AdaptationDB
Cover of Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoeliterary work· published 1719

Shop for this title via the links below.

Robinson Crusoe (, KROO-soh, zoh) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. It is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre, and has been described as the first novel, or at least the first English novel – although these labels are disputed. Written with a combination of epistolary, confessional, and didactic forms, the book follows the title character (born Robinson Kreutznaer) after he is cast away and spends 28 years on a remote tropical desert island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers before being rescued.

Adaptations (15)

Robinson Crusoe has been adapted 15 times, across film and television series, from 1902 to 2016.

  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    1902 · film · 14 min · dir. Georges Méliès · IMDb ↗
    IMDb5.7

    Georges Méliès adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the first film adaptation of the story. Filmed in black & white, Méliès would then paint the film by hand to colour it. Originally a 15 minute film, twelve and a half minutes of painted film have been found and have been restored.

  • Poster for Miss Robinson Crusoe
    Miss Robinson Crusoe
    1912 · film · 20 min · IMDb ↗

    A society woman who was traveling abroad, heard with deep interest from her husband, that a nobleman was deeply attentive to their only daughter. The mother, knowing that propinquity often ...

  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    1913 · film · 30 min · dir. Otis Turner · IMDb ↗

    Crusoe, defying his parents, goes to sea, gets shipwrecked, becomes the sole survivor on a deserted island, and builds a new life by salvaging supplies from the wreck, including a dog and cat, creating a fortified home, and learning to survive through hard work and faith, all while battling fear and isolation before eventually encountering 'Friday' and dealing with the intrusion of civilization.

  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    1947 · film · 73 min · dir. Aleksandr Andriyevsky · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.7

    A man struggles to survive after being shipwrecked on a deserted island.

  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    1954 · film · 90 min · dir. Luis Buñuel · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.6100%

    The titular adventurer, after defying his parents to go to sea, survives a shipwreck and becomes a castaway on a deserted island for nearly thirty years, learning to build a new life from scratch, discovering companionship with a native man he names Friday, and eventually returning to civilisation a changed man, finding wealth and new challenges.

    US:StreamRent/Buy
  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe on Mars
    Robinson Crusoe on Mars
    1964 · film · 110 min · dir. Byron Haskin · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.494%

    Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food and companionship on the lifeless planet.

    US:StreamRent/Buy
  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    1972 · film · 92 min · dir. Stanislav Govorukhin · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.7

    In the seventeenth century, Robinson Crusoe is shipwrecked on a desert island and is the only survivor. He takes steps to get food and shelter, hoping one day to be rescued. One day a band of black men arrive by boat and are about to execute one of their number; Crusoe saves him and drives them off, and names the man Friday, and teaches him Crusoe's on language. They survive together, but will they ever be rescued?

  • Poster for Man Friday
    Man Friday
    1975 · film · 115 min · dir. Jack Gold · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.243%

    Englishman Robinson Crusoe, stranded alone on an island for years, is overjoyed to find a fellow man, a black islander whom he names Friday. But Crusoe cannot overcome the shackles of his own heritage and upbringing and is incapable of seeing Friday as anything other than a savage who needs Crusoe's brand of cultural and religious enlightenment. Friday attempts to share his own more generous and unashamed culture, but ultimately realizes that Crusoe can never see him as anything but an inferior being. With that awareness, Friday sets out to turn the tables on Crusoe.

    US:StreamRent/Buy
  • Poster for Mr. Robinson
    Mr. Robinson
    1976 · film · 107 min · dir. Sergio Corbucci · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.6

    A shipwreck strands a modern Italian businessman on a desert island. Like Robinson Crusoe he must find a way to return to civilization; unlike him--he's a 20th-century man, a totally different case.

    DE:Rent/Buy
  • Poster for Робинзон Кузя
    Робинзон Кузя
    1978 · film · 17 min · dir. Anatoliy Reznikov · IMDb ↗
  • Poster for Crusoe
    Crusoe
    1988 · film · 91 min · dir. Caleb Deschanel · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.162%

    Robinson Crusoe is shipwrecked and he finds himself all alone on a tropical island. With a few tools he manages to rescue from the wreck he has to learn to support himself until help arrives.

    US:StreamRent/Buy
  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    1997 · film · 105 min · dir. Rod Hardy, George Miller · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.0

    Robinson Crusoe flees Britain on a ship after killing his friend over the love of Mary. A fierce ocean storm wrecks his ship and leaves him stranded by himself on an uncharted island. Left to fend for himself, Crusoe seeks out a tentative survival on the island, until he meets Friday, a tribesman whom he saves from being sacrificed. Initially, Crusoe is thrilled to finally have a friend, but he has to defend himself against the tribe who uses the island to sacrifice tribesman to their gods. During time their relationship changes from master-slave to a mutual respected friendship despite their difference in culture and religion.

    US:Rent/Buy
  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island
    Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island
    2005 · film · 105 min · dir. Max Bellocchio · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.8

    A raunchy re-interpretation of a classic tale. Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island is a seafaring sex saga starring Silvia Saint.

  • Poster for Crusoe
    Crusoe
    2008 · television series · 60 min · IMDb ↗
    IMDb6.7

    Crusoe is a television adventure drama based loosely on the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The series' 13 episodes aired on NBC during the first half of the 2008–2009 television season. It follows the adventures of Robinson Crusoe: a man who has been shipwrecked on an island for six years and is desperate to return home to his wife and children. His lone companion is Friday, a native whom Crusoe rescued and taught English.

    US:Stream
  • Poster for Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe
    2016 · film · 91 min · dir. Vincent Kesteloot, Mimi Maynard · IMDb ↗

    On a tiny exotic island, Tuesday, an outgoing parrot lives with his quirky animal friends in paradise. However, Tuesday can't stop dreaming about discovering the world. After a violent storm, Tuesday and his friends wake up to find a strange creature on the beach: Robinson Crusoe. Tuesday immediately views Crusoe as his ticket off the island to explore new lands. Likewise, Crusoe soon realizes that the key to surviving on the island is through the help of Tuesday and the other animals. It isn't always easy at first, as the animals don't speak "human." Slowly but surely, they all start living together in harmony, until one day, when their comfortable life is overturned by two savage cats, who wish to take control of the island. A battle ensues between the cats and the group of friends but Crusoe and the animals soon discover the true power of friendship up against all odds (even savage cats).

    US:StreamRent/Buy