I used to love this animated film version of Gulliver's Travels when I was a child, and hadn't seen it for almost twenty years. A few times over the last few years, I'd seen it on a shelf at video stores and thought about hiring it out, but had always moved on, which was unfortunate, because it's a genuinely lovely film. The animation can't be compared to Pixar or Dreamworks, as it was the standard of animation almost seventy years ago, but you can tell by watching it that the film was made with a lot of skill and love by the artists. The world created within the film seems a lot more innocent than today's fare due to the era in which it was created - you won't find any popular culture references like in Dreamworks' Shrek or Disney's Aladdin, which is a good thing, the story is able to stand on its own two feet.
*Spoiler* I was surprised by how much a few of the comical moments in the film made me laugh - the part where the town-crier (Gabby) goes to the king's chambers and tells the king that the giant won't fit in his room, and the king's response? 'So, it's not good enough for him?', followed by the king seeing the giant for the first time, and immediately streaking back to his chambers, being pursued by a whirlwind of flying furniture that his wind motion has generated, I honestly couldn't stop laughing! Don't expect this film to be at the standard of today's animation, because you'll be disappointed. But if you view it as a children's film which was lovingly made and has excellent artwork considering that it was all hand-drawn, then you may very well like me find yourself watching it again two or three times within a week before reluctantly returning the copy to the video store. Highly recommended.