Released in 2002, Treasure Planet was the passion project of Ron Clements and Jon Musker who were animators at Disney and were almost single-handedly responsible for the period of massively popular and successful animated films released from 1989-1999, a time known as the Disney Renaissance. These two are responsible for Aladdin, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast, to name a few.
Clements and Musker got off to a rocky start with The Black Cauldron, the only PG rated animated Disney film, and the film most widely known for nearly bankrupting the animation studio. They later went on to work on films like The Great Mouse Detective, but their real goal was to adapt Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island. They struck a deal with then-director of the animation studio Jeffery Katzenberg (who, after a messy break- up with Disney, went on to form Dreamworks) who promised them they could create the film if they gave him two big blockbusters. Two directors of the studio and five blockbusters later, Clements and Musker were finally able to make their movie. However, Disney had other ideas. The movie was a summer blockbuster, but wasn’t released until the end of summer against the first Harry Potter film, a movie which went on to become one of the highest- grossing franchises of all time. Disney’s advertising department barely pushed the film, and the box office results were meager to say the least. Disney wanted this movie to die so Clements and Musker wouldn’t be able to create a sequel and would be forced to go back to working on big, established franchises.
The film was nominated for an Oscar in animation the year it released. The film featured innovative combinations of traditional 2D animation, 3D computer animation, and a process known as “deep canvas” which consists of 3D environments being built in a computer in which traditional animators color in set pieces and later superimpose the 2D character model into the frame. This allows for long shots previously only attainable with steady cams or weeks of animating a single scene. The character of Silver was a groundbreaking blend of a 2D model with 3D cyborg parts. The blending of the different types of animation in this film are seamless and underrated, and are so well-executed it’s likely you didn’t notice them the first time you watched the film. Treasure Planet differs from its source material in several ways, the most glaring being that it is now set in an alternate version of space called the “Etherium” which features breathable air as well as wildlife. The movie implements an aesthetic balance of futuristic tech and Victorian-era clothing and ships, similar to the almost steam-punk visuals of Atlantis, but more refined. The creative team used a 70/30 balance of Victorian to sci-fi aesthetic, and even utilized the ratio in the soundtrack, mixing a score that consisted of roughly 70% orchestral pieces along with around 30% being contemporary tracks (the song that plays over the credits is co-written by a member of the Goo-Goo Dolls).
The character of Jim, the story’s protagonist, differs from his classic counterpart in several important ways, changing the narrative from one of treasure and vanity to one of personal growth and the exploration of self through the literal exploration of space. The Jim in Stevenson’s novel is, frankly, flat. His character really only exists as an audience stand-in so they can be swept up in a tale of pirates and treasure hunting. The character of Silver in the book is exponentially more interesting that Jim; just imagine how different of a tale the book would have been had Stevenson followed the adventures of Long John Silver instead of Jim Whatever. Treasure Planet fleshes out Jim’s character by having his father abandon Jim and his mother while Jim is still quite young, giving this version of Jim a fundamentally different upbringing than in the book, and also creating a character to which many kids in the early 2000s could relate to. This Jim has trouble with local law enforcement and often finds himself at odds with his mother, who struggles running the tavern alone. When the tavern is destroyed by pirates looking for Billy Bones, this gives Jim a thematic motivation to go treasure hunting that makes narrative sense: Jim sees the chance to hunt for treasure as a way to make up for his actions and to rebuild the tavern for his mother. This personalizes Jim’s goals, and makes us as an audience more likely to care about him as a character, and lets us get more invested in his success.
Treasure Planet is an underrated gem of a film that showcases the potential of creative professionals when they are able to pursue a passion project, and also a grim reminder of the power of corporate entities like Disney can exert in their pursuit of lucrative franchises. This film was the goal of Clements and Musker for years, and they even had a storyboard created for a sequel, but after the intentional suffocation of the movie’s premiere by Disney, there was no chance the duo would be allowed to continue the series. As Disney continues to buy up character rights and studios, who knows how many more stories like Treasure Planet will go buried and unknown? How many more passion projects will get snuffed out in favor of generic, over-hyped blockbusters? The happiest monopoly on earth may still create visually stunning and exciting movies, and while we can enjoy the new Star Wars or latest Spiderman reboot, it’s important we don’t forget that Disney is not our friend, and they are not a friend of the artist either. The tale of Treasure Planet is a cautionary one; Disney is made up of executives with the intent of netting themselves the largest possible profit, and at the end of the day, they don’t care how many Treasure Planets get erased along the way.