Thursday, July 24, 2014

Treasure Planet

Treasure Planet poster.jpgDisney’s Christmas release in 2002 was another new take on an old tale. Treasure Planet, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, Treasure Island, starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brian Murray, Emma Thompson, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Wincott, Laurie Metcalf, and Roscoe Lee Browne. A box office failure, the film lost about $29 million. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Spirited Away.

Young Jim Hawkins (Gordon-Levitt) sets out with Dr. Delbert (Pierce), sailing through space searching for the treasure of the evil pirate, Flint. Aided by Captain Amelia (Thompson), they must outwit a pirate crew lead by the cyborg Silver (Murray).

This film is kind of all over the place. It’s a mix of cyberpunk and steampunk, with the spaceships being actual sailing ships in space and a whole bunch of alien species. The film has also been pointed to as the reason Disney decided to kill its traditional animation studios from 2002/2003 until 2009. However, it was about 40/60 in terms of traditional vs. CGI and the CGI portions were all the robots and tech while everything else was traditional. It’s noticeable, yes, but also done very well.
The film also handles its characterization and relationships spectacularly too. All their interactions are realistic and have great development. It’s also quite different for a Disney film to have the missing family member actually walk out instead of dying. This helps to solidify Jim’s character as the delinquent who needs a role model. And while Silver ends up becoming that figure, he does so begrudgingly until the very end, when it actually matters. The way the two part ways at the end show how the two have grown to sort of understand each other.
On the other hand, while he’s got some hilarious lines, Martin Short as BEN can sometimes get annoying. His shtick of stupid robot who manages to screw things up while simultaneously doing everything right has been done a lot better in other series and films. He gets better once he finds and puts his memory back in though.
It’s not one of Disney’s best films, but it’s still good.

#44

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