TREASURE PLANET (2002):
Written by: Ron Clements, John Musker, Rob Edwards, Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio

The backstory to the making of this movie is more interesting to me than the actual film itself, which is totally forgettable. Clements & Musker, two A-level directors responsible for The Little Mermaid, basically begged the studio for 12 years to make this, being rejected every time. Again and again, they were told to put it off and given another project (like Hercules), until FINALLY they’d done enough favours to be granted their dream. And of course it almost killed Animated Features for good.

A pretty forgettable Disney film (seriously, five years later I remember NOTHING. Just the MILF character, the captain (iconic to furries, lol), and the Poochie-esque kid) which seems to take an awful lot from Atlantis in theme and tone- the whole mixing of past & future tech. It’s basically Treasure Island but with space stuff and cyborgs and junk, which begs the question as to whom this movie is supposed to appeal to- marketing seemed to put a lot of focus on getting the young male audience to go see both of these films, when most Disney films had attempted to go for wide audiences by focusing on romance and a bit of action/danger. These films (along with some other late-90s, 2000s-era stuff like Titan A.E.) were going for this sci-fi/blockbuster thing, ironically a few years before the market would take off for things like superhero movies and The Pirates of the Caribbean. So in the end the limited market appeal of these films killed everything (that and releasing it during a nasty time- like right after the first Harry Potter film)- Disney almost lost faith in Animated Features after this.

It doesn’t help that the main hero Jim Hawkins is a walking Stereotypical Teen Character, being rebellious and troublesome, but also endearing and motivated, so he comes across like a collection of Poochie-esque “this is a cool person” stuff like AIR SURFING WOOOOO GNARLY DUDES!! It’s notable use of Steam Punk is interesting to me, since that’s always been very much at the edge of pop culture- it’s fans are SUPER into it, and have been for years, but it’s such a small, cult following that rarely sees the light of day.

Reception & Cultural Impact: This movie bombed HARD. Like $40 million against $130 million or something. An unmitigated disaster, it was derided as gimmicky and boring. It bombed so badly that Disney considered dropping their animated stuff entirely. As such, Disney has largely totally ignored it. It has a teeny “online fandom”, largely over the a Sci-fi Steampunky stuff and the furries, but even this is small beans.

hey, isn’t that the guy from “Roly Poly Olie?”

JIM HAWKINS

-Jim is basically your average Teenage Character, complete with cool hobby (solar surfing instead of skateboarding, since this is the future and all). He’s not a major fighter (most of the Mutineers on the ship could easily take him, I think), but he’s athletic enough. And oh my god- look at that ’90s hair! The “hair on the sides of your head is DUMB!” look combined with the top part in the middle! Holy jesus did a ton of kids have that hairstyle back in the day!

About the Performer: Well Hell. Levitt went from “Tommy from 3rd Rock From the Sun to huge star so quickly it blew my mind. I remember him as grouchy teen Tommy, so him suddenly turning into a big name overnight was fun. Appearing in stuff like 500 Days of Summer, 50/50 and others gave him a ton of credibility and showed him as a multi-talented performer, though his career slowed down lately- I haven’t seen much of his stuff in a while. As Jim, he was basically just “Tommy” still.

But… yeah, people dig the cat-lady and the mom.

JOHN SILVER

-Silver is a rarity in Disney films- a villain who actually changes sides by the end, turning to the side of good by giving up his treasure to save Jim Hawkins after coming to like the boy. He’s fairly powerful, and gets extra boosts from his Cybernetics.

About the Performer: Brian Murray just died this August, and was a white guy with a Theater career so long he got a Tony in the early 1960s (for Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead). Most of his work is on the stage, but he has some movie & TV credits in smaller roles.