I really enjoyed Treasure Planet.  Disney took major artistic risks with this full length animated feature adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.  When I first saw the trailer I thought it was an idiotic concept --- the Treasure Island story (pirates, Long John Silver, buried treasure), mixed with futuristic concepts (space travel, teleportation, cyborgs), but it works.  They also mixed the animation styles quite a bit which I also felt was a bit risky, but again, it worked.   

      Some of the characters were clearly inspired by the Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse era.   Examples are David Hyde Pierce’s dog-like Dr. Doppler and Emma Thompson’s cat-like Captain Amelia.  The young central character of the story , Jim Hawkins voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, differed from the standard Disney style, in that, in he was a human, but mostly in that he looked very much like a character from Japanese Anime.   

      The artistic style of the surroundings was an eclectic mix of computer animation, and hand drawings that were both futuristic and of the period form the original Treasure Island.  I guess I’d have to say that is reminiscent of the style of the last two Star Wars films.   The style also reminded me a lot of the computer game Myst.   It was all so strange, but somehow it all fell into place.   It was all so familiar yet still seemed excitingly new.   Oh one other minor item that I found familiar….   For some reason, for years, the Disney animators are obsessed with the devil character from the Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia.  You can see his influence in the pinchers of the scary spidery character Skroopf, voiced by Michael Wincott (the bad guy in Count of Monte Cristo).

      I took my 5 year old grandchild and my 30 year old son to the film, and both of them enjoyed it.  My grandson seemed very excited actually.  As soon as we got out of the theater he was asking about our favorite characters, our favorite moments, the scariest parts, etc.   

       Don’t get me wrong… this is no classic.  You won’t see it nominated for an Academy Award (I don’t think).   It was, in fact, a bit slow in the first third of the film, but all in all an entertaining piece of escapism.

      As far as I am concerned, there has not been a decent animated Disney film (excluding all Pixar releases) since "The Lion King", which I felt should have been nominated for and won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.  Disney's recent efforts--"Dinosaur", "Atlantis", "Lilo & Stitch"--have been jokes, and it pains me each and every time I see Disney releasing a sequel to one of their classic animated films (case in point, "The Jungle Book 2" is to be released, shortly, featuring the voices of Haley Joel Osment and John Goodman).  They have just went downhill and I wonder when they will ever return.  "Treasure Planet" is certainly not that return.  This is a take on "Treasure Island", the classic Robert Louis Stevenson adventure about young Jim Hawkins adventures with pirates and buried treasure and such.  The only difference is that this version is set in space, filled with aliens and spacecrafts abd such--oh yeah, Jim Hawkins also sounds a hell of a lot like the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls.  That's becase, while "3rd Rock from the Sun" star Joseph Gordon-Levitt provides the speaking voice, Goo Goo Dolls John Rzeznik provides the singing voice.  Other celebrity voices include:  Emma Thompson, David Hyde Pierce, Martin Short, Laurie Metcalf, Patrick McGoohan, and Michael Wincott.

Now, don't get me wrong, the kids will probably swoon over this one.  Why?  Because kids tend to usually possess bad taste in cinema.  This reminded ME of a wacked out version of "Titan AE", which I thought was a superbly original science fiction animated adventure.  The songs and music were fine, but not nearly as memorable as such Disney favorites as "Hakuna Matata" and "The Bear Necessities".  Sure, you can't always fit in an unforgettable music classic, but I feel they could have done much better.  And, what is so great about John Rzeznik's voice?  I like the Goo Goo Dolls just fine, but he doesn't have what I would exactly call a fine movie voice.  Martin Short does.  David Hyde Pierce does.  Alas, they are wasted.  I guess the biggest quarrel I had with this film was that the magic was missing.  What made the book, and film versions of, "Treasure Island" so enjoyable was the sense of adventure--the swashbuckling and the romance and the villains and the heroes.  I can't take converting THAT to the outer reaches of space.  I kept waiting for The Borg to fly in and assimilate every one of those animated peckerheads (excuse the redneck jargon). I long for the day when Disney will start making quality animated pictures again.  How could they do so well for forty years and then just lose all creative ingenuity?  It seems impossible.  And, before God I swear this--the day they make a sequel to the film "Dumbo" is the day I commit to never seeing another Disney film ever again.  Some grounds are far too precious to be trodden.