And now we come to the first of three movies I will be reviewing, and of all the adaptations, this is the first time I have ever seen this movie. And now that I have seen it, I can say it was a fun watch.

“In this Disney adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel, young Jim Hawkins finds a map to the coveted treasure of the notorious pirate Captain Flint. Jim enlists Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney to prepare for the voyage. Along the way, the likes of infamous pirate Long John Silver and other nefarious swashbucklers join the crew, and they set sail on the Caribbean Sea aboard the Hispaniola.”

This is an interesting movie because of the 3 adaptations; this is the closest to the book. It is also a great watch because of the history of this movie and its connection to Disney history.

For this movie, I have 3 thoughts

 First, I would like to talk about two facts about the movie’s history: it was the first Disney live-action movie. The reason that I find this so interesting is that Mr Disney was fascinated with pirates, because at this time he was working on the start of what would end up being the ride Pirates of the Caribbean. This is interesting because if you watch the movie, you will recognise certain lines in Pirates of the Caribbean that come directly from Treasure Island. Secondly, I would like to talk about Rober Newton. So, a fun fact: this guy is the origin of  pirate speech because of how much he was connected to the character of Long John Silver. Even after this movie, he was hired twice more to play this role by other studios. Thirdly, this is the first Disney movie to show a lot of death. This is because the movie sticks very close to the book when it comes to the number of people who get shot. This horrified people in 1950.

 Secondly, Bobby Driscoll, the actor playing Jim Hawkins, is too young.  Let me explain, in the book it says that Jim is not 15 years old, but at the end of the book Jim’s mother says that she doesn’t recognise Jim because he has become a man. This is both because of the time that the voyage took and because of the things he has had to do. By this, I understand that suggests Jim is 14. Bobby Driscoll in this movie looked like he was 9 or 10, and I understand that having a younger child in danger ramps up the tension, but it feels off.

Thirdly, I would like to talk about Jim’s parents. In the book, Jim loses his father to illness, and one of the reasons he goes on this adventure is to help his mother. I find it annoying that they choose to deal with this because we don’t see either of his parents. The closest we get to this is a one-line mention of Jim’s mother. I feel that this removes a part of Jim’s motivation.

Thank you for joining me on this trip. If you are interested in finding this movie, it can easily be found on Disney+. Until next week with Muppets.

Happy Reading to all and to all a good night.