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Treasure Planet
Starring The Voices Of: Laurie Metcalf, Jack Angel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Patrick McGoohan, David Hyde Pierce, Emma Thompson, Brian Murray, Michael Wincott, Corey Burton, and Martin Short
Inspired
By The Story By: Robert Louis Stevenson
Directors:
John Musker and Ron Clements
Feature
length: 95 minutes
Extras:
Visual Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, DisneyPedia: The Life Of A
Pirate Revealed, 3D Tours, Music Video, Trailers
Languages:
English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 20
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Also
being released day and date on DVD-Video with Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s
“Treasure Island: The Original Classic,”
but sold separately is Disney’s “Treasure Planet.” Now “Treasure
Planet” is an amazing combination of traditional and computer generated
animation to create a fantasy world for the film. The story is basically the
same as “Treasure Island” except for a few changes in characters to create a
world where the future and the past coexist. I have no problem with this because
we live in a world where the past and modern technology are in use all the time.
I also have no problem with cinematic adaptations that take the core of a story
and update it. Most films made today are essentially remakes of one thing or
another, but the literal transfer of 17th and 18th century
production design to some futuristic fantasy setting in this film just doesn’t
work as much as it should in part because anime has visited the idea of
starships based on submarine or other seafaring designs decades before
“Treasure Planet” with classics like “Star Blazers AKA Space Battleship
Yamato” and “Captain Harlock,” which has had a profound impact on many
sci-fi films and TV shows in the last 30 years or so and at times the fantasy
world created looks more like a cleaned up version that I would expect to see in
a “Heavy Metal” inspired animated feature. There is also a complete
disregard for any science whatsoever in this film, I mean you got people walking
around the deck of a boat in the vacuum of space dressed like they lived in
1765. The DVD extra features do explain the technology that runs the ships in
the film, but there is no explanation for how these people can walk around in
deep space exposed without freezing and dieing in milliseconds in the film at
all so what would I or someone else think if I saw this without the benefit of
the DVD extra features. A faint circle to appear and disappear at the beginning
at least would suggest that some kind of shield protects the people on the ship,
but for all of the thought that went into this film, viewers do not even get the
simplest visual reference to suspend disbelief if your older then ten years old.
This is why I categorized “Treasure Planet” as a fantasy adventure and not
even sci-fi because all it is the basic outline of “Treasure Island” with
space boats, aliens, and robots plugged in. It really doesn’t have much of any
established rules that even fantasy requires in order to make the viewer
believe.
The
aliens look too generic too with the typical cat and dog like aliens and
whatnot. That aside, if you just forget about the whole mismatching of elements
in the story, “Treasure Planet” is an okay way to pass an hour and a half
and a good compliment to the “Treasure Island: The Original Classic” DVD.
Disney has released “Treasure Planet” with a THX Certified transfer,
complete with the THX Optimizer™ program for picture and sound calibration, in
an anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) aspect ratio transfer preserving the way the
film was exhibited theatrically for home viewers as close as possible. The
transfer is a direct digital transfer and so the picture quality is fantastic
and despite my gripes, the traditional 2D and CGI 3D animation is truly
masterfully wedded unlike any film that has become before it. So as demo disc,
“Treasure Planet” for the picture quality alone is a wonder to behold. A
well-rounded English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is provided along
with French and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack options
and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are also
provided.
A
visual commentary with Producer Roy Conti and Director’s John Musker and Ron
Clements is included, which automatically branches out to various featurettes
and other materials such as deleted scenes and whatnot that appear as they
pertain to the film and commentary and then returns the viewer right back to
where they left off in the film. Much if not all of these extra features can be
found on the disc individually with certain areas overlapping under different
headings. These features include a three-dimensional tour the RLS Legacy,
the Treasure Planet itself, and even a treasure hunt interactive desktop DVD-Video
game.
The
“DisneyPedia: The Life Of A Pirate Revealed” (12:09) provides definitions
and background information that can be explored individually or as one reel to
include Pirate Definitions, Pirate Flags, Code Of Conduct, Pirate Ships, and
Treasures Lost And Found. There is a featurette entitled “Disney’s Animated
Magic” (14:29) hosted by Roy Disney and the “I’m Still Here” music video
(4:13) performed by John Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls with full 5.1 Surround
Sound.
Other
features include three deleted scenes in various unfinished stages of animation
that include the “Original Prologue” (3:01), “Alternate Ending” (1:11),
and “Jim Meets Ethan” (2:00). Under the “Behind The Scenes” heading one
will find the full screen trailer for Disney’s “Treasure Island,” various
art galleries, art design featurettes, character development, animation tests,
dimensional animation merging techniques, and the theatrical teaser (1:28) and
trailer (2:22) and two one sheet images along with links to other materials
available in other areas of the DVD extra features too.
Bonus
trailers for “Finding Nemo” (2:10), “Brother Bear” (2:17), “Atlantis
2: Milo’s Return” (: 40), “Stitch” (: 44), “Bionicle - The Movie: Mask
Of Light” (: 44), and “The Lion King: Special Edition” (1:43) wrap up the
extra features on this DVD. The main menu is animated with animated transitions
to standard interactive still frame menus and all are easy to navigate.
As
a whole “Treasure Planet” is a solid Disney DVD release that makes for a
nice companion to the superior live action classic “Treasure
Island,” which streets day and date with “Treasure Planet” sold
separately on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 from Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Treasure Planet