NBC’s Ted Danson-led adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels made an enormous affect with Emmy voters when it aired 30 years in the past. Producer Duncan Kenworthy, identified for 1994’s 4 Weddings and a Funeral, had lengthy hoped to deal with Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satirical novel. He aimed to give attention to all 4 of Dr. Lemuel Gulliver’s voyages, together with his visits with the tiny residents of Lilliput and giants of Brobdingnag, together with the lesser-known sections of the e-book involving the flying island of Laputa and the clever Houyhnhnm horses. Jim Henson’s Creature Store helped convey the fantastical story to life. “It was something I’d been developing while Jim was still alive,” Kenworthy has mentioned of collaborating with Henson, who died in 1990. “We wanted to do the whole book — nobody had ever done it before, and this is what interested Jim.”
Lastly, the financing got here collectively for the undertaking that starred Ted Danson, whose Emmy-winning function on NBC’s Cheers had wrapped up in 1993. Danson opted for a brand new look as Gulliver, carrying an extended, flowing wig, though producers didn’t need him to make use of an accent for the character, who’s English within the e-book. “We cast Ted because the most important thing with Gulliver is that he be an everyman,” Kenworthy mentioned on the time. The star-studded forged included Omar Sharif, Peter O’Toole, Alfre Woodard, Kristin Scott Thomas and Mary Steenburgen, who wed Danson shortly after filming wrapped.
Gulliver’s Travels aired Feb. 4 and 5, 1997, and it grew to become NBC’s most watched TV film in almost a decade and earned 11 Emmy nominations, notching 5 wins together with greatest miniseries. Danson has expressed empathy for his character’s plight and famous, “This isn’t a light and cheery story.”
This story first appeared in a June stand-alone challenge of The Hollywood Reporter journal. To obtain the journal, click here to subscribe.
