Review of Treasure Planet (2002) by Rainer K — 13 Aug 2012

I watch animated films largely because of the beautiful visuals. This hybrid animation of 2D and 3D doesn't look very good though - the CGI parts aged really badly.

The reason why I didn't hate Treasure Planet is the solid storytelling, the creative setting, and the absence of musical pieces.

I hate musicals. Not because I hate music but because it distracts when characters just start singing in the middle of a drama. In animated films this was usual too for a long time. Luckily, at the end of the 90s things changed, and animation started to abandon the singing.

Treasure Planet as the name might suggest is the adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, although set in space and featuring aliens, robots and other science fiction elements. The story is nicely adapted and the setting works surprisingly well.

I especially loved John Silver's character who is much nicer as I remember him from the original.

But again, like in so many Disney classics it's the little sidekick who is arguably the coolest and most likable character in the film. In this case it's Morph, a small shapeshifting... thing who looks a bit like the pokemon Ditto.

Stylish and quite action-packed Treasure Planet is a neat adventure tale in outer space hampered only by a too light tone (it's a children film I know...) and mediocre visuals.