REVIEW: Treasure Planet

It wasn't until recently that I actually saw Disney's 2002 animated film, Treasure Planet. As a kid, I never saw it in theaters when it was originally released; judging from it's less than spectacular box office earnings, I'm not the only one in that proverbial boat. Regardless, it must be said that if you haven't seen Treasure Planet yet, I would definitely recommend that you go out and give it a watch. Even if you're not a fan of the usual animated offerings from Disney, this is a truly well-made, well-acted, and all-around imaginative adaptation of Robert Louis Steveson's classic pirate novel, Treasure Island.

As the name implies, this version of the story doesn't take place on the open sea so much as it takes place in the far reaches of outer space. Intrepid captains and crews sail amongst the stars in sprawling galleons in search of adventure, riches, and sometimes both. It's a risky take on the story (considering how the film flopped financially when it originally premiered, it's safe to say that the risk didn't pay off), but I personally adore the look of this film and the world(s) it takes place in. The phrase "feast for the eyes" is thrown around a lot these days, but the art design of Treasure Planet is truly something to behold. The people behind the film basically had to invent how everything in the universe of the picture would work; as a result, we're left with a sci-fi setting with remarkable depth. From all of the mysterious technologies, to the intriguing alien creatures wandering around, to the far-off locales of the movie, this is a universe that feels thoroughly lived-in and real. Everything we see is utterly fantastical, yet it all makes perfect sense within the logic of the film. It's truly a shame that we have next to no chance of ever getting a sequel, as I would simply adore to see more of this world we've been shown.

With all that said, Treasure Planet is most definitely not an example of style-over-substance; the story and characters are all as top-notch as their surroundings. As dazzling as the aesthetics of the film are, they don't overshine the performances displayed within. The plot more or less follows the story of Treasure Island; a young lad named Jim Hawkins (voiced surprisingly enough by Joseph Gordon Levitt) comes into the possession of an enigmatic treasure map, said to lead to the plundered riches of the notorious Captain Flint. He and his traveling companion, Dr. Delbert Doppler (a neurotic dog-man voiced by David Hyde Pierce) embark upon the RLS Legacy, a chartered ship under the command of the catlike Captain Amelia (Emma Thompson). Jim ends up working as a cabin boy to the ship's cyborg cook, John Silver (Brain Murray) and a swashbuckling tale of adventure, betrayal, and (as the name would imply) treasure unfolds.

Other additions to the cast include Roscoe Lee Browne (as the stone-faced first mate, Mr. Arrow), Laurie Metcalf (as Mrs. Sarah Hawkins, making this her fifty-third appearance as a mother in an animated Disney film), and Martin Short (as the amnesiac robot, B.E.N.). Each of them does their job well, but Martin Short's automatomic comedic relief tends to come off as flat-out annoying. For the most part, this is an animated film that carries itself with a fair amount of dignity, so the jokes that try to appeal to younger audiences (such as most of B.E.N.'s lines or an alien crewman that communicates through fart noises) tend to fall thoroughly flat. That said, those jokes are few and far between. Emma Thompson's Captain Amelia is certainly the highlight of the film, delivering rapid-fire wit with impressive ease. In the original story, the captain of the ship was a man (famously portrayed in 1996 by Kermit the Frog), yet the change of gender doesn't feel forced or out of place in the slightest. Amelia is capable, tough, and sharp-tongued while at the same time being vulnerable; she's the captain of the ship and she happens to be female. It's an example of a strong female protagonist that many modern works could certainly learn a lot from.

Special consideration must also be given to Brian Murray's portrayal of John Silver; as far as Disney antagonists go, Silver is a villain who manages to have a tremendous amount of depth to him. He develops a strong fatherly bond with Jim over the course of their journey; mutinies and action setpieces aside, the conflict that arises because of this bond is the real driving force behind the drama and emotion of the film. By the end of the movie, some might hesitate to even call him a villain at all. Murray manages to evoke a great deal of emotion from the cutthroat cook, making him appear jovial and supportive one moment, conflicted and sinister the next. This is a film that, despite the relatively young age of its target audience, is not entirely black and white in its depiction of morality. Most Disney animated features manage to be fun and entertaining, but very few manage to be as flat-out interesting as Treasure Planet.

If I had to try to explain the appeal of Treasure Planet through an overly complicated metaphor, I'd say to imagine a piece of really intriguing fan art of an existing franchise. Something really well-made that takes the characters from an established piece of work and re-imagines them in a different setting or time period. Something in the same vein as "Star Wars in feudal Japan" or "Batman as a pirate captain". Now imagine that this fan art is turned into a feature-length adaptation with a positively absurd dedication to detail and world-building, animated by a respected studio and voiced by a supremely talented cast of actors and actresses. If that sounds at all appealing to you (or if you're a fan of Disney, animation, art design, space, pirates, or space pirates), do yourself a favor and go watch Treasure Planet as soon as possible.