Treasure Planet (2002)

Written by Ron Clements, John Musker, & Rob Edwards
Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker

I first interacted with Treasure Planet as a young movie theater usher (read: theater sweeper) at a Regal in Temecula. It was my second week on the job, and one of the first theaters I cleaned was showing Treasure Planet, which had opened that weekend. As such, I’ve always known the ending of the movie, but never got around to actually watching it until now.

It’s pretty, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

My overall impression was, “Creative, but...why??”. It’s a cool idea, I suppose, taking this old pirate story and setting it in outer space, I’m just not sure why it had to be done in the first place. I’m not very familiar with the source material, but I don’t really see the reason why there couldn’t just be an animated version of the original story.

Look at that impressive camera work

The film is very gorgeous, with sweeping shots and a much looser camera than previous films. The imagination in the designs is very inventive, as well. How the characters can breathe in space isn’t ever really explained in the film, but I actually found myself not wondering that question until after the film was over (and usually I notice those questions pretty quickly). The camera work during the mutiny was particularly impressive.

Long John Silver…as a cyborg

The plot is pretty solid, and features a pretty deep storyline, involving an antagonist that isn’t your typical one; Silver plays both roles, good guy and bad guy. It’s unconventional, but starts to set up the grey areas we see in the more recent films.

Treasure Planet was a huge box office disappointment when it opened, but I don’t think that’s the film’s fault (to be honest, I don’t recall much promotion for the film, but I was also in high school so take that for whatever it’s worth). It’s a shame, because it’s actually not that bad of a film.

FINAL GRADE: B-