Treasure Planet (2002)

Pretty Good

From my favorite movies..

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Blistering performances.

Once again I discovered a movie that makes me surprised I haven't heard of it before. Apparently it flopped. Why, I don't know. It really is a pretty decent animation movie.It takes the old story about the Treasure Island that is loved by many and transfers it into space. Now this is where I have some complaints. I mainly watched the movie because of it. As a child I loved outer space stories and seeing a beloved adventure in outer space could be awesome. But for some reason it really doesn't feel like an outer space adventure. It still all looks like the old setting just with some characters looking like they are not from Earth. This kind of disappointed me personally. I wish they went further and made it more of a space adventure.But other than that it is a pretty good movie. We have the male protagonist trying to find himself and his destiny. And we have some other characters that help him on this adventure. We get some even to wonder about if they are good or bad.The animation is done really good, the voices are well selected and I absolutely liked the fighting and chasing sequences that were done in a very beautiful way,I have no doubts most kids will like the movie unless they also won't have enough of the space in it.

Alright so this was one of the very first movies I completely fell in love with when I was younger. I must've watched it at least 20 times in the timespan of like a year back then. I planned on rewatching it for a long time but just never really got around to it. And so finally, 10+ years later, here we are. How does it hold up?..Sure it's totally flawed in a lot of areas. My personal major complaint being that it suffers from a lot of the usual Disney tropes and relies on a very basic/familiar plot and story structure. Oh, and how does Scoop's death scene work? I mean it's a really cool and well done action set-piece but it doesn't make any sense lmao.Still though, the universe Clements and Musker managed to create here is just as fantastic as I remembered. They completely nailed the mixing of 2D and 3D animation, the character designs are very interesting, and the highly stylized animation on all of the planets, ships and spacey backgrounds is utterly mesmerizing. All of this just makes the whole experience so much more unique and memorable. All of the central characters and their intertwining relationships worked for me aswell, especially Captain Amelia x Doppler, B.E.N. x Jim, Morph x everyone, and ofcourse John Silver x Jim - that speech Silver gives to Jim is as good as it gets <3In the end it's obviously not the 10/10 masterpiece that it was to me when I was 6, but I'm so so happy to say that this rewatch did not ruin my extremely fond memories of this film at all. It pretty much just confirmed my theory that this is one of the most underappreciated things Disney has ever done.Do not sleep on it.

I don't know how I never knew this movie existed but I just saw it and I really liked it! It's a great coming of age film. There are pirates, aliens, adventures, treasure, adorable animal sidekicks, a robot companion with great comedic timing and hover boards. What more could a movie lover ask for? This movie has a bit of everything and the story isn't bad. I would actually like this to be a series because I think it could be really cool. A live action version would be interesting to see.

Until the release of "Frozen", "Treasure Planet" may have been the most over marketed Disney film of all time upon release. Back in 2002, it was EVERYWHERE. TV Spots for it were played almost religiously, "Treasure Planet" action figures and games were constantly being advertised between commercials on pretty much every kids entertainment channel and various fast food restaurants and cereal brands included "Treasure Planet" toys with their products. So obviously under-marketing was not the movie's problem...Which baffles me as the film was a massive financial flop earning only $109.6 million on a $140 million budget. So taking that into consideration, along with the fact that Disney would follow up "Treasure Planet" with the dismal "The Jungle Book 2" and the atrocious "Home On The Range", that MUST mean the movie was awful right? WRONG. Not only is "Treasure Planet" a childhood favorite, but is hands down one of the best, most emotional, most exciting and most investing Disney movies of all time. It's the most underrated without question.The visuals shown in the movie are unforgettable. Director Ron Clements and his production team have created a gorgeous, expansive and diverse universe; the planets, the aliens, the technology, the architecture, the weaponry. The world of "Treasure Planet" is one I was disappointed to leave by the end of its 95 minute run-time. The imagination behind the world building is "Star Wars" like in its scale.The film is also extremely well paced. From beginning to end, there was not a single moment where I was bored, expertly balancing character scenes, action sequences and comedic moments. It's almost to the point where I'm genuinely frustrated when the film ends as I was just having so much fun. On top of that, "Treasure Planet" is a film that's not afraid to put its character's through down-right traumatizing danger. Make no mistake about it, whether characters getting torn apart in black holes or melted in volcanic, planetary destructions, "Treasure Planet" can be extremely dark in its tone. Fortunately, "Treasure Planet" has the deep, investing characters to back up its gorgeous visuals. Jim Hawkins is extremely relatable and likable, a born rebel who just wants to make his loved ones proud of him. On the surface, his desire to find Flint's trove seems to be motivated by casual greed, but this is little more than a mask for his true motivation; to prove to his mother, his paternal figure John Silver and most importantly to himself that he can be somebody. Underneath his angsty exterior is a very emotionally vulnerable and broken person finally given a spark of hope by fate, and the movie has us consistently rooting for him to succeed. John Silver is very much a kindred spirit to Jim; he represents both the best (His compassion, determination, drive and loving nature) and worst (His anger, greed, stubbornness and impulsivity) personality traits of Hawkins, and thus works extremely well as a mentor figure. If Jim represents the youthful pursuit of one's validation and dreams, Silver represents how that passion can burn bright even into one's veteran years, strengthened by lessons learned along the way. In many ways, it is Silver's development and arc into a selfless, noble person that sparks Jim's transition into adulthood.Long before "500 Days Of Summer" made him a star, Joseph Gordon Levitt did a phenomenal job as Jim Hawkins. The passion and sincerity that Levitt gets out of the character has to have come from a personal place, as Hawkins inner torment and plight felt as real to me as an animated character's suffering could be. The diversity of Levitt's emotional range here is staggering, from beginning to end he is giving nothing less than 500% of his effort.As impressive as Levitt's performance is here, Brian Murray as John Silver is even better. How Murray is not consistently getting A-List work after this movie is completely beyond me. Murray can be charming, hilarious, intimidating and emotional as Silver, making the absolute most of a very complex character. The range of emotions Murray has to portray as John Silver is seemingly endless, and there isn't a single one that he doesn't nail on the head. His final scene with Jim Hawkins gets serious tears out of me to this very day.Emma Thompson is electrifying in her portrayal of Captain Amelia, and much like Levitt and Murray, delivers serious emotional range. Effective in both the film's comedic and serious scenes, Thompson displays great comedic timing and infectious charisma as the no- nonsense Captain of the RLS Legacy, and she is clearly having an absolute blast here.The lack of attention "Treasure Planet" gets as a Disney classic is extremely frustrating. It's not JUST an underrated film, it's not JUST a diamond in the rough, it's hands down one of the best and most mature works Disney has ever or will ever pump out. The movie has achieved somewhat of a cult status among Disney fans, but Lord knows that it deserved so much more. Definitive proof that you don't have to break box office records to make a masterpiece.