Treasure Planet

Since first being published in 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island has gone on to become one of the most ubiquitous novels, receiving a number of adaptations in the coming centuries while also arguably setting the initial default for pirate stereotypes; one of the most famous of these adaptations is Disney’s live-action film adaptation of the same name in 1950, with Disney’s own Pirates of the Caribbean from 2003 arguably overwriting the pirate stereotype into Jack Sparrow clones. The year 2002 would see Disney adapt Treasure Island again, this time fully animated and given a space/steampunk aesthetic under the name Treasure Planet. I had somewhat of an interest as a kid when it first came out, however I never ended up actually being able to watch it until recently, after having heard how good it actually was. Though it’s not without flaws, I did find myself enjoying it for what it was.

Stubs - Treasure Island (1950)

Treasure Island (1950) Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney, Walter Fitzgerald, Denis O'Dea Directed by Byron Haskin Screenplay by Lawrence Edward Watkin Based on the novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (London, 1883) Produced by Perce Pearce. Run Time: 96 minutes. USA Color Adventure

In 1949, Disney was known as an animation studio, but namesake Walt Disney had bigger plans. He was about to make his first entirely live-action film and for source material, he had chosen one of the classics, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. According to studio publicity materials, Disney had been working on the idea for fifteen years and had originally planned to produce the story as an animated feature.