Treasure Planet

"Let me make this as... monosyllabic as possible. I... don't much care for this crew you hired. They're... how did I describe them, Arrow? I said something rather good this morning before coffee. "
"'A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots,' ma'am. "
"There you go, poetry."

Jim Hawkins (Gordon-Levitt) loves stories about pirates and dreams of adventure, but he is stuck helping his mother (Laurie Metcalf) run their family inn.  One day an old pirate named Billy Bones (Patrick McGoohan) stumbles into their inn, dying, and gives Jim a golden sphere to protect.  Afterwards, the inn is attacked by pirates and burned to the ground.  Jim discovers the sphere is actually a map to the treasure of infamous pirate Captain Nathaniel Flint.  With the help of family friend Doctor Delbert Doppler (Hyde Pierce), Jim goes on an expedition into space.

Dr. Doppler funds an expedition aboard the RLS Legacy, under the command of witty Captain Amelia (Thompson) and her no-nonsense first mate Mr. Arrow (Lee Browne).  Jim becomes the ship's Cabin Boy and placed under of the command of ship's cook Long John Silver (Murray), a cyborg, and his pet, a cute pink amorphous blob named Morph (Dane A. Davis), who can change into any shape.  The crew are a shady group, led by the scheming spider Scroop (Wincott).  Will they reach their destination, or will unseen forces ruin the trip?


In the 2000s Disney was trying to get it's groove back.  After the prosperous 1990s, Disney branched out to try new techniques in their animated features.  For this film, they turned to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island."  Directors Ron Clements and John Musker wanted to breathe life into the story for years (they pitched the idea in the late 1980s when they directed The Little Mermaid), but the studio wanted other projects.  In the end the delay was helpful in that it allowed them to utilize newer technology to make the film.

They took a chance rewriting the well-known story as science fiction... but I think it paid off.  The plot is still familiar, but it is able to feel new.  All the music in the film is written by Johnny Rzeznik (lead singer of The Goo Goo Dolls).  The best of the songs is "I'm Still Here" which marks a major moment in Jim's story (and is on my iPod).

The film won't work for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Treasure Planet (2002) 95 minutes
Director: Ron Clements and John Musker
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jim Hawkins
Brian Murray as Long John Silver
Martin Short as B.E.N.
David Hyde Pierce as Doctor Delbert Doppler
Emma Thompson as Captain Amelia
Michael Wincott as Scroop
Roscoe Lee Browne as Mr. Arrow