D52–Treasure Planet

Despite the failure of Atlantis to capture the young boy audience that they was fervently seeking, Disney took a second stab at the market by adapting Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and setting it in space. The result is 2002’s Treasure Planet. Like the company’s two previous adaptations of the material (a straight telling in the 1950 film and a comical take with the Muppets in 1996) this one doesn’t stray too far from the source material. Like Atlantis, however, Treasure Planet severely underperformed at the box office, opening to just $12 million with a $140 million budget.

Like most Disney work since the early ‘90s, the animation here is strong, but that’s not to say it is without problems. There is an unfortunate overreliance on computer animation, which never quite meshes properly with the 2D animation surrounding it. It does allow for some impressive effects, but it always feels slightly out of place. The most egregious offender is the point of view shot in the ship’s galley, which looks like it was lifted straight out of the videogame adaptation. The voice cast is quite good, with varied performances that each suit their character. The script, too, does an admirable job of transposing Stevenson’s work into the future and trimming it to fit in the runtime, all while retaining its essence.

Though I’ve never read the book, I’ve seen at least four different film interpretations of the material, as well as various TV shows and plays and even a read-a-long children’s book, and Treasure Planet is easily my favorite version. That being said, I’ve never been much of a fan of the story of Treasure Island. I can’t explain quite why, but I’ve never been able to relate to any of the characters or become invested in the plot. It is likely only the futuristic elements here that raise this film over the others for me. It is an entertaining enough film, and fans of the source material will likely enjoy seeing a unique take on it.  A couple scenes will be too intense for the youngest viewers, but everyone else should find this to be an enjoyable, if somewhat unremarkable, film.

Original theatrical trailer

Up next: Brother Bear (2003)