50 Fun Facts About The Swiss Family Robinson

What do the Swiss Family Robinson join together to make a boat and leave the wreck?

Wooden tubs, eight of them, came from four big casks the father sawed in half. Young Jack had the idea, having sailed in a tub round the pond at home.

In The Swiss Family Robinson, what do the monkeys hurl down when the father throws stones up at them?

Coconuts rained down because monkeys copy whatever they see, a trick the father used to stop Fritz shooting one of the animals out of annoyance.

Which giant snake swallows Grizzle, the family's donkey, whole in The Swiss Family Robinson?

A boa constrictor spent a whole morning swallowing the donkey, then lay too bloated to move, which gave the father and Fritz their chance to shoot it.

Which 1960s TV series recast the Swiss Family Robinson as colonists stranded far from Earth?

Lost in Space ran on CBS from 1965 and gave its castaways the surname Robinson. A comic called Space Family Robinson had tried the idea three years earlier.

When a British ship finally finds the Swiss Family Robinson, what do the parents choose to do?

The parents stay on the island they have spent ten years turning into a home, while some of their sons sail away with the ship.

How does Fritz learn that a shipwrecked Englishwoman is stranded nearby in The Swiss Family Robinson?

A note tied to an albatross's leg, written on a scrap of rag, begged for rescue from 'the smoking rock'. Fritz had stunned the bird with a boat-hook by chance.

At Disneyland, the Swiss Family Treehouse reopened in 1999 rethemed around which Disney animated hero?

Tarzan took over the tree to tie in with the animated film released that year. The original attraction had opened in 1962, two years after the live-action movie.

Which sea creature seizes young Jack by the leg on the Swiss Family Robinson's first day ashore?

A lobster caught Jack's leg in its claw in a rock pool until his father waded in. Jack later wanted to name the whole bay after it.

Which author's castaway hero lent his name to the title of The Swiss Family Robinson?

Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe in 1719, and the later novel borrows only the name. Its family are castaways of that kind, with no surname ever given.

What name do the castaways give their island colony in the novel The Swiss Family Robinson?

New Switzerland began as the father's joke when one of his sons bagged a kangaroo, and the name stuck for the whole settlement.

The Swiss Family Robinson is told as which kind of record, kept by the father since the shipwreck?

A journal of ten years of castaway life is handed to the eldest son on the family's last night together, with the wish that it be printed for other young readers.

In which language was the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson first written and published?

German readers got the story first, under a title meaning simply 'The Swiss Robinson'. An English edition followed two years later.

Why is the family stranded alone on the wrecked ship in The Swiss Family Robinson?

The crew left in the boats without them, ignoring the father's shouts. The family survived because their cabin end of the ship was jammed between two rocks.

What do the Swiss Family Robinson stretch over poles to make their first shelter on the beach?

Sailcloth from the wreck, pegged down and weighted with chests, made the tent that gave the family's first camp its name, Tentholm.

Which bird of prey appears in the name the Swiss Family Robinson give their home in the treetops?

A falcon gives its name to Falconhurst, the house built thirty feet up a giant tree. The ending of the name echoes a word for a nest or eyrie.

In The Swiss Family Robinson, how does the father get the first line over a high branch?

With a bow and arrow made from bamboo and reeds, he shot a thread over the bough and used it to haul up a rope ladder. The arrows were feathered from a flamingo.

In The Swiss Family Robinson, what does the family make by melting the berries of a bush the father spots?

Candles came from the greenish wax of the berries, so the mother no longer had to put her sewing away the moment the sun set.

In The Swiss Family Robinson, which predator does Fritz shoot as it closes on a swimming sheep?

A shark rolled on its side to seize the sheep and Fritz fired at its pale belly. The family later named the islet in their bay after the encounter.

Which bird do the Swiss Family Robinson capture on the plains and train to carry a rider?

An ostrich brought down by Jack was broken to the saddle, and it soon carried a rider between the family's two homes in almost no time.

Which enemies attack the family's clifftop fort in Disney's 1960 film Swiss Family Robinson?

Pirates storm the cliff until a rescuing ship's cannon fire scatters them. Their captain was played by Sessue Hayakawa of The Bridge on the River Kwai.

What useful job falls to Knips, the pet monkey Fritz adopts in The Swiss Family Robinson?

Testing if fruit is safe falls to Knips because, as Fritz says, monkeys know by instinct which fruits are wholesome. He arrived as an orphan riding on a dog's back.

In The Swiss Family Robinson, which of the mother's possessions seems to supply whatever is needed?

Her bag, as big as a pillow when she carried it off the wreck, yields thread, needles and seed whenever they are wanted, and the family come to call it magic.

Which Swiss Family Robinson mastiff swims ashore from the wreck beside his companion Juno?

Turk later marched out in a spiked coat cut from a porcupine's skin, armour that Jack made to protect him in fights with wild animals.

Which Swiss Family Robinson brother is the studious second son his father calls indolent?

Ernest is the reader of the family, the one who can put a name to the strange plants and animals the others bring home.

Which wild animal does one of the boys raise as a hunting companion named Fangs in The Swiss Family Robinson?

A jackal cub pulled from its den, Fangs at first ate everything he caught, but Jack kept training him until he laid a dozen quail at his master's feet.

Which bird does Fritz find as a chick among the rocks and train to hunt in The Swiss Family Robinson?

