Treasure Planet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Treasure Planet | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster for Treasure Planet |
|
| Directed by | Ron Clements John Musker |
| Produced by | Ron Clements John Musker Roy Conli Peter Del Vecho |
| Written by | Ron Clements John Musker Rob Edwards |
| Starring | Joseph Gordon-Levitt Brian Murray David Hyde Pierce Martin Short Emma Thompson |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 27, 2002 |
| Running time | 95 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $140 million |
| Gross revenue | $109,578,115 [1] |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Treasure Planet is a 2002 science fiction animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 27, 2002.
The 42nd animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is a science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island. It was produced and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker from a screenplay by Musker, Clements, and Rob Edwards.
The film employs a novel technique of hand-drawn 2D traditional animation set atop 3D computer animation. A similar dichotomy was used for the character of the cyborg John Silver: his natural body is hand-animated, but his mechanical arm and eye are computer animated.
It is the first film ever to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters.[2][3]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film's prologue depicts Jim Hawkins (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as a three-year-old boy, reading a holographic storybook in bed. Jim is enchanted by stories of the legendary pirate, Captain Flint, and his ability to appear from nowhere, raid passing ships, and disappear in order to hide the loot on the mysterious "Treasure Planet." The scene dissolves to twelve years later, and Jim has grown into an aloof and alienated teenager, begrudgingly helping his mother Sarah (Laurie Metcalf) run an inn, and deriving amusement only from "solar surfing" (a hybrid of skysurfing and windsurfing atop a board attached to a solar-powered rocket), a pastime that frequently gets him in trouble.
One day, a ship crashes near the inn. The dying pilot, Billy Bones (Patrick McGoohan), gives Jim a sphere and tells him to "beware the cyborg". Shortly thereafter, a gang of pirates raid and burn the inn. Jim, his mother, and their dog-like alien friend Dr. Delbert Doppler (David Hyde Pierce) barely escape. The sphere turns out to be a holographic projector, showing a map (the film's equivalent of Flint's Fist) that Jim realizes leads to Treasure Planet.
Doppler commissions a ship on a secret mission to find Treasure Planet. The ship is commanded by the cat-like, sharp-witted, and often sarcastic Captain Amelia (Emma Thompson) along with her stony-skinned, loyal, strict-disciplined First Mate, Mr. Arrow (Roscoe Lee Browne). The crew is a motley bunch, secretly led by cook John Silver (Brian Murray), whom Jim suspects is the cyborg of whom he was warned. Jim is sent down to work in the galley; despite his mistrust of Silver, they soon form a tenuous father-son relationship. (A song montage shows Jim and the cyborg bonding over various sailing chores, interspersed with flashbacks from Jim's childhood, during which his father appears indifferent to him and finally leaves without warning when Jim is a pre-teen.) During an encounter with a black hole, Arrow is dropped overboard and lost, for which Jim blames himself for failing to ready the lifelines properly. Viewers, however, see that Arrow's line was cut by a ruthless, insectoid crew member named Scroop (Michael Wincott).
As the ship reaches Treasure Planet, mutiny erupts, led by Silver. Jim, Dr. Doppler, and Captain Amelia abandon the ship, accidentally leaving the map behind. Silver, who believes that Jim has the map, has a chance to kill Jim, but refuses to do so because of his attachment to the boy. The fugitives are shot down by a mutineer, identified in novelizations as "Meltdown", during their escape, causing injury to Amelia.
The fugitives meet an abandoned robot, B.E.N. (Martin Short), who invites them to his house to care for the wounded Amelia. The pirates corner the group here; using a back-door, Jim and B.E.N. return to the ship in an attempt to recover the map. The pirate Scroop, aboard the ship as lookout, stalks and fights Jim. B.E.N. accidentally turns off the artificial gravity, whereupon Jim and Scroop threaten to float off into space. Jim grabs the mast while Scroop gets entangled in the flag and cuts himself free: no longer connected to the ship, Scroop floats away. Jim and B.E.N. obtain the map; upon their return, they and the map are captured by Silver, who has already captured Doppler and Amelia.
