The Plot
A Swiss family is on its way to start a new life in colonial New Guinea when their sailing ship encounters pirates. The crew cuts and runs, leaving stalwart Father (John Mills), lovely Mother (Dorothy Maguire) and their three strapping sons trapped below decks in a fierce storm. The ship founders, and the plucky family finds a way to transport all the supplies they can salvage, the livestock on board and the departed Captain’s two magnificent Great Danes to a nearby desert island.The adventure starts under the opening credits, and doesn’t stop. The family caroms between hair-raising threats and an idyllic existence on the island paradise. When they’re not being chased by tigers, attacked by giant snakes or menaced by pirates, they’re building a charming tree house, swinging on vines over a swimming hole and adopting the local wildlife as pets and helpers.
I was four when I first saw this film, and I still remember the scene with family members racing astride an ostrich, a baby elephant, a zebra and a donkey, and the pet monkey sitting on a saddle atop a Great Dane. (All the animals in the film, including the giant snake, are real.) Also ufnrogeattbel are the ingenious defenses the vastly outnumbered family prepares for the pirates. Coconut bombs! A tiger pit! An avalanche of logs!
The Cast of ‘Swiss Family Robinson’
Famed British actor Mills is suitably noble as Father, deeply in love with his pretty wife, American beauty Dorothy Maguire. Oldest son Fritz is played by a young, admirably shirtless James MacArthur; Disney favorite Tommy Kirk is lanky middle son Ernst; and be-freckled Kevin Corcoran plays the youngest son who charms the island animals. The whole family is supposed to be Swiss, but Father has an English accent, Mother speaks in cultured New World tones, and the boys are frankly American; it doesn’t really matter.Janet Munro is “Bertie,” a rescued cabin boy who turns out to be Roberta, and Cecil Parker is her dignified grandfather, a British officer held hostage by the pirates. The lead pirate is played by Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa, perhaps better known – and better cast – as the implacable prison camp commander in Bridge on the River Kwai.
The Backstory
The movie, a huge box office draw, is based on a book written more than 150 years earlier by a Swiss minister, Johann Wyss. The family isn’t really named Robinson – the German title of the book actually means “The Swiss Robinson,” in homage to Daniel Dafoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe, perhaps the first shipwrecked hero in literature. Nevertheless, the family has become the Robinsons in dozens of interpretations for the stage, the small screen and the silver screen. My all-time favorite version is TV’s Lost in Space, the adventures of the Space Family Robinson, although Disney’s animated Mickey Mouse version, Swiss Cheese Family Robinson, wins for corniest title.The book was a somewhat preachy but still entertaining attempt to teach children values and self-reliance, and was written and rewritten over the years in many different versions and languages. Like the movie, the book’s island boasted a collection of flora and fauna that would never be found on any real island, the better to teach the young ones about the natural world.
‘Swiss Family Robinson’ – The Bottom Line
A fantastic, fast-paced adventure, a timeless story perfect for family viewing and a delight to watch, if a little over-sweet. Enjoy it, but be warned – the kids might demand a new tree house.If you liked ‘Swiss Family Robinson’…
You may like other classic kid's movies or family adventure films, such as Treasure Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth or the original Dr. Doolittle. You might also try other Disney live-action films, such as The Absent-Minded Professor or That Darn Cat.Just the Facts:
Year: 1960, ColorDirector: Ken Annakin
Running Time: 126 minutes
Studio: Disney
