Treasure Planet on DVD

Treasure Island

Disney’s Treasure Planet updates the classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale, bringing to it a science fiction setting that will perhaps make it more interesting to today’s “Star Wars” generation of moviegoers.

They’ve done a pretty good job of it, too, all things considered, and the well-hyped blend of traditional and computer-generated animation also works for the most part.

Sci-fi fans will have no problem suspending their disbelief for such concepts as solar wind-powered ships, though they may choke on characters being able to breathe in space. This shows the fine line the film makers have trodden between the original Stevenson classic (of which Disney also has a classic, 1950 live action version) and the “sci-fi-ing” of it.

Jim Hawkins is a young whippersnapper raised on tales of space pirates and the Treasure Planet that’s the mythical trove of their booty. At film’s opening he’s a tot grooving to the tales in high tech novel format, and then we jump forward to when an older Jim embarks on a voyage to find Treasure Planet and get the loot for himself and his circle of friends.

The ship, the RLS Legacy (a nice homage to RL Stevenson), has a competent hired captain and first mate, but a crew of the roughest sort. They’re led by the cook, John Silver, a cyborg who befriends Jim (and whose heart is soften by the boy) before betraying him as he and the pirates try to grab the plunder for their own.

We don’t need to get into the story here; it’s well known and though we haven’t read the novel this version is said to be quite faithful other than for its setting. But regardless of its fidelity to Mr. Stevenson, it’s an enjoyable tale that kids will undoubtedly love and we - who haven’t been kids for “mumblety mumble” years - also enjoyed it very much. It won’t go down in the annals of Disney as one of their true masterpieces in the vein of “The Little Mermaid,” “The Lion King” or “Tarzan,” but it’s still well worth your time.

Our biggest complaint was Martin Short’s character, a really annoying robot who appears there for comedy relief. We didn’t care for B.E.N. or for Short’s characterization (though we’ve been Short fans since SCTV, is he starting to become a parody of himself?)

The animators have made extensive use of CG here and it’s usually pretty easy to spot - though other instances (Silver’s cyborg arm and eye, for example) are much more seamless. The ships, and the shots that include them are spectacular; this movie really deserves to be seen on a big screen.

And to that effect, Disney has again released a very high quality DVD. The THX-certified disc features a gloriously clear and colorful direct-digital-to-digital anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) transfer. It looks terrific.

As often happens with many DVD’s from many studios, we found the interminable menu animations annoying. You can jump through them to a certain extent, but we wish companies would forget about dazzling us with their menu expertise and just get on with the presentation itself. As has been said: “Where’s the beef?”

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and is also top notch, though we wish Disney would also give us the choice of dts. The surround channels are well used, and the on-screen adventure gives the filmmakers plenty of opportunity to use them.

Then there are the extras. Though this is a single disc DVD release, they’ve still managed to pack on lots of stuff.

One of them is an interesting Visual Commentary where the producers/directors take you behind the scenes as the movie unfolds. There’s also a couple of deleted scenes, including the film’s original prologue and ending, both of which show that the filmmakers made the right decisions when they changed them.

You also get the “RLS Legacy Game,” which kids might like but which we found rather lame; you can take a virtual 3-D tour of the ship (which was fairly interesting) and then go on “the ultimate treasure hunt.” There’s a featurette, hosted by Roy Disney, on Disney's Animated Magic, DisneyPedia: The Life of A Pirate Revealed (which gives some interesting insight into the buccaneers of old), still and character galleries, looks at how they blended traditional animation’s 2D world with the 3D environment made possible by CG. And there’s a music video by John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, as well as some other stuff.

The extra material is fine, and gives added value, but we wish it were presented in anamorphic widescreen, which it isn’t.

Still, Treasure Planet is a good family adventure and who knows, maybe it’ll help inspire some kids to start reading some good, book-based yarns.

Treasure Planet, from Walt Disney Home Video
95 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring the voices of: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Roscoe Lee Browne, Brian Murray, David Hyde-Pierce, Emma Thompson, Martin Short.
Produced by Ron Clements, John Musker, Roy Conli
Written by Ron Clements, John Musker, Rob Edwards, Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

Treasure Island on DVD

Treasure Island is a groundbreaking film if only for the reason that it was Disney’s first live action adventure. But beyond that, it’s a timeless adventure in the grand Disney tradition that brought us such classics as Swiss Family Robinson, Old Yeller, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

And Disney has given the film a beautiful restoration that, while it unfortunately isn’t in anamorphic widescreen (it’s in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which is as it should be), is full of glorious color images that almost look as if they were shot last week instead of fifty-something years ago.

Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) is our young hero, a boy who embarks on a sea voyage to find the lost pirates’ treasure trove on the title piece of land. Driscoll is great as young ‘Awkins, but it’s Robert Newton who steals the movie with his absolutely classic performance as Long John Silver, the one-legged cook and pirate captain whose character has become the stereotypical pirate.

The story is quite similar to the above-reviewed Treasure Planet, though there are some substantive differences that are enough to make watching both versions worthwhile.

Silver’s character isn’t as soft in “Island” as it turns out to be in “Planet” - or at least the relationship between him and “Jim ’Arkins” isn’t as well developed, but he’s definitely the same opportunistic scalawag in both versions. And rather than Hawkins being a sci-fi extreme sports aficionado he’s just a little boy, albeit one with a spine of steel and a character to match.

So which version is better? That’s a tough one. They’re both very good, but we have to say that as a movie “Treasure Island” is better, but “Treasure Planet” is a much better DVD for audio/videophiles.

Not that “Island” is a DVD slouch, but it’s impossible to make a full frame, monaural movie into a DVD showcase. That said, as mentioned above, the full frame picture does look terrific all things considered - though owners of 16x9 TV’s will have to stretch and/or zoom the picture to fit their screens unless they want to risk burning in the gray bars to each side of the 4x3 picture.

Likewise, while Disney says on the DVD box that “Island” has been remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1 you could have fooled us. Not that the audio quality is no good: it is good, for a 1950 movie. But we didn’t notice any surround effects and, since there were no surround effects originally anyway, this is just fine with us. Think of it as good Dolby Digital mono.

Anyway, it’s nice to see Treasure Island given as good a DVD treatment as possible. It’s a good movie, a grand adventure for all ages, and a good title to have in the collection.

Treasure Island, from Walt Disney Home Video
95 min. full frame (1.33:1), not 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney
Produced by Perce Pearce
Written by Lawrence Edward Watkin, Directed by Byron Haskin

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think