Jim on Film: Treasure Planet: 101 Reasons
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Of all the Walt Disney Feature Animation releases since Beauty and the Beast, Treasure Planet grossed the lowest, even being surpassed by Home on the Range and Chicken Little in total box office take. Though reviews were generally kinder than those for Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Brother Bear, it has been the most maligned film in the media and by the top echelons of Disney management, particularly after Michael Eisner himself publicly trashed the movie by the end of its first weekend in release.

In the past six years, as Walt Disney Feature Animation has attempted to break out of the musical storytelling mold, I have been most impressed by the bold attempts at creating something new. Criticize The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and Brother Bear as you may, but for me, these films will always bear the mark of bravery and the height of creativity at the studio. They are attempts to tell stories that are different from those that have been told by the studio in the past, told in different ways and with bold moves ahead. Because of these bold moves, that these films were not as financially successful as Lilo and Stitch should not diminish their importance or artistic value.

As a result of these bold steps forward, I think our perception of what Walt Disney Feature Animation does and should do was greatly challenged. We entered the theaters for these films with our expectations clear, the masterpieces of the past, like Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, and The Little Mermaid, firmly rooted in our minds. There was a style of storytelling, character development, and humor we anticipated, and for many, when something as different as Atlantis: The Lost Empire came ashore, they were a bit blind-sided. I immensely enjoyed these movies at first viewing but many of them, to me, are films that improved on the second viewing, all for various reasons, probably more so having to do with me than with the films themselves. I would encourage any Disney fan who dismissed any of these films upon first viewing to take it upon themselves to pop them in the DVD player for another go-around. Of these films, because of the box office grosses being so low in the wake of the releases of a Harry Potter sequel and The Santa Clause 2, Treasure Planet is one of the least appreciated—and certainly the most under-valued—films of the past seven years, which is too bad because Treasure Planet has so much to offer.

One of the aspects of the film that most excited me in seeing promotional images still makes me watch in awe, which is a world that imaginatively blends modern day technology with a bygone era. Fifty years from now, the fantastic images in Treasure Planet might rival the “how did they ever come up with that�? amazement associated with Fantasia since the 1960s. Some critics, however, took to task this blending. I remember Roger Ebert questioning what was improved upon by giving the movie this stylistic spin. I think the answer would have to be coolness factor, plus the brilliant creativity involved. I still get excited watching Jim fall from the sky on his solar surfer and racing through his world. I also love seeing a nineteenth century sailing ship in the face of a supernova. It’s creative. It’s different. And it’s never been done like that before.