Treasure Planet
It’s been a long time since I watched the latest but not quite greatest Disney animated flick, but I decided to delay talking about it since I was saving it till after me and the gang watched it together. But since the sci-fi interpretation of the classic pirate story has come and gone as quickly as it did in the US (where it was a big flop), I don’t think we’ll be watching it any time soon. Oh well. Moving on…
Treasure Planet is a pretty close translation of
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Basically it’s all about the quest for an almost mythical treasure trove of an infamous pirate. The main hero, delinquent youth
Jim Hawkins (Joseph Levitt) comes into possession of a map to the said treasure. He, along with a family friend named
Dr. Doppler (David Hyde-Pierce) set off on a ship to go find it. Unfortunately, the ship’s crew consists of dangerous mutineers, led by a cyborg named
Long John Silver (Brian Murray). A bond of friendship has grown between Jim and Silver… but will this bond overcome greed and obsession for the richest treasure in the galaxy?
Of course, Treasure Planet boasts quite imaginative yet whimsical updates from the original novel. Islands have been replaced by whole planets and star systems, and sailing ships have now been given the ability to travel through space. Instead of going for a wholly sci-fi look, Treasure Planet is mixes high-seas with high-technology, for a very interesting look. Aliens as well as humans populate the film, with some funny designs. My favorite character has to be the beautiful
Captain Amelia (perfectly voiced by Emma Thompson), a no-nonsense cat-like humanoid who just commands the screen everytime she appears (heh). Another clever design is Long John Silver himself, who sports a CG-animated arm that’s so cool, it almost made me want to have an arm amputated. Almost.
Anyway, as it does stay close to the original story, Treasure Planet has action, some off-screen deaths and some imagery and situations that may be a bit intense for very young kids. However, it does stay pretty comfortable within Disney safety zones. The friendship between pirate and boy, supposed to be the center of the story, is well done, but there’s really never any question of where Silver’s true loyalty lies.
Overall, performances are excellent, though Martin Short’s manic
Ben (a robot missing a few chips) can grate a little. The visuals are awesome on the big screen, so that at least was worth the price of admission.
In all, Disney’s Treasure Planet was a serviceable, entertaining feature. Not incredibly great, but a sight to see and an imaginative take on a timeless story. Worlds better than crap like
Titan AE, but it’s still irksome to know that it received more marketing support than the divine
Spirited Away. Oh well.