MovieChat Forums > Swiss Family Robinson (1960) Discussion > Sinister Undertones

Sinister Undertones

posted 20 years ago by MagicBez
46 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this film - and there were a few moments that made me raise an eyebrow, these may just be a product of my modern impure mind but i figured i'd point them out anyways.

1) is the treatment of the animals - especially the ostrich which is clearly real and is lassoed and ridden and chased by the whole of the family and never really seems to happy about it...though this is a 60's thing - i seem to remember in Thunderball they actually shot sharks with harpoons for the action scenes.

2) the line where the two robinson boys are talking about girls, and if they'll find any their age, the other replies something along the lines of: 'by the time we find girls we won't care HOW old they are' and they both laugh very hard.

any contributions to this list? or to any old movies with dodgy moments like this.

[–] Dune137 17 years ago

I couldnt agree more. I was really horrified with all the animal abuse in this movie. The way the father handled the geese on the ship, the dogs in the ocean, the poor ostrich, that poor old pig and the other animals bound and floating in the ocean, then the scene where the kid captures the elephant, the zebra in the quicksand so scared by the haienas(sp?) and exhausted at one point with its head in the mud, and even the scene with the snake was horrible - that was a real snake...the ignorance and blind lust for money (or maybe not not so blind - we are talking Disney) really angers me. Its really sick how little regard they had for these animals. I hope your posting and others are an indication that we (humans) are taking a step in the right direction and have a lot more compassion for animals now.

As far as the comments about girls, I think they were referring to older women but, why does everyone find older women so undesirable?

Oh and sorry, but I find Francis a bit irritating. I do however like the treehouse. But even so, I would discourage people from supporting this film - especially people that have compassion for animals.

BTW: didnt Fritz go on to play Dano in Hawaii 5-0?

[–] dadm4 17 years ago

Are you guys kidding sinister undertones, those are not sinister undertones. A sinister undertone would be something like advocating suicide or the murder of someone. No friend the riding of an ostrich and a joke about how old a girl is or isn't are not sinister undertones, their just funny.

[–] Hzkb2 17 years ago

yeah i just understood that quote as: by they time they're off the island they'll be so old that they won't care if they have to date a 50 year old woman. the idea of pedophilia never entered my mind until i read this post.

[–] rjseaman01 16 years ago

to MagicBez, your an idiot

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] twittykins 15 years ago

I enjoy this film and I accept it for what it is, but it has to be taken in context with when it was made. The treatment of the animals was more acceptable then. This film is now 49 years old and in such a time span things are bound to have changed. Who's to say that things we find acceptable now, won't be considered unacceptable in the future? A couple of months ago it was quite funny for comedians to leave prank phone calls on a celebrity answering machine, but after the Russell Brand affair it is suddenly a no-no. Films like this actually highlight how poorly animals were treated and they must have contributed to the reform of animal welfare standards.

[–] Sunflower64 15 years ago

To echo an earlier poster the only "sinister" vibe I got from this movie was that they very clearly implied that Roberta had to disguise herself as a boy to protect herself against getting raped by the pirates. I remember she says, "My grandfather made me cut my hair and dress like this because...because he didn't want them to know." And then she starts to cry. Rewatching this as an adult I was actually very surprised they included that, but I respected the movie more because of it. It's true to life and most "family films" today wouldn't dream of alluding to rape.

The sexual rivalry didn't strike me as sinister. I thought it was funny and very realistic. Two teenage boys without any romantic outlet and all of a sudden a girl shows up...of course, they're going to fight over her. I took the joke in the OP to mean they would be happy for a romance with a much older woman, not a child.

A young girl passes / in a hurry. Hair uncombed. / Full of black devils. --Kelly Link

[–] brentnevers 12 years ago

limelight, perhaps???

sheesh

[–] PretoriaDZ 13 years ago

I enjoyed an Ann Sheridan movie "Take Me to Town" very much except there was one scene where she rescued a little boy who had been harrassing two bear cubs and when the mother bear came after the little boy, Ann shot the mother bear and then Ann fainted. Sterling Hayden, playing the boy's father, arrives, scoops Ann up, and they all go away happy and I was left wondering what happened to the two baby cubs with their mother dead.

[–] max_demian 13 years ago

2) the line where the two robinson boys are talking about girls, and if they'll find any their age, the other replies something along the lines of: 'by the time we find girls we won't care HOW old they are' and they both laugh very hard.

From the way they wanted Roberta to sleep between them when they thought she was a sissy boy, it looks like they weren't too bothered about what sex the girls were, either.

[–] ebright99 13 years ago

I'm no PETA type and in fact I am a hunter, fisherman, and outdoorsman. I love the film, but it does contain what today would be considered animal abuse.

Some comments on here are pretty odd. People saying things like "the Robinsons never killed any animals." Well just because THE CHARACTERS never killed any animals doesn't mean that THE FILMMAKERS didn't harm a lot of animals in order to get their vision on the screen.

The dogs in the boat were clearly forced in there. You can see them leap out. They don't want to be there. That wasn't a studio tank, that's real ocean, waves, and rocks.

The snake was real and was handled in a way that would not be tollerated today.

The turtle that hauls them to shore is an endangered species and the filmmakers actually attached it to the raft to get the shots they needed.

The zebra was clearly distressed.

I'm not some "animals have feelings" type. I understand the cruelty of the wilderness, but I am glad that today animals are not distressed like this in order to make entertainment. Responsible filmmakers can and have found alternatives.

[–] brendanseeto 13 years ago

What about the racial stereotyping of the Asian pirates??