When Jim is forced to use the map, the group finds their way to a metaphysical portal that can be opened to any place in the universe; this being the means by which Flint conducted his raids. The treasure is at the center of the planet, accessible only via the portal. Here, the so-called Treasure Planet is revealed to be a large, complex space station built by unknown architects and commandeered by Captain Flint. In the stash of treasure, Jim finds a missing part of B.E.N's cognitive computer, which causes him to remember that the stash is booby-trapped and the planet set to explode upon the treasure's discovery. In the ensuing catastrophe, Silver finds himself torn between holding onto a literal boat-load of gold and saving Jim, who hangs from a precipice after a fall. Silver saves Jim, and the group escapes to their original ship. The ship is damaged and lacks the motive power required to leave the planet in time to escape. Jim attaches a rocket to a narrow plate of metal and rides this device towards the portal to open it to a new location while Delbert pilots the ship behind him. Jim manages to open the portal to his home world of Montressor, through which all escape the destruction of Treasure Planet.
After the escape, Amelia has the surviving pirates imprisoned aboard ship and offers to recommend Jim to the Interstellar Academy after his heroic actions. Silver sneaks below deck, where Jim finds him preparing his escape. Jim lets him go, inheriting the shape-changing pet called Morph. Silver predicts that Jim will "rattle the stars", then tosses him a handful of jewels and gold to pay for rebuilding the inn, revealing that it was he who had burned it. The film ends with a party at the rebuilt inn, showing Doppler and Amelia now married with children, and Jim a military cadet. He looks to the skies and sees an image of Silver in the clouds.
[edit] Production
Treasure Planet took roughly four and a half years to create, but the concept for Treasure Planet was originally pitched by Ron Clements in 1985, during the meeting wherein he and John Musker also pitched The Little Mermaid.[4] Principal animation for the film began in 2000 with roughly 350 crew members working on it.[5]
The overall look of Treasure Planet was based on the art style promoted by illustrators associated with the Brandywine School of Illustration (such as Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth), whose illustrations have been described by the film's crew as being the "classic storybook illustration", having a painterly feel to it, and being composed of a warm color palette.[6] The animators used a computer animation technique called Deep Canvas alongside the traditionally-drawn characters in order to achieve a "painted image with depth perception" and enabled the crew to place the camera anywhere in the set and maneuver it as they would maneuver a camera for a live-action film.[5]
To make the film more "fun" and to be able create more exciting action sequences, the crew created the concept of the "Etherium", an "outer space filled with atmosphere".[7][4]
With regard to design, the crew operated on rule they call the "70/30 Law" (an idea that Andy Gaskill has credited to Ron Clements), which meant that the overall look of the film's artwork should be 70% traditional and 30% sci-fi.[8]
In order to test how a computer-generated body part (specifically John Silver's cyborg arm) would mesh with a traditionally animated character, the crew took a clip of Captain Hook from Disney's Peter Pan and replaced his arm with the cyborg arm.[9]
Several changes were made late in the production to the film. The prologue of the film originally featured an adult Jim Hawkins narrating the story of Captain Flint in first person,[4][10] but it was considered by the crew to be too "dark" and lacked character involvement.[4] The crew also intended for the film to include a sequence showing Jim working on his solar surfer and interacting with an alien child, which was intended to show Jim's more sensitive side and as a homage to The Catcher in the Rye.[11] Because of the intention to begin the film with a sequence with Jim solar surfing, the sequence had to be cut.[11]
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Jim Hawkins |
| Brian Murray | John Silver |
| David Hyde Pierce | Dr. Delbert Doppler |
| Martin Short | B.E.N. |
| Emma Thompson | Captain Amelia |
| Michael Wincott | Scroop |
| Laurie Metcalf | Sarah Hawkins |
| Roscoe Lee Browne | Mr. Arrow |
| Patrick McGoohan | Billy Bones |
| Dane A. Davis | Morph |
| Corey Burton | Onus |
| Austin Majors | Young Jim |
| Tony Jay | Narrator |
[edit] Crew
| Crew Position | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Musker Ron Clements |
| Produced by | Roy Conli John Musker Ron Clements |
| Original Story by | John Musker Ron Clements Ted Elliott Terry Rossio |
| Screenplay by | John Musker Ron Clements Rob Edwards |
| Adapted from the Novel by | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Songs by | John Rzeznik |
| Original Score by | James Newton Howard |
| Associate Producer | Peter Del Vecho |
| Art Director | Andy Gaskill |
| Film Editor | Michael Kelly |
