Treasure Planet

Release Date: November 27, 2002

Watch Date: September 1 – September 2, 2024

“In a futuristic twist on Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless tale, a secret map inspires a thrilling treasure hunt across the universe. Young Jim Hawkins and a hilarious cosmic crew, headed by the daring captain Amelia, set off in search of their destiny. Aboard a glittering space galleon, Jim meets the ship’s cyborg cook, John Silver, who teaches him the value of friendship and the power of dreams. Jim soon teams up with his crazy new robot pal, B.E.N., and the shape-shifting Morph to discover a treasure greater than he ever imagined.”

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   I love Treasure Planet, and I didn’t when I was growing up, and I should have. And I also think that everyone else should have also loved Treasure Planet when they were growing up.

   There is a reason Treasure Island, the novel, is a classic. There is a reason people still gravitate towards it, all these decades, century?, later. Because it’s good. Because it’s the pirate story that started all pirate stories. Every pirate trope leads back to Treasure Island. So giving it a bit of a reboot? A futuristic, steampunk, redo? With aliens? Why not.

   It sounds terrible.

   But it’s not.

   Long John Silver is written exceedingly well. He’s likeable, he’s sympathetic. And the relationship he builds with young Jim Hawkins feels honest, and real. He feels like the fatherly mentor we all wanted, and many of us may not have received. The montage with Jim and Silver bonding, with the song? I love that song. That moment is done to perfection.

   The backgrounds are gorgeous. The tech is fun. The way space and space travel are portrayed is fun. Morph being…well…a morph is fun. I want to see the rest of this world. How come Atlantis got it’s own, failed, television show but Treasure Planet didn’t? Couldn’t you imagine it? Jim Hawkins, now in the navy, running into Silver, pirate adventures? That would be an absolute blast, and you can’t tell me it wouldn’t be.

   The only two weak points, in my opinion, were B.E.N. and the relationship between the Professor and the Captain. Now, I understand that B.E.N. is meant to be the crazy person the legendary pirate maroons so that he can never reveal the secret of how to get to the island. I get that B.E.N. has been stranded for over a hundred years. I even get that his missing part of his mind. But he’s also loud, and obnoxious, and how he ever survived on a pirate ship before being stranded, because he was the navigational robot, is beyond my comprehension. And the Professor and the Captain go from barely standing one another to an obvious romantic connection in a day. Now, we don’t know how long after the events of the movie before they finally tied the knot, as they so obviously do, but I don’t think it’s developed well enough. It feels more shoehorned in because there was an adult male and adult female character and one was a cat and one was a dog and wouldn’t that be funny?

   Ultimately, like I said in the beginning, I don’t feel this movie gets enough credit. And it needs to, and it should. And if you’ve never given it a chance because of old, bad, reviews. Do so. And if you haven’t watched it in forever because as a child you didn’t understand it’s greatness? Go back and check it out again.

   You won’t be disappointed.

   Unless you are, but then you and I and aren’t going to see eye to eye on most of this marathon anyways.