Thanksgiving special: Fleischer Studios’ 1939 ‘Gulliver’s Travels’

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Two years after the success of Disney’s “Snow White,” the Fleischer Studios released this adaptation of the Lilliput segment of Irishman Daniel Swift’s famous satirical novel, in which Gulliver contends as a giant with a kingdom or two of smaller beings. It was the first of only two feature-length movies from the studio.

Gulliver, the gentle giant from far away, appears on the shores of a strange land, literally walking right up from the waves, to sort out the troubles (by force, if necessary) of these tiny, easily irritated European-esque kingdoms full of lovable, but crabby, folks. It’s hard to resist the World War metaphor, especially as America’s coming involvement was seemingly more and more inevitable.