Filmusik returns with one of their most gently trippy presentations yet: 1939's Gulliver's Travels, which was only the second full-length cel animated movie ever made (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first). Max Fleischer, the man behind the Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons as well as the Superman cartoons that Filmusik has previously presented, was behind Gulliver, made in response to Fleischer's competitors at Disney launching the full-length cartoon movie game. The character of Gulliver was drawn by rotoscope—tracing over actual photographed film of an actor—a method that Fleischer Studios pioneered. Gulliver's Travels is a weird, dreamy film, and it's a little unusual to see a full-length American cartoon that only bears a tiny hint of influence from Disney, which has unalterably shaped the imagination of American youth for more than three-quarters of a century. Even non-Disney cartoons made 10 years later were unavoidably shaped by Disney's influence. Anyway, as a result, Gulliver is a little bit weirder, a little bit less cuddly, a little more Dr. Seuss for lack of a better comparison.

Filmusik, meanwhile, does what they've always been doing: adding a live soundtrack to a pretty spectacular visual. Live scoring, sound effects, and voice actors provide the audio, breathing a vital, live-theater element into an old picture which removes any hint of stodginess. Watching Filmusik usually involves marveling in their technical achievement, but there's also an immersive quality that puts the audience inside the picture, and when the picture is a weird, old, vaguely trippy cartoon, it's a pretty cool experience.

Filmusik presents Gulliver's Travels TONIGHT at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7 pm, $10-12. Additional shows Sun July 18 at 2 pm, Wed July 21 at 7 pm, and Fri July 23 at 7 pm.