I just re watched this film and totally fell in love again. I find it really sad because I feel like this film deserved a lot more than it got. Since it was release around the same time as Harry Potter it was really overshadowed and didn’t gross that much. I find this really sad becuase Disney has something really good here but they decided to just throw it away because they though no money = nobody likes it. I know it will always have a place in my heart though. <3
Sorry, can’t agree with you on this. I thought it was weak on a lot of points. Characters were just not likeable, and the animation of some of them was simply bizarre, and not appealing to look at. It showed all the symptoms of the disintegration of Disney’s old animation studio.
It was simply not memorable, either. The great lines from 18th century period movies of TI and the book were absent in favor of modern dialogue. It wasa dumbed-down comic book version of the story.
I don’t even remember if there were original songs.
Making it sci-fi was the first mistake, but they were already deep into Pirates of the caribbean, so they couldn’t compete with their own franchise, I guess.
Had potential, but fell far short.
I do agree with you Woody, Treasure Planet is one of my favorite fiims especially since in most versions of Treasure Island that I had seen, Silver never seems to care very much for the boy but in this version, he does become like a father to him, can’t help but love it…
I agree with Rostron2 on this one, it was a good film but just not very memorable. I did enjoy the portrayal of Long John Silver in this version, as there was plenty of inner conflict going on there, and I think the animation of the film was nice to watch, but aside from that, the rest of the characters seemed rather bland and the dialogue wasn’t anything special. A shame really, as I like the overall concept of the film.
I had to appreciate Treasure Planet in some ways since John Musker and Ron Clements had wanted to make that film ever since the 80’s and actually pitched it to Disney the same day as The Little Mermaid, but was turned down due to the limitations they had at the time (in fact as part of a “deal” they had to make two more successful films for Disney, which were Aladdin and Hercules, before they could make this film). Ultimately though it did poorly in theaters and everyone blamed that film for killing off traditional animation at Disney. I thought it was okay myself, but I do believe that Lilo & Stitch was their better work in 2002.
I loved it, simply because I love Doppler, and him and Amelia are cute together. They inspired one of my original couples. And Silver was great too. And I loved Scroop’s design. I had long since avoided seeing this film because I didn’t appreciate Atlantis at first, but once I gave it a chance I was angry at myself for not checking it out sooner.
I have to agree with Rostron and lizardgirl on this, it’s a high-concept and daring film that’s for sure, but after watching it, I couldn’t really remember much. I don’t know why, there were some pretty spectacular scenes, and the characters were charming. I mean, they’re all very likeable; Jim Hawkins, John Silver, Morph, Doppler, Amelia, B.E.N., etc. But they just lacked that special ‘something’.
For example, the emotional scenes didn’t quite ‘touch’ me, I felt Jim was moping about for most of the movie, instead of taking the initiative like most of the Pixar protagonists. i.e. Most of the time, he just falls into a situation accidentally, or ‘happens’ to discover the next plot point, and so on.
The supporting characters like Doppler, Amelia, and B.E.N. don’t really have much to do except fight off the bad guys. John Silver, although a very interesting and enigmatic bad guy, went ‘soft’ too easily in the beginning. It would’ve been much more believable if he resisted caring for Jim in the beginning, and then slowly gets to like the boy; the pace of their ‘relationship’ in the movie was too fast for my taste. Doppler and Amelia’s, in comparison, was much more realistic. 
If there was one ‘great scene’, it was the ending where John Silver leaves Jim. That was well-done, and unexpected, I thought Jim would join Silver on his adventures, or Silver would be reformed into a good guy, but the direction they took for the conclusion was brave and affecting.
Other than that, the good things I can say about the film is that the ‘world’ was pretty imaginative and well-thought-out, the robot highway patrol, the half-moon ship port, the Aladdin ‘cave of wonders’… but the plot just lacked the extra ‘magic’ of the earlier films, and there were few musical numbers to make it memorable. But I liked it. It was ‘pretty’ good.
Extremely underrated film. I wish people would recognize it more.
The same thing happened to this film as Atlantis:The Lost Empire (Which I love, no matter how many people disagree). It got washed over because people were beginning to lose interest thanks to the magic of CGI. I love CGI deeply, but good movies should not be ignored. As for this movie itself, I haven’t seen it, so to be fair, no comment. I hope it has the magic of Atlantis, and when I see it, I’ll give a bona fide opinion.
I actually kinda fell into a depression watching this movie a while back, thanks to my envy of Jim’s relationship with Silver at the end of the movie. For that reason, I really REALLY love this movie, it’s actually one of my favorites, and I just relate to Jim so much. Looking back with a more critical perspective, it’s not the greatest movie, but a lot of the animation is absolutely stunning if you look at it, just watch Doppler. There were some seriously amazing artists on board. All in all, I think it deserved a bit more praise, but it wasn’t the best, by any means.
