Treasure Planet

Treasure Planet is the adaptation of the classic swashbuckling children's tale of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. R.L.S originally wrote Treasure Island chapter by chapter for his son, as a bed time story for each night. When the story was first published it was actually condemned by some! Claiming that such violent tales encouraged boys to become ner-do-well's such as the pirates it glorifies! Suffice to say, Disney's futuristic adaptation fails to capture the rebellious nature of the original Treasure Island. Fans and fanatics can gripe all they want if a scene is missing from the book, or if a character's been changed, but as long as the core meaning of the story remains, it's essence. Then adaptation has been successful. Treasure Planet does not capture the essence of the book entirely, in fact it lacks a lot of it's power due mainly to the protagonist. Jim Hawkins of Treasure Planet does not suffer as much as his archaic counterpart, therefore his character does not under go the same heroic journey and does not emerge as profoundly changed as R.L.S original did.

Aside from that, Treasure Planet makes for a fine adventure film for the whole family. There are moments of joy and pathos to be found throughout. And it is interesting to see a science fiction twist on a pirating classic.

Upfront, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie beyond what I thought I would take from it. Being an animation major I can thoroughly pick apart most movies, especially what Disney puts out now-a-days. Unfortunately for their movie Treasure Planet, either it was ahead of itself ambitiously, or it was rumors that spread like wildfire (when it was being released) that killed it. Actually, that's why I didn't see this film until very recently, because of everyone's (and mine at the time) prejudice against Disney features springing up amongst way too many viewers, and especially for this film. I believed them that this film was terrible, and subsequently never got to see it until a week ago. Man, everyone was wrong.

I'll be honest, and give it its weak points: The main character (Jim) is quite blank and not very well developed. Which is bad because an audience cannot connect to a flat, central character. Secondly, the CG (although very well stylized) I think didn't mesh as well with the 2D animation as it should have. Other than that...you might pick apart a few other things about the movie (and no, the dialouge isn't that bad. it's a G rated movie...it's not supposed to be incredibly complex).

Treasure Planet keeps pretty tight in line with the original classic, "Treasure Island", even when softening it down for a younger audience. I grew up with that story, and had no problem with the adaptation in Planet. Also, this film contains two masterfully animated characters, John Silver and Dr. Dilbert Doppler (animated by two masters, Glen Keane and Sergio Pablos, respectively). If you're an animation enthusiast, these two are gold to watch (especially the pencil tests in the special features on the DVD).

This whole review is a little long-winded, but in closing, this movie is more than what was said of it. If anything dealt the killing blow in this movie failing at the box office, it was everyone's bad word for it. Not true. Please see for yourself!

I saw this in theaters back in Late 2002.

Treasure Planet is inspired by the famous book, Treasure Island. Only this version is taken place in another universe where ships sail in space and Aliens and Human live in the same community.

Jim Hawkin a guy who's about 17, lives with his mom who works at their Inn which is their home. Jim never got to spend much time with his dad since his dad came and go due to whatever job he's in. Jim hasn't made his mom proud for him, specially when he keeps trespassing factories on his Sail Board and getting caught by the police. His mom doesn't want to see her own son sent away to a juvenile hall.

Life seems bad for Jim, till one day a pirate came out of nowhere telling Jim to take an object that a crew of pirates are after. The orb Jim got is a map that shows you the location of Treasure Planet. A tale Jim heard from as a kid is no longer a bedtime story to him. It actual exists and he's determine to go there and be sure he'll make his mom proud for him.

I don't care if many people disliked this movie. But I really enjoyed it. Even if it's one of the PG rated Animated Disney movies.

The CGI and 2-D animation combined together makes it very visual. It's rated PG only for Action violence, and a few non important characters die. It also has a would be villain and an actual villain in it too.

I recommend it to those who like sci-Fi animated films or those who are into the unique Disney movies. It's something the whole family can enjoy together.

Let me start by saying that the soundtrack is great. The musical score was composed by James Newton Howard, while the songs were written and performed by John Rzeznik, frontman of the Goo Goo Dolls.

The story is a futuristic adaption of the classic book Treasure Island. The animation is sublime, it blends 2D and 3D perfectly, the steampunk design is also pretty cool. It's a rreal shame it was a box office failure. At least it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

If you haven't watched it yet, do it now. It's worth your time.

Everyone show watch and buy this movie if for no other reason than to support Roy Disney against Michael Eisner!!

This poor movie suffered from political mudslinging between these two. As "Treasure Island" was one of the Disney company's first and most successful live-action pictures, Roy had always been passionate about making an animated version. Eisner, ever Roy's opponent, was in charge of the advertising budget. So, when Treasure planet was released, without any typically "Disney" fanfare, it met with unsurprisingly small attendance.

The day after it was released, Eisner held a press conference, declaring "Treasure Planet" a flop, and blaming it for Disney's poor 3rd quarter performance. Roy promptly quit the company his uncle and father had built.

As far as the movie itself goes, the controversy robbed what I think is the finest example of a "Disney" movie since Mulan. The animation is spectacular, the vocal talents are superb, and Brian Murray is one of the greatest Long John Silvers I've ever heard.

But beyond the technical qualities, "Treasure Planet" captures the spirit of Disney much better than recent Disney debacles (see Valiant, Chicken Little, Home on the Range). I think the end product came out very nicely, and, larger than that, I think Walt would have been proud to put his name on this one.