Review of Treasure Planet

Treasure Planet is the adaptation of the classic swashbuckling children's tale of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. R.L.S originally wrote Treasure Island chapter by chapter for his son, as a bed time story for each night. When the story was first published it was actually condemned by some! Claiming that such violent tales encouraged boys to become ner-do-well's such as the pirates it glorifies! Suffice to say, Disney's futuristic adaptation fails to capture the rebellious nature of the original Treasure Island. Fans and fanatics can gripe all they want if a scene is missing from the book, or if a character's been changed, but as long as the core meaning of the story remains, it's essence. Then adaptation has been successful. Treasure Planet does not capture the essence of the book entirely, in fact it lacks a lot of it's power due mainly to the protagonist. Jim Hawkins of Treasure Planet does not suffer as much as his archaic counterpart, therefore his character does not under go the same heroic journey and does not emerge as profoundly changed as R.L.S original did.

Aside from that, Treasure Planet makes for a fine adventure film for the whole family. There are moments of joy and pathos to be found throughout. And it is interesting to see a science fiction twist on a pirating classic.