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Thoughts on Treasure Planet

This post is written in part to fulfill my promise to Maya that I would watch Treasure Planet before she graduated.


It was either this or Dead Poet's Society.



I thought I had seen this movie before, but it must have been too long ago because a lot of it seemed unfamiliar (not too unfamiliar as I've read Treasure Island, seen the live action Disney movie, and Muppet Treasure Island). Here are a few things that I thought about it:

  • It's very artistic. The mix of traditional and CGI is well done (not as jarring as Fox's Titan AE from two years previous)
  • This movie is fantasy, not science fiction. So, I'm not going to say "Space doesn't work that way!" except for one comment. Solar sails don't work that way! Solar sailing is a fascinating process, but it relies on the pressure of photons. It leads to very slow acceleration over a long period of time. The surface area of the sails needs to be much bigger than that depicted.
  • Every species seems unique. I would have expected to see at least a few other humans around, or dogs, or cats, or whatever Long John Silver is. But we don't. It doesn't seem to matter too much, since species can reproduce together, for whatever reason.
    Some sort of strange dog/cat alien babies.

  • I'm sad that it is not a musical. Musicals are very important to me.
  • Jim starts the movie as a teen in trouble. I don't understand juvenile delinquency. Maybe it's because I'm too much of a rule follower, but I can't imagine myself living in such a way to constantly be getting into trouble.
  • Long John Silver's betrayal of Jim is made even more painful by the fact that he became a substitute father figure. Of course, I think Chesterton points out somewhere that in order to be a betrayer, you first have to be a friend.
  • I really don't like how Jim lets Silver go at the end. He is a murderer! We might not see it on screen, but his crew is concerned that he's "gone soft" by not killing Jim. That means that he's done it before. One good act can put him on a path to redemption, but does not forgive past crimes.

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