November
27, 2002, 8:30 a.m. Loose
with the Island
Disney’s Treasure
Planet.
By Bryan Preston
t's one part
Star Wars, one part Indiana Jones, and one part light astronomy
lesson, wrapped up in an animated feature that's sure to be a hit as we
head into Christmas season. It's Treasure
Planet, the latest from Disney Pixar Studios.
Set in a fantasy
world where old English inns host aliens from all over the galaxy, Treasure
Planet is a very loose adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic
Treasure
Island. Did I say "loose adaptation?" Instead of looking
for an island in the South Pacific that's thought to house a pirate's
treasure, our hero is instead sailing across the entire Milky Way looking
for a whole planet that legend says is home to the "loot of a thousand
worlds." And they do indeed sail in this movie, with fabric sails
on wooden masts that seem to catch a breeze, though I suspect Treasure
Planet's sails are there more for their form than their function.
The film is more
or less a coming of age story, as a young man named Jim Hawkins (Third
Rock from the Sun's Joseph Gordon-Levitt) stumbles onto a map that
seems to lead to the legendary Treasure Planet. The map comes with a price,
as pirates quickly descend to retrieve it, burning Hawkins' mother's inn
in the process. Hawkins then decides that he must find the treasure both
to rebuild the inn as well as to redeem himself for his past delinquency.
His mentor Dr. Delbert Doppler (Frasier's David Hyde Pierce) finances
the voyage, and goes along for the ride. His knowledge of astronomy comes
in handy on more than one occasion, as well as providing the occasional
science lesson.
Treasure Planet features some of the best movie animation to date,
and that's something considering it follows the likes of Toy
Story and A
Bug's Life. Of particular note is a scene in which a star blows
up into a supernova, then collapses to become a black hole. Yes, there's
some real science in this film, but it's interwoven into the story and
rendered so beautifully that even the most science-phobic shouldn't be
put off. In fact, they probably won't even notice. The appearance of space
phenomena from nebulae to a black hole has been deeply influenced by images
from the Hubble Space Telescope and other deep space imagers, making Treasure
Planet a feast for the eyes.
Treasure Planet
is an adventure on a galactic scale, and is likely to offer something
for the entire family. For children, there are more than enough laughs,
frights, weird aliens, fight scenes, and snowboard-like scenes to keep
up interest throughout. For parents, there are subliminal references to
pop culture icons such as Star Trek, a few good laughs, no profanity,
a decent moral catharsis, a show-stealing performance by Martin Short,
and, perhaps most importantly, enough entertainment to keep even small
kids glued to the screen. The audience at the screening I attended was
probably two-thirds children below age ten, but I never heard one act
up and saw no parents dragging any of their young 'uns from the theatre.
The one-year-old in the row in front of me grabbed my shoe once, but remained
otherwise entranced by the images on the screen. That's no mean feat.
Treasure Planet
is classic Disney, combining grand adventure with a lush fantasy and a
smidgen of romance. It's rated PG for frightening action and some mild
fighting (no character ever directly kills another, though one does directly
cause another's death), and opens this week.
—
Bryan Preston is a writer and television producer. He is also the author
of Junkyardblog.
t's one part
Star Wars, one part Indiana Jones, and one part light astronomy
lesson, wrapped up in an animated feature that's sure to be a hit as we
head into Christmas season. It's 
