This is a movie that I saw when it came out. I even have a vague memory of getting a Treasure Planet toy in my Happy Meal. I had a lot of fun. In going back to this movie, I realized that I had memorised most of it.

Before I go on, I need to do a bit of housekeeping: next week I will start my reviews of the 6 original Dune books and their adaptations.

“The legendary “loot of a thousand worlds” inspires an intergalactic treasure hunt when 15-year-old Jim Hawkins stumbles upon a map to the greatest pirate trove in the universe in Walt Disney Pictures’ thrilling animated space adventure, “Treasure Planet.” Based on one of the greatest adventure stories ever told – Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” – this film follows Jim’s fantastic journey across a parallel universe as a cabin boy aboard a glittering space galleon.”

This is a very interesting movie. While it does stray from the book a bit, the design of the movie is amazing.

For this story, I have 4 thoughts.

Firstly, I would like to talk about the way that everything is designed. This was great, considering it came out in the shadow of Star Wars; this version takes the style of the 18th-century book and adds a sci-fi coat of paint instead of making everything in shades of grey. And the spaceship that they fly on literally looks like an 18th-century ship with a bit of technology. 

Secondly, Ben Gunn, the way they change a man who had no social interaction into a robot with no memory. This is great because it means we can laugh at how weird he is acting without feeling bad about it. Also, on that note this is the first adaptation where Ben Gunn dose not find the treasure. But this makes sense in the movie because the map is also the key.

Thirdly, I would like to talk about Jim Hawkins as a teen whose father left him. This is a bit of a change because in the book Jim seems to be a young teen, and his father dies in the early chapter. In Treasure Planet, Jim is confirmed to be 15, and we see his father abandon him and his mother. Because of this, he gets sent on this adventure, both because of the money but in an attempt to find him and straighten him out.

Fourthly, Long John Silver. There are two main things I would like to talk about. Firstly, the way that he looks, of course, a one-legged man being changed to a cyborg makes sense. But apart from that, I really enjoy the way that he looks and moves. I enjoy how many different things it can do. Apparently, when the animators were trying to sell using CGI to make his hand animated they used a scene of Peter Pan, and gave Hook a robot arm. Secondly I believe that this version of Long John Silver is a great example of a pirate and a good man.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and next week on Arrakis.

Happy reading to all and to all a good night.