Treasure Planet

I don’t fully remember the circumstances of my first viewing of “Treasure Planet” once I was in university. What I do remember is that I liked enough to buy it on DVD. I feel that it is a good adaptation of the classic book and the twist of setting it in space is enjoyable. It is very sad that the film did so poorly at the theaters, even with mostly positive reviews from critics. I was a missionary during its theatrical release and so I did not see it until I was back in university. The character growth and central relationship of Jim Hawkins & Long John Silver are the best qualities of the film. The classic story becomes more relatable as a result. I do feel however that while the story was well crafted, directors Ron Clements and John Musker may have gotten to carried away with the unique design of the film.

It was good to see certain names attached to this film. Clements and Musker have given us many films as part of the Disney Renaissance which are “The Little Mermaid”, “Aladdin” and “Hercules”. They have been wanting to make this film since the early 80's. They even had to make "Hercules" in order to get Disney to argee to this unique idea of theirs. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio not only collaborated with the directors on the story for this film but also on “Aladdin”. Elliott and Rossio are also the story men or screenwriters for such films as “The Mask of Zorro”, “The Road to El Dorado”, “Shrek”, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy and “National Treasure” among other films. I feel that they did not disappoint me with their work on this film. The changes to the story I feel are well done. They took what Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, added a twist and made some changes but emphasized parts of the novel for dramatic purposes. The character of Jim Hawkins is different than in the novel. In this animated film, he is a rebellious teen who has no direction in life. By giving Jim a mother, the filmmakers add a relatable angle for the audience. I think the reason why it worked in this case and not for "Aladdin" is that giving Aladdin a mother would have intruded on his strong friendship with Genie. In "Treasure Planet", the filmmakers used the space voyage to their advantage. They were able to give Jim a mom and also have him develop a relationship with Long John Silver by having the mom stay behind. The relationship between Jim and his mom is established very well at the start. He is a good kid inside as evidenced by him cleaning tables without his mother asking. He mistakenly believes however that he has no future because he has no father. Jim seems to accept a false, hopeless destiny. As a child, he longed for his father and now that his father is gone, Jim feels that all hope for him is lost. He is having an identity crisis. As opposed to the book, Flint's treasure is a well-known story by all instead of known only to those who buried it. Jim wants the treasure to fix his problems and change his destiny. This is noble but also selfish. A woman captain is a good change also. As you might expect, Jim undergoes a character change but the most dramatic character change in the film is that of Long John Silver. Every plot point concerning his change is very entertaining and well crafted. At first, Silver is only interested in keeping Jim busy so that the crew’s cover will not be blown. Unexpectedly, Silver comes to respect Jim. The black hole incident is very hard on Jim because he finally had something to work hard for in life and he believes he failed when things mattered a lot. When Silver comforts and encourages Jim after this incident, Silver suddenly realizes the danger that his relationship with Jim could pose. If he loses his standing with his crew, he loses the treasure. It is obvious to us, the audience, that he lies to his crew about his relationship with Jim in order to protect the both of them but he still cares more about the treasure than anything else. When Silver can’t shoot Jim, he realizes that his relationship with Jim still means something and is stronger than he thought. For once, he chose something else over the treasure. Another reason he doesn’t shoot Jim could be because he has a life debt with him. Silver then tries a different approach. He tries to negotiate with Jim so that he can have both the treasure and Jim’s friendship. This backfires because Jim doesn’t believe that Silver is being honest. Jim will not side with nor trust criminals. This act shows that Jim may have made bad choices in his life but he was only lost in his direction in life. He now has something to stand for in that he won’t allow the treasure to find its way into the hands of those who have done wrong to get it. Silver is also not purely evil but rather he has an obsession. He may be frustrated with Jim but Silver still regrets having lost Jim's friendship. Silver cannot seem to make a definite decision between the treasure and Jim until finally he is forced to choose between one or the other. Because he is not entirely evil, he is able to choose the right. In choosing Jim over the treasure, he values Jim’s life & welfare over his own desires and this is why they are able to part ways after their adventure. Jim has a purpose in life and that matters more to Silver than being with Jim for the rest of their lives. Other parts of the movie are entertaining as well. I like the reference to Star Trek: “Dang it, Jim. I’m an astronomer, not a doctor.” It is funny because the line is a reverse of the classic line from the TV show but it still contains the name Jim (as in both Kirk and Hawkins). One change I would have made to the story would be concerning the resolution of Mr. Arrow’s death. It would have been good if the captain found out the truth that it wasn’t Jim’s fault. I love the showdown between Scroop and Jim. His appearance at the top of the stairs is almost the worst-case scenario for Jim. Scroop’s absence from the film since the meeting in the kitchen makes for a more dramatic reveal. Their confrontation was needed story-wise. The speed and complexity of the solar surfing during the ending makes for an entertaining climax.

