Georges Melies filmed a few brief scenes of Gulliver's Travels here, which on their own barely follow a loose narrative, unless one has assumed knowledge of the Jonathan Swift book. The main attraction here is Melies' combination of the miniatures with the large Gulliver, and the small Gulliver with the giants. For its age, the film addresses the effect well, although there are some shaky spots of superimposition in the film which the viewer can readily see. The hand-painted characters are an early example of color tinting, which was quite rare at the turn of the century and for many years thereafter. This is also an example of Melies basing his material on another medium instead of relying upon his own devices, which were often repetitive uses of conjurers, demonic figures, magicians, etc. *** of 4 stars.
Review of Gulliver's Travels