| Artistic Supervisors | Barry Johnson (Story supervisor) Rasoul Azadani (Layout supervisor) Dan Cooper (Background supervisor) Vera Pacheco (Clean-up supervisor) David Tidgwell (Effects supervisor) Kyle Odermatt (Computer Graphics supervisor) |
| Supervising Animator | Glen Keane (John Silver) John Ripa (Jim Hawkins) Ken Duncan (Captain Amelia & Scroop) Sergio Pablos (Dr Doppler) Oskar Urretabizkaia (B.E.N) Michael Show (Morph) Jared Beckstrand (Sarah) T. Daniel Hofstedt (Mr Arrow) Nancy Beiman (Billy Bones) Ellen Woodbury (Silver's Crew) Brian Ferguson (Onus) Marc Smith (Hands) John Pomeroy (Captain Flint) |
| Associate Art Director | Ian Gooding |
| Production Design | Steve Olds, Frank Nissen |
| Visual Development and Character Design | Peter Clarke, Peter De Séve, Craig Elliott, Thierry Fournier, Buck Lewis, Rick Maki, Alex Niño, Eric Pigors, Michael Spooner, Rowland Wilson |
| Assistant Artistic Coordinator | Tina Price |
| Production Manager | Cathy McGowan Leahy |
[edit] Reception
Treasure Planet was a box office bomb,[12][13] grossing only $38 million despite its $140 million budget.[1] Consequently, Disney's Buena Vista Distribution arm was "forced to restate its fourth quarter earnings downward by $47 million within a few days of the release." [13]
The critical consensus was mostly positive to Treasure Planet, with the film currently retaining a 72% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[14] Critic Stephen Hunter stated that the film "boasts the purest of Disney raptures: It unites the generations, rather than driving them apart". [15] Film reviewer Kim Hollis boasts that "there’s plenty to recommend the film - the spectacular visuals alone make Treasure Planet a worthwhile watch." [16] Of the critics who panned the film, many reviewers complained about the script, describing it as "listless", [17] and the characters as "not creatively rendered". [16] Critic Andy Klein remarked, "If only its script were as amusing as its visuals." [17] Renowned film critic Roger Ebert has said that a more traditional take on the film would have been "more exciting" and "less gimmicky". [18]
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for a number of Annie Awards.[19]
[edit] Soundtrack
| Treasure Planet Original Soundtrack | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Soundtrack by Various Artists | ||
| Released | November 19, 2002 | |
| Label | Walt Disney Records | |
| Producer | James Newton Howard, John Rzeznik | |
The soundtrack to the movie is largely orchestral in nature, although it produced two moderately successful pop singles from The Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik and British pop-rock group, BBMak. The songs were written and performed by John Rzeznik in the film, but BBMak performed one of the songs for the album. The score was done by James Newton Howard, who said that the score is "very much in the wonderful tradition of Korngold and Tiomkin and Steiner."[20] The score has been described as a mixture of modern music in the spirit of Star Wars and Celtic music.[17][21] Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and members of his Skyedance band play on several of the pieces, particularly the ones featuring dance elements on screen. Sections of the score have been used to advertise the films The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Nim's Island.
[edit] Track listing
- "I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" (John Rzeznik) - 4:11
- "Always Know Where You Are" (written by John Rzeznik, performed by BBMak) - 3:19
- "12 Years Later" - 2:44
- "To the Spaceport" - 1:55
- "Rooftop" - 2:32
- "Billy Bones" - 2:24
- "The Map" - 0:58
- "Silver" - 2:39
- "The Launch" - 2:42
- "Silver Comforts Jim" - 3:23
- "Jim Chases Morph" - 3:17
- "Ben" - 2:30
- "Silver Bargains" - 2:59
- "The Back Door" - 4:18
- "The Portal" - 5:04
- "Jim Saves the Crew" - 4:37
- "Silver Leaves" - 5:12
[edit] Differences from the novel
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Besides the fact that the novel is set on Earth and the film in space, there are several other differences between the Treasure Island novel and the film. Jim Hawkins' father in the novel dies in the beginning, whereas he abandoned Jim and his mother in the film. In the novel, Billy Bones stays at the inn for a while before dying due to a stroke brought on by alcoholism and exposure to the death-sentence called the Black Spot. In the film, Billy Bones crash-lands at the Benbow Inn with the map to Treasure Island and shortly afterwards dies of grievous injuries.
The characters of Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey are combined into Dr. Doppler in the film. As opposed to the novel's male captain (Alexander Smollet), the captain in the film is female. Mr. Arrow in the novel is an alcoholic who vanishes one night early in the journey, presumably as a result of drunkenness, while in the film he is a competent, stony-skinned member of the crew who is murdered by Scroop. (However, it should be noted that making Mr. Arrow a respectable man is common in adaptations of the movie, as it was also done in Muppet Treasure Island). Ben Gunn's character is present in the movie as a robot named B.E.N. (Bio-Electronic Navigator).
