazing happens! He finds a talking dog and a talking toy soldier named the Colonel. The Colonel was thrown away in a rubbish bin.

The dog suggests they go to an amusement park that is closed for the night. The three friends have a lot of fun on the rides. They also explore the planetarium.

Escaping and Meeting Gulliver

Soon, three security guards start chasing them. Ricky, his dog, and the Colonel escape using fireworks rockets! The rockets land them in the countryside.

In a forest, they meet Professor Gulliver himself. Gulliver is now an older scientist who travels through space. He has built his own rocket ship.

Journey to the Blue Planet

Professor Gulliver, his assistant Sylvester the crow, and the three friends travel through the Milky Way galaxy. Their destination is a planet called Blue Hope.

They discover that the evil Queen of the Purple Planet has taken over Blue Hope. Her group of robots now controls everything. The people of Blue Hope had created these robots to make their lives easier. But the robots turned against them and took control.

Saving Blue Hope

Ricky and Gulliver use water-pistols and water balloons to fight the villains. The water melts the evil robots! Ricky and Gulliver help the doll-like inhabitants of Blue Hope. These inhabitants then turn back into human beings.

Back to Reality

After their amazing adventure, Ricky wakes up back on the street. He finds his dog, who is now just an ordinary dog and cannot talk. He also finds the Colonel, who is no longer alive or talking, in the rubbish bin. The three friends then walk down the street, ready for their next adventure.

Creative Team Behind the Film

Many talented people worked on Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon. Their efforts helped bring this space adventure to life.

Music and Sounds

Isao Tomita created the original music for the Japanese version of the film. He later became a very famous electronic music composer.

For the American version, Milton and Anne DeLugg composed the songs. They were also known for writing "Hooray for Santy Claus" for the movie Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964).

Animation and Writing

A young Hayao Miyazaki worked on this film very early in his career. He was an in-between artist, helping to draw the frames between key animation drawings. His work on the ending of the film caught the attention of Toei Animation. Miyazaki later became a world-famous director of animated films.

The screenplay was written by Shinichi Sekizawa. He also wrote the script for the first Mothra movie in 1961. Sekizawa also wrote many popular Godzilla films, including King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964).

Voice Acting Talent

In the English version of the film, Darla Hood provided the voice of the Princess. Darla Hood was a child star from the famous Our Gang comedy series.

English Soundtrack Songs

Milton DeLugg composed the music for the English language version of the film. Milton and his wife, Anne DeLugg, worked together to write seven songs. Their son, Stephen, provided the voice for the character "Ricky."

Here are the songs from the English soundtrack:

• "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"