The New Gulliver facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The New Gulliver
Directed by	Aleksandr Ptushko
Written by	Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (uncredited) Aleksandr Ptushko Grigori Roshal
Starring	Vladimir Konstantinovich Konstantinov (Gulliver) Ivan Yudin Shaolin Santiago (unconfirmed)
Music by	Lev Shvarts
Cinematography	Nikolai Renkov
Studio	Mosfilm
Distributed by	Gosudarstvennoe Upravlenie Kinematografii i fotografii (1935-Soviet Union) Serlin-Burstyn (1935-US) Artkino Pictures (1940-Argentina) Sovexportfilm (1948-Austria)
Release date(s)	25 March 1935 (1935-03-25)
Running time	75 min
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

The New Gulliver (Russian: Новый Гулливер, Novyy Gullivery) is an amazing Soviet stop-motion animated film. It was one of the first movies to use so many puppets from start to finish! Only the very beginning and end have live actors.

This movie came out in 1935 and everyone loved it. The director, Aleksandr Ptushko, even won a special award at a film festival in Milan. The main character, Gulliver, was played by Vladimir Konstantinov. This was his only movie role. He was born in 1920 and sadly passed away in 1944 during World War II.

The Story of The New Gulliver

This film is a new version of the famous 1726 book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. But this time, the story is told from a different point of view. It's about a young boy who dreams he is Gulliver. He lands in Lilliput, a land where tiny people are struggling against unfair rulers.

Petya's Adventure Begins

The main character is a young boy named Petya Konstantinov. He is part of a youth group called the Pioneers, similar to a scout club. As a reward, Petya gets his favorite book, Gulliver's Travels.

He and his friends, who fixed a sailboat, go on a trip to some islands near their summer camp. While relaxing, the children ask their leader to read Petya's book aloud. Petya falls asleep while listening and suddenly finds himself inside the story!

Gulliver in Lilliput

In his dream, Petya is on a ship that gets attacked by pirates. He fights them off with three other captives and wins! But then, the pirate ship crashes into rocks. Petya wakes up on shore, surrounded and tied down by the tiny Lilliputians. They give him a sleeping potion.

Meanwhile, in the Lilliputian parliament, the leaders argue about what to do with this giant new Gulliver. The king's ministers decide to use Gulliver for their army. Petya is moved to the city using 15 tractors and a special platform.

The king wakes Petya up by touching his nose with a royal stick. Petya learns about their plan but doesn't agree with it. After that, a military parade marches right under his feet!

Workers Unite

At the same time, deep underground, a secret meeting of workers is happening. They plan a strike for the next day. The workers decide to find out who this new giant is. They find Petya's notebook, which is written in Russian. From it, they learn that he believes in a strong union of workers from all over the world.

Petya is fed using a conveyor belt and a crane. The entire royal court watches, and dancers perform for him. When they start singing about how wonderful life is under their wise king, Petya stops the singer. He begins to sing a Pioneer song instead. The workers in the cellars hear him and join in! The royal court is terrified and quickly leaves.

The Fight for Freedom

The police chief decides to kill Petya. He orders workers in an underground factory to make weapons. But the workers warn Petya. The police find out about the warning, but by then, the strike has already begun! The workers take over the weapons storage.

The police try to poison Petya, but he pretends to drink it and spits it out, making them think he's dead. Then, a big battle starts. The Lilliputian army tries to push the rebel workers into the sea. But Petya jumps into action! He grabs the royal ships.

On land, the workers are also winning. They blow up landmines and tanks. The guards and the royal court run away. The king tries to hold onto a tall tower but falls, grabbing onto the arrow of the tower clock.

Petya suddenly has a horn in his hands and blows it. He takes the bell from the city tower and shakes it like a small handbell. Then he shouts, "The meeting of free Lilliput I declare open!" As he says the last part aloud, he wakes up, hearing his friends laughing.

Who Made The New Gulliver

Awards for the Film

• 1934 — Won an award "For the Best Program" at the 2nd International Film Festival in Venice.
• 1935 — Received a special certificate of honor from Mosfilm studio at the International Film Festival in Moscow.
• Sarrah Mokil, the puppet artist, also received a certificate of honor "For expressive types" (meaning the puppets had great expressions).

"My Liliputian-Girl" Song

This children's movie also included a funny part that made fun of certain types of art. At the time, some love songs were seen as old-fashioned. The song "My liliputian-girl" was meant to be a parody of these.

Even though it was a parody, this song became quite famous! The lyrics were written by Samuil Bolotin, and the music by Lev Schvarts. Here are the words:

My liliputian-girl, come to me,
We will stay minute alone!
With you it is careless as a bird, I will be turned,
My liliputian-girl, my dream!
My liliputian-girl, my love,
Having mixed words, I sing without words:
"La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la!"
My liliputian-girl, my dream!

How They Made It

The New Gulliver used a huge number of puppets, about 3,000 in total! Each puppet had a head that could be taken off and swapped. This allowed them to show many different feelings and personalities.

For some scenes, they used a real actor along with puppets that moved by machines. In other parts, both the Lilliputians and the boy Gulliver were animated puppets. They even built a full-size puppet of the boy for certain shots.

The main puppet characters, like the King or the Chief of Police, had many different heads. According to the director, Aleksandr Ptushko, some had "from two to three hundred interchangeable heads with various facial expressions." This helped bring the tiny characters to life!