The novel depicts Long John Silver as being handicapped with a wooden leg. His companion is a parrot who is named Captain Flint. The film presents Silver as having a cybernetic arm and leg; accessories which act more as an advantage than a hindrance. His companion is similarly altered for the film: Morph, whose ability is evident in the name he sports, loves Silver but gains an attachment to Hawkins. For the film, the crew members were all chosen by Doppler but seem much more hostile toward Hawkins. Silver's presence on the ship in both the movie and novel is presented as being that of the ringleader who masks his mutinous intentions by fawning on the Captain. In the film, unlike the novel, Hawkins is forced upon Silver when the Captain orders Silver to monitor the boy. This responsibility, while received hesitantly, leads to Silver's softening toward Hawkins and eventually becoming a father figure to the boy.
Scroop's death at the hands of Jim on the top of the mast mirrors the death of Israel Hands in the novel. Though the pirates fail to obtain the treasure in both the novel and the film, the reasons for this differ. In the novel, the treasure is found and 'relocated' by Ben Gunn and recovered by the crew, whereas in the film, the treasure is mostly lost when Treasure Planet self-destructs. Instead of being marooned, the pirates in the film are captured and put below deck.
In the novel, John Silver escapes with a few bags of silver at an unspecified point; in the film, Jim allows him to escape. Also, the novel portrays Long John Silver as rather more sinister and less of a father figure than does the Disney film.
[edit] Other media
Disney has released four Treasure Planet video games to date: Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon for PC, as well as games called Treasure Planet for the Playstation, Playstation 2 and Game Boy Advance.
[edit] References and Notes
- ^ a b Treasure Planet 2002. boxofficemojo.com (December 6, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
- ^ Murray, Rebecca (November 19, 2002). John Rzeznik Sets Sail for "Treasure Planet". movies.about.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
- ^ Diorio, Carl (January 25, 2002), “Big Bang for Disney's 'Planet'”, Daily Variety: 51
- ^ a b c d Ron Clements, Roy Conli, Dan Cooper, Roy Disney, Ian Gooding, Glen Keane, John Musker, John Ripa. Treasure Planet DVD Bonus Materials: Visual Commentary [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Ferguson, Amy (November 2002), “Technological Treasure: Disney's planet breaks new ground in animation.(Walt Disney Pictures)('Treasure Planet')”, Film Journal International 105: 16-17
- ^ Ron Clements, Dan Cooper, Roy Disney, Andy Gaskill, Ian Gooding, John Musker. Treasure Planet DVD Bonus Materials: The Brandywine School [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ^ Kurtti, Jeff (October 1, 2002). Treasure Planet: A Voyage of Discovery. Disney Editions. ISBN 0786853662.
- ^ Andy Gaskill, Ian Gooding. Treasure Planet DVD Bonus Materials: The 70/30 Law [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ^ Glen Keane. Treasure Planet DVD Bonus Materials: The "Hook" Test [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ^ Ron Clements, John Musker. Treasure Planet DVD Bonus Materials: Deleted Scenes - Original Prologue: Adult Jim [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Ron Clements, John Musker. Treasure Planet DVD Bonus Materials: Deleted Scenes - Jim Meets Ethan [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ^ Chawla, Sujit (December 2002). Weekend Box Office (December 6 - 8, 2002). www.boxofficeguru.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ^ a b Dougherty, Conor (January 13, 2003), “Box office figures: pure Hollywood spin”, Los Angeles Business Journal, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_2_25/ai_97615940>. Retrieved on 7 February 2008
- ^ Treasure Planet (2002). www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ Hunter, Stephen (2007-11-27), “Unburied Pleasure: 'Treasure Planet' Transports to a Swashbuckling Future”, Washington Post: C01, <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43867-2002Nov26>
- ^ a b Hollis, Kim (May 6, 2003). Drawn That Way: Treasure Planet. www.boxofficeprophets.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
- ^ a b c Klein, Andy (November 25, 2002), “Film Review: Treasure Planet”, Daily Variety Gotham: 14
- ^ Ebert, Roger (November 27, 2002). Treasure Planet. rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
- ^ Outstanding Character Animation, Outstanding Character Design in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Effects Animation, Outstanding Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production, and Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production - 30th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners. www.annieawards.com (2002). Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
- ^ Flick, Larry (December 7, 2002), “Soundtracks”, Billboard: 16
- ^ Brennan, Mike (April 12, 2005). Soundtrack.Net: Treasure Planet Soundtrack. www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Treasure Planet at the Internet Movie Database
- Treasure Planet at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Treasure Planet at Box Office Mojo
- Treasure Planet at Rotten Tomatoes
- Treasure Planet at Metacritic