Treasure Planet is very underrated! Along with Atlantis:The Lost Empire…I hope it gets the attention it deserves one day…
Disagree. I loved the animation!
And yeah, I see both sides of this discussion. It’s a little underappreciated, but I also feel that it didn’t live up to its potential. I feel a little guilty saying that because I can never pinpoint exactly where it fell short.
Yeah, same here. I really love it, but there’s something about it that doesn’t make it really really great. The animation is superb, the story is solid, not sure what’s missing.
It and Atlantis are 2 Disney films that I really, really like artistically, but I know for a fact that the plot could have been much, much better if the execs hadn’t have gotten in the way.
I just watched this on TV the other day. It was like I thought; like Atlantis. Love it. The Ï’m Still Here"song where he and Silver got close was really special. Love it. 
I still need to see this movie. I saw the first 5 minutes on youtube, and I thought it was pretty neat. I defintely want to watch it.
Liked the warm, painterly backgrounds and the concept of the ethereal universe. Loved Morph and Mr. Arrow. The interaction between Doppler and Amelia felt forced, but both characters were serviceable. [spoil]The “mixed litter” at the end was an unsettling riff on Lady and the Tramp, and somehow it seemed to lessen Amelia’s grrrrl power.[/spoil]
It was tough to get with Jim’s angst, but…okay. It didn’t seem that he grew or discovered a whole lot about himself, just sort of reacted to circumstances and lucked into coming out on top via incredible timing. LJS, as a CG-hybrid animated character, was well scripted and voiced, but visually he was a bit deep into the uncanny valley. Even so, the Jim/LJS relationship was the most engaging emotional component of the film, and handled well.
BEN was nails on chalkboard, as Martin Short almost always is. The only thing I ever liked him in was Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper–he was The Villain, so it was comfortable to regard his character with amused distaste there. In TP, the sense of agitation Short’s dialogue creates is fast-forward-worthy.
All in all, an enjoyable, peaceful visual experience where warm, but rather jarring for some clunky intrusions into the positive vibes.
Treasure Planet will always be remembered as one of my favorite Disney films ever. A bold statement, I know, but with a catalogue of 50 it’s possible to see any Disney film on a Top 10 list (except Home on the Range, that was horrible). It came out right during the stages of my ideal youth, a young boy with a thirst for adventure awaiting an action-packed film with about the same character minus the age-deduction. While everyone was caught up in Lord of the Rings fever…okay I was too, but I managed to break away from it long enough to get hyped over this movie. My reaction to the trailer was unbelievable, it just looked so good. I started counting the days to its premiere, and on opening day I saw it, in Germany no less (don’t worry, it was an English theatre). The scenes that I still remember from that first viewing were the opening, Jim’s ride on the hover-board-thing, every scene with that Spider-psycho guy, the finale, and of course the black hole. That scene in particular I remember writing about in first grade (hey I got an A+). But the scene that stuck out to me the most (and still does) was the scene accompanied by Jim’s theme of the Goo-Goo Dolls. (Everybody now, “I’m still Heeeeeere!”). I loved how touching it was, I loved how dark it was, I loved how we learned everything about Jim in a single montage, I loved how there was no dialogue, I loved every aspect of it. Naturally, most of these details summarize how I feel about the whole film. It’s obvious that the film is very nostalgic to me, which is why I probably love it so much, but in a world of spoofs, remakes, reboots, sequels, reimaginings, 3-D, and Fred, is that really a bad thing? The movie still holds up on it’s own, and when I watch it I still catch a glimpse of myself years prior watching it in awe, a flashback to my youth. Even if you don’t like Treasure Planet (Roger Ebert 
, just kidding I love that guy), seeing it proves the point that DIsney doesn’t sell out. It’s an original story (sort of) with original characters that are fun, and several dark themes that push it into higher standards. I love how the characters have an Iron Giant style to them. I love all the scenes with traditionally animated characters in CG-animated backgrounds. I have a feeling that when John Lasseter looks back on his original dream of creating a movie with traditionally animated characters in a CG world, this is the type of film he imagined. I love this film, and everything about it, including those who agree with my feelings. That is all.
Strange you mention that, because I don’t get an Uncanny Valley vibe at all!
This line elicited several Chuckles…funny! Also, thanks for sharing your perspective–detailed thoughts always make for enjoyable reading.
q_o_p: It’s quite possible I’m more uncanny-valley-sensitive than the average bear. The whole CG-traditional animation hybrid thing weirds me out a bit, and motion capture is even worse…although I still liked Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It’s not hard to get past the reaction, but awareness always comes with the mental effort. In Treasure Planet, I kept focusing on LJS’s cyborg parts to see how they were moving. Must be a polygon thing.