An eagle taken from the shore as a chick was kept hooded like a hunting bird, and Fritz later flew it at grouse while he galloped behind.

Which powerful animal, named Storm, does Jack ride like a horse in The Swiss Family Robinson?

A buffalo calf lassoed by Jack on an expedition grew into Storm, led by a cord through his nose and strong enough to haul the family's cart.

Which sea animal, harpooned by Fritz, tows the Swiss Family Robinson's loaded raft toward the shore?

A turtle asleep on the water woke with Fritz's harpoon in it and dragged the raft along like a tugboat. Fritz then claimed its shell for a water trough.

On which Caribbean island was Disney's 1960 film Swiss Family Robinson shot on location?

Tobago won the job after the film-makers turned down Jamaica and Trinidad. The animals the script called for then had to be shipped in from around the world.

Which big cat does young Francis catch in a pit trap in Disney's 1960 film Swiss Family Robinson?

A tiger that has menaced the family falls into one of the pits they dug for their defences, on the night before the holiday race.

What do the Swiss Family Robinson build inside their hollow tree trunk after clearing out the bees?

A spiral staircase, built round a sapling set up the middle of the hollow trunk, replaced the rope ladder. The bees were moved to a hive made from a gourd.

Which mineral lines the glittering cavern the Swiss Family Robinson turn into a winter home?

Rock salt lined the cave that Jack's crowbar broke into after ten days of chipping at the cliff, and the family named their new house Rockburg.

What does the father make by brushing rubber-tree sap over clay moulds in The Swiss Family Robinson?

Waterproof boots took shape on a pair of socks stuffed with sand and coated in clay. Once the rubber layers dried, he broke out the mould and nailed on soles.

Which root, poisonous until its sap is pressed out, do the Swiss Family Robinson grate to bake bread?

Cassava, called manioc in the book, was grated, squeezed under a weighted beam to press out the juice, and baked into flat cakes.

In The Swiss Family Robinson, how does the father free the pinnace from inside the wreck?

He blasts open the hull with a mortar packed with gunpowder, telling nobody his plan, so the bang terrifies his wife and sons on shore.

What do the Swiss Family Robinson use as spoons to eat their first pot of soup on the beach?

Oyster shells did the job once the family realised they had brought neither plates nor spoons ashore. With no handles, everyone risked burnt fingers.

How is Jenny Montrose dressed when Fritz first presents her to the Swiss Family Robinson?

As a naval officer: Fritz introduced her as 'Edward Montrose', but his brothers soon guessed the secret and the pretence was dropped.

Which Swiss author wrote The Swiss Family Robinson to teach four sons about self-reliance?

Johann David Wyss wanted a castaway story his own boys could learn from, and it became a family project: one son edited the book and another drew its pictures.

Which French novelist wrote The Castaways of the Flag, a 1900 sequel to The Swiss Family Robinson?

Jules Verne picked the story up where the original ended and finally gave the family a surname, calling them the Zermatts.

What destroyed the 1960 Swiss Family Robinson film's treehouse after it became a tourist sight?

A hurricane named Flora tore it down in 1963. Disney had meant to clear the set away after shooting, but islanders persuaded the studio to leave it standing.

In the novel The Swiss Family Robinson, where is the ship wrecked on its way to Australia?

The East Indies is the setting, though the island's mix of penguins, kangaroos and flamingos could never have shared one real island.

Which British ship, named after a mythical beast, finally reaches the Swiss Family Robinson?

The Unicorn, under Captain Littlestone, was searching for survivors of another wreck when a storm drove it into the family's bay for repairs.

Which wild relative of the donkey does the father tame by biting its ear in The Swiss Family Robinson?

An onager mare, later named Lightfoot, stopped plunging the moment he bit through her ear, a harsh method the father credits to American Indian horsemen.

The author of The Swiss Family Robinson was born and died in which Swiss city?

Bern saw both his birth in 1743 and his death in 1818, and Disney's film makes its shipwrecked family natives of the same city.

The author's son, who edited The Swiss Family Robinson for print, also wrote the words to which kind of song?

A national anthem, used unofficially by his country, came from his pen in 1811, a year before his father's novel reached print.

Which English actor played Father in Disney's 1960 film Swiss Family Robinson?

John Mills stayed loyal to the part: in 1962 he and his daughter Hayley appeared at the opening of Disneyland's treehouse attraction based on the film.

In Disney's 1960 Swiss Family Robinson, cabin boy 'Bertie' turns out to be a girl with which name?

Roberta had been disguised by her grandfather, a sea captain, who cut her hair to hide her from their captors. Both older brothers promptly fall for her.

Which breed are the captain's two dogs that come ashore in Disney's 1960 Swiss Family Robinson?

Great Danes stood in for the novel's pair of mastiffs. Eight dogs were shipped out for the shoot as part of a large cast of trained animals.

Which actor played Fritz in Disney's 1960 Swiss Family Robinson before starring as Danno in Hawaii Five-O?

James MacArthur, the adopted son of actress Helen Hayes, left Harvard in his second year to make Disney films, years before he took the role of Danny Williams.

Which actress played the mother in both Old Yeller and Disney's 1960 film Swiss Family Robinson?

Dorothy McGuire was screen mother to the same two young actors in both films, Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran, who played brothers five times in all.