An astounding production for 1960 in retrospect, hampered today by an alarming disregard for the animals featured in the production.

I know die hard/old school Disney fans swear by the original Disney Swiss Family Robinson but...I didn't like this movie as kid and I disliked it even after rewatching it as an adult. The movie is slow and boring and if it wasn't for the last 20 minutes, the film would be a 1 on the rating scale. The fight between brothers for the "girl" grew old....quick. In fact, a lot of the of the movie was a little too corny for my liking. Sorry Swiss Family fans, the attraction at Disney World and this movie both are a hard pass for me.

An insufferable family is shipwrecked on a tropical island.

No idea what Disney's warnings are all about.. This movie is a mockery of the book. Dorothy McGuire is alluring.

A lesser sense of danger and a more family friendly vibe, but that doesn't hinder 1960's 'Swiss Family Robinson' as it manages to surpass the original film adaptation of Johann David Wyss' novel. That's mainly thanks to the conclusion, a thing that I criticised the earlier film for. Here, the character motivations are much more consistent and the ending is no longer nonsensical. The finale also has a very watchable event occur, which helps too. I thoroughly enjoy the cast here. John Mills is as good as William (aka Father) as Thomas Mitchell is, though Dorothy McGuire fronts a much improved Elizabeth (aka Mother) who is more developed; still not perfect, but certainly better. Elsewhere, you have three of the Disney resident youngsters teaming up in James MacArthur (Fritz), Tommy Kirk (Ernst) and Kevin Corcoran (Francis). They might not be the greatest actors, yet after seeing them in so many other films (together, in Kirk and Corcoran's case) I can't help but like them. Janet Munro (Roberta) is also decent. The humour is more noteworthy in this one also, I chuckled more times. There's still room for improvement when it comes to this story, perhaps the next potential remake will do so, but I still felt very much entertained by this.