Swiss Family Robinson (film)
| Swiss Family Robinson | |
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Original theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Ken Annakin |
| Produced by | Bill Anderson Basil Keys Walt Disney |
| Written by | Lowell S. Hawley |
| Based on |
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss |
| Starring |
John Mills Dorothy McGuire James MacArthur Janet Munro Sessue Hayakawa Tommy Kirk Kevin Corcoran Cecil Parker |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | Harry Waxman |
| Edited by | Peter Boita |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
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Release date
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Running time
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126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $40,000,000 |
Swiss Family Robinson is a 1960 American family film starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro, Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran in a tale of a shipwrecked family building an island home, loosely based on the 1812 novel Der Schweizerische Robinson (literally, The Swiss Robinson) by Johann David Wyss. The film was directed by Ken Annakin and shot in Tobago and Pinewood Studios outside London. It was the second feature film version of the story (the first film version was released by RKO in 1940) and was a commercial success.
Swiss Family Robinson was the first widescreen Disney film shot with Panavision lenses. When shooting in widescreen, Disney had almost always used a matted wide screen or filmed the movie in CinemaScope.
A family on their way to New Guinea is chased by pirates into a storm. The captain and crew abandon the ship leaving the family shipwrecked off an uninhabited island. Father (John Mills) and his two eldest sons Fritz and Ernst (James MacArthur and Tommy Kirk) salvage as much as they can from the wreck including livestock, tools, and even an organ. As they gather what can be removed from the ship, the pirates return and begin shooting at the ship. Fritz and Ernst begin readying the ship's cannon, but they only have one shot. Suddenly, the pirates turn around; Father has put up a flag indicating the ship is under quarantine and that there is Black Death aboard. The three men construct a tree house home on the island while the youngest boy Francis (Kevin Corcoran) investigates the wildlife and starts an impressive collection of animals including a young elephant, a capuchin monkey and two Great Danes rescued from the ship which they name Duke and Turk. Mother (Dorothy McGuire) prays to be rescued. The boys, particularly Ernst, also build inventions to provide modern amenities to the family such as drawing water and preserving food.
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