• Although Treasure Island was released (in 1950) prior to the establishment of the Motion Picture Association of America’s ratings code, it has subsequently been rated PG, thus making it, in fact, the first Disney PG rated film. This was most likely due to such pirate violence as shooting and stabbing, resulting in a surprising amount of onscreen blood for a Disney film. These scenes were cut for a 1975 theatrical re-release to garner a G rating, but restored for video releases, including this one.
• The other three films made in England at this time by Disney were The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (also remade in animated form as Robin Hood), The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue.
• Treasure Island director Byron Haskin and Robert Newton teamed-up four years later for the non-Disney sequel Long John Silver. In addition to the sequel, Newton returned as Long John Silver in a short-lived television series title The Adventures of Long John Silver in 1955.
• Although Robert Newton would not make another Disney film other then his memorable turn in Treasure Island, he did have a prosperous film career, usually playing the villain such as Oliver Twist’s Bill Sikes and Les Miserables’ Javert, as well as several other pirates, including Blackbeard. He was posthumously named a Disney Legend last year.
• Another one of Robert Louis Stevenson’s literary classics, Kidnapped, was filmed by Disney in 1960.
• Screenwriter Lawrence Edward Watkin went on to pen several Disney productions, including Beaver Valley; The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men; The Sword and the Rose; Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue; The Great Locomotive Chase; The Light in the Forest; Darby O’Gill and the Little People; Ten Who Dared and The Biscuit Eater, as well as the Spin and Marty television serial.
• Producer Perce Pearce was a sequence director on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, contributed to the stories for the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Fantasia and Bambi, and wrote and directed Victory Through Air Power. In addition to Treasure Island, he produced Song of the South, So Dear To My Heart, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue.
• Bobby Driscoll made his Disney debut as Johnny in Song of the South, followed by a cameo in Melody Time. He won a special Academy Award one-year prior to Treasure Island for his performance in So Dear To My Heart. He would go on to appear in the One Hour in Wonderland, The Walt Disney Christmas Show and Dateline: Disneyland television specials and voiced Peter Pan in the 1953 animated classic, as well as Goofy Junior in several shorts.
• Composer Clifton Parker also scored The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and The Sword and the Rose.
• Several of the English character actors in Treasure Island made further appearances in Disney films: Walter Fitzgerald (Squire Trelawney) also appeared in Darby O’Gill and the Little People and Third Man on the Mountain. Denis O’Dea (Dr. Livesy) co-starred in Darby O’Gill and the Little People. Finlay Currie (Billy Bones) appeared in Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue; Kidnapped and The Three Lives of Thomasina. Geoffrey Keen (Israel Hands) also appeared in Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. And John Laurie (Blind Pew) appeared in Kidnapped and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing.
• Treasure Planet’s Billy Bones, Patrick McGowan (best known as TV’s The Prisoner), starred in The Three Lives of Thomasina, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and Baby … Secret of the Lost Legend.
• Michael McShane, who voiced the hulking pirate Hands, was the voice of Tuck and Roll in A Bug’s Life and also appeared in the Tower of Terror TV movie.
• Dane A. Davis, Treasure Planet’s sound designer, also provided the voice of Morph.
• Disney voice favorite Corey Burton (Return to Never Land’s Captain Hook, among many others) voiced Onus. He will next be heard reprising his role as Mole in Atlantis II: Milo’s Return.
• Treasure Planet was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film Academy Award.

Coming Soon:

• Get ready to empty your Mickey Mouse piggy banks: May 20^th is a big day for Disney DVD fans, with no less then four new releases: the Special Editions of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Love Bug and The Rescuers, plus the video premiere of Atlantis II: Milo’s Return.
• The A Bug’s Life Collector’s Edition DVD returns to store shelves on May 27^th, including an exclusive look at the next Disney/Pixar feature, Finding Nemo, which opens in theaters nationwide on May 30^th.
• Go back to the jungle when The Jungle Book 2 makes its DVD debut on June 10^th.