Swiss Family Robinson - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Swiss Family Robinson or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Swiss Family Robinson

[kristina]

One of Walt Disney Pictures' rare widescreen movies, shot with Panavision lenses. Previous widescreen efforts from Walt Disney Pictures had usually been in CinemaScope.

[alyssa]

Out of all the films he has done Tommy Kirk considers this film to be his favorite one.

[kyle]

This movie took in $40 million (around $367 million in today's money), making it one of the most successful family movies ever made.

[jim]

Sir John Mills was felt to be out of place, as he was English, and the rest of the family were played by Americans.

[sophie]

A huge fan of this movie, George Lucas named Anakin Skywalker after director Ken Annakin. After Annakin's passing in 2009, George Lucas denied that he had named the character Anakin Skywalker after the respected director.

[veronica]

When the studio acquired the rights to Johann David Wyss' novel, they essentially junked about 90% of it. Director Ken Annakin and his technicians brainstormed all of the things they'd like to have seen in a deserted island movie, storyboarded their wishlist, and then handed it all over to screenwriter Lowell Hawley.

[ava]

John Mills' daughter, Hayley Mills, visited the set with her family. She had been working on her first Disney movie, "Pollyanna" (1960).

[gerald]

Animals were actually injured making this film.

[nicholas]

According to special effects supervisor Danny Lee, the tiger handler would call the huge cat by saying, "kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty."

[melinda]

As stated earlier, George Lucas is a huge fan of this movie. Fritz and Ernst fighting the anaconda in the swamp inspired the garbage masher scene in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).

[liam]

The climactic battle was a direct influence on the final Ewok skirmish in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).

[gerald]

This would be the first of many Disney movies for special effects supervisor Danny Lee. He would be promoted to the head of Disney's special effects department in 1971.

[jesse]

There were two incredibly close calls on the set, both of which occurred during scenes with the family playing in the water. First, when the father takes a swing to try to change vines like the monkeys, he misses and falls into the water. Sir John Mills revealed that his foot just missed a sharp, jagged rock under the water that no one had known about. Then there was the scene with Francis playing in the ocean with Rocky the baby elephant. At one point, Kevin Corcoran fell under, and the elephant's foot ended up right on his face, but by some lucky chance, the underwater current was so strong that it prevented the foot from pressing down, and thus Kevin from getting hurt.

[amber]

Walt Disney Pictures' first movie in Panavision.

[jessica]

As revealed by director Ken Annakin on the DVD commentary, the trapped zebra was subjected to electric shocks to make it move about, a practice that is now illegal in Hollywood movies.