Swiss Family Robinson

source: Swiss Family Robinson

Trailer—Swiss Family Robinson

Swiss Family Robinson

This is a dazzling Disney production, beautifully photographed and colorful, but the treatment of its subject (survival on a desert island) is overly wholesome and unrealistic. The family seems to be treating the whole situation like the perfect holiday. Even at the face of many hardships they all remain surprisingly cheerful! And the parents have an annoying habit of calling each other "Mother" and "Father", even when they're alone. By far the most interesting element of the film is the antagonism between the two older brothers, each trying to win the affections of the teenage girl they take along in their adventures; it's the only part of the movie that provides some dramatic conflict. (**1/2)

When you watch this, try to turn off your brain. Here we have a family, put into a Robinson Crusoe type of setting. They are squeaky clean. They never seem to have any dirt on them and they always seem to have all the necessities of life. It is implied that they managed all this themselves. Saying doesn't make it so. You'd also swear that the place they built had the Army Corps of Engineers to assist in the construction. It is a given that if we were put in this situation we would have to learn from scratch to do the work they seemed to do overnight. They all look incredibly healthy. They must have had a supermarket somewhere nearby because this is an island and nutrition would be an issue, even if they were careful. No one seemed to get sick. Anyway, I know it's just a fantasy and shouldn't be analyzed so much. But that's the reason it's so hard for it to have any sense of reality.

A Swiss family is escaping Napoleon and heading to New Guinea. After being attacked by Indonesian pirates they are shipwrecked to a deserted island. With no means of escaping, they have to make a new life for themselves on the island surrounded by exotic animals. This includes building a tree house but the threat from pirates is always there. The film should had tone down the very American accents of the kids. The young child who captures the baby elephant just made me winced. Also someone at Disney surely hated tigers in the 1960s. It is an episodic film, the two older brothers fall out when they discover one of the cabin boys they rescued from the pirates turns out to be a woman. I think the film has lost its charms and thrill over the years. I rather watch Journey to the Centre of the Earth starring James Mason.

Embark on a family voyage with the "Swiss Family Robinson," the 1960 film from the happy mind of Walt Disney. Based on a book by Johann David Wyss (which I read and found terrific as well as this movie version), this family (Are they really Swiss?) gets shipwrecked on an island in the ocean. They do stuff like provide state-of-the-art survival (for the time), have fun, fight off pirates, and more!!!!! What I like about this film: My family loves it. While they still have the 1997 VHS, I want to see this on DVD in the future. I've seen the end of it on the Old Disney Channel back in 1997. The family loves it; I love it!!!!! "Swiss Family Robinson" - enjoy!!!!! 10/10

This is one of Disney's best efforts. Beautiful scenery, great soundtrack music, and a hard-working cast add much to this compelling story of a shipwrecked family. To me this film is an exception to the less-weighty fare that Disney was wont to produce over the years. I like Disney flicks, but this is one I can go back and watch when I want to get lost in an idyllic setting (with beautiful soundtrack music to establish the mood). You've gotta love those coconut bombs!

This is a Disney adventure film at its best. Excitement, adventure, far off exotic places, shipwrecks, pirates - all the ingredients for a thrilling recipe of family ties that bind (love), and respect for a father who protects and leads his family to battle the hostile elements of the outside world in order to survive. Tigers in pits, wild animals domesticated, outside fresh air away from all civilization, this is a movie for the whole family to watch together, preferably on a big screen at a theatre, where the producers designed to have it seen in the first place. This movie is fun, exciting and scary with pirate ships and uphill battles that make this one worth owning. I remember my Dad took me to see this film when I was 7 years old and the nostalgia of security of family rooted in a firm grounding and foundation of family tradition, for me made this film a memorable one for all time. I hope you enjoy this one too for old time's sake.