I am familiar with many of the cast members of “Treasure Planet”. This is the first Joseph Gordon-Levitt film I saw since “Angels in the Outfield” but I am glad it wasn’t the last. He did well in this movie and I like that he now has a sucessful career as an adult actor. Brain Murray’s performance is the best out of any cast member. He creates a unique but classic pirate voice for Silver. I also liked David Hyde Pierce and Emma Thompson in this film. Both of their characters were designed with them in mind before they were officially cast. I recognized Laurie Metcalf’s voice from the Toy Story films and her ability to play a classic mom gives the film some heart from the start. The best quality that Michael Wincott has as an actor is his voice as evidenced by his performances in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and “The Count of Monte Cristo”. As Scroop in this film, he creates a very evil villain for Jim. “Treasure Planet” was Patrick McGoohan’s last film and I didn’t know that he had died until a few years after I saw this animated film. I think the best thing that he could do as an actor in his later years was cough convincingly. You see this in “Braveheart” and also in this film as he performs Billy Bones. I enjoy the work of James Newton Howard, especially on “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”. He is one of my top ten favorite composers. His musical score gives the film a credible sense of adventure. Animator Glen Keane, who supervised Long John Silver, has also animated many memorable Disney characters in the past. This time however, he had a character that partially computer generated. Despite this challenge, he did a good job. He drew much from his memories of his high school football coach.

The filmmakers made some good choices in the making of this film but not perfect ones. The overall look of “Treasure Planet” is based on the work of those associated with the Brandywine School of Illustration. This helps relate the film to the original book. I also feel the movie resembles the style of animation we saw from Clements and Musker in the 80's as opposed to their work in the 90's.The filmmakers created a rule called the “70/30 Law”, meaning 70% of the film’s design would take after the traditional book while 30% would be science-fiction. Thus we have a world that feels more like the 18th Century than the future. You can see this law applied to other elements in the film. Without this law, “Treasure Planet” wouldn’t have been anything special. If they were more faithful to the book, the film would not have stood apart from other versions. If they went more down the science-fiction path, the film would have been too much like “Titan A.E.” for example. The use of the 3D environments is a good advancement from what we saw in “Tarzan”. I marvel at the “handheld” shots of Jim solar surfing down from the sky at the start of the film. Traditionally animating a fast-moving character interacting with a CG board in a shot that has the appearance of handheld must have been very hard. It was pulled off beautifully though. Some of the characters and designs we see in this movie however were a little too abnormal which distracted us from the story being told. As mentioned, the relationship between Hawkins and Silver is the intentional focus of the movie but the sic-fi angle was a distraction.

“Treasure Planet” feels to me like a sequel to “Atlantis” in many ways. You have a fun story with great characters. Their relationships and the changes that the characters undergo allows for great entertainment. The style of the film is engaging but it could have been dialed down a little. There was a slight lack of balance. The changes made to the classic story are well founded. I wish this film had done better financially. The failure of this film at the box office was a contributor to the false belief at the time that audiences were no longer interested in traditionally animated films. Thankfully, Clements and Musker were able to provide us with one more 2D animated film that helped to initiate the Disney studio's new wave of success (the Disney Resurgence if you will).

4 Stars