Movie Thoughts: Treasure Planet (2002)

• Released: 27 November 2002
• Directed by: John Musker, Ron Clements
• Running time: 1 h 35 min
• Rating 5/5

Synopsis

A young and troubled delinquent named Jim Hawkings goes on a space-faring journey to find the mysterious and long-lost Treasure Planet. On his way, he bonds with the ships cook, John Silver, who may have different plans than the Jim and his companions.

My Thoughts

So, if you were to ask me, who has reviewed and watched quite a few Disney movies by now, what my favorite Disney movie is, it'd be this one. Yes, I think it's better than The Lion King. It even knocked Disney's Hunchback off my top spot a while back. So let's take a look, what is so good about this movie and why does is speak to me so much?

The second question is quite easily answered. I love stuff like pirates and the mixed aesthetic of the movie. People have complained about it, but for me it really works. "It looks weird and doesn't work." For you, maybe. Come on, have a little suspension of disbelief. If the Genie can reference properties that wouldn't be out for centuries in Aladdin, I can buy sea ships in space. 

Another reason the movie really speaks to me: the characters. I pretty much love all of our mains, with maybe the exclusion of B.E.N.. It's rare for me in pretty much any movie to like nearly our entire main cast so much, but I think they really pulled it off here. I love how determined Captain Amelia is, I love how quirky Doppler is, I care a lot for Jim's mother, etc. 

But of course the special shout-out goes to our two most major characters: Jim Hawkings and John Silver. I like Jim a lot, he's not a perfect role model but he does have a lot of heart to him and will help people out. Silver is the quirky and secret villain who unlike many other Disney villains, shows a very humane and likable side to him after he bonds with Jim. The other characters are for the most part really good, but Jim and Silver legit feel like actual people at times. They are very well-rounded and honestly some of my favorite characters out of any Disney movie.

Other great things about the movie are for example the visuals. The animation is very much so a blend between 2D and 3D animation, maybe even more so than any other Disney movie out at the time. And, for the time, it did it incredibly well. For the most part, it all just blends seamlessly together. Take Silver's cybernetics for example, they're all 3D-animated but you really couldn't even tell at first sight. There are some places where the 2D and 3D don't mesh as well (e.g. the space whales) but for the most part it blends really well. The animation was also great and I loved the locations we visited. We spend a large portion of the movie on a single ship but it never felt dull or uninteresting visually (or writing-wise). 

So pretty much everything about this movie I love. The visuals, the characters, the relationships between the characters, the concepts of the traditional ships in space, etc. Was there anything that wasn't as great?

Yeah, okay, nothing is perfect as we all know. As much as I love Hunchback and Lion King, they have their flaws as well. But I feel like in Treasure Planet, the flaw impacted me the least. What flaw? Eh, I guess that B.E.N. can be obnoxious. I don't dislike him as much as Timon and Pumbaa in Lion King, but he's still not one of my faves from the movie, either. But honestly, this is genuinely the biggest complaint I have with the movie. I could also bring up how Scroop ends up being an underwhelming villain, but even he had a few good moments and he really isn't supposed to be our central antagonist; Silver is.

So honestly, yes, this remains my favorite Disney flick. I get that it's not for everyone but I absolutely adore it.