Television Review: The Adventures of Young Gulliver
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this vintage adventure cartoon is
classic '60s stuff, with stereotypical heroes and villains,
dumb sidekicks, and a token cheerleader-type girl. Adventures
consist mostly of running from larger creatures or other
people, and while there's some peril, ther'es little real
violence or injury. There's also little or no link to the real
Gulliver's Travels -- and certainly no educational or
literary message.
THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG GULLIVER, which originally aired in 1968, follows Gary Gulliver (voiced by Jerry Dexter) as he and four Lilliputian friends search Lilliput for his father. He has a map to guide him -- but the evil Captain Leech (John Stephenson) believes the map will lead not to Pop Gulliver but to treasure. Most episodes consequently center around Gary and the Lilliputians fleeing from Captain Leech.
By today's standards, both the animation and the plotting of Young Gulliver are pretty lame. Characters are wooden and two-dimensional, and there's no real back story or sense of growth or relationships. It's classic three-commercial-break fare: The set up, the chase, the rescue/escape, the brief humorous moment followed by all of the characters laughing merrily together before the credits roll.
That said, young kids will accept the simplicity of it all, and for some it could be a welcome break from some of today's frenetic cartoons. Still, when all is said and done, Young Gulliver is devoid of any educational, social, or emotional value, making it nothing but a couch potato moment.
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