Review of Treasure Planet (2002) by Frank T — 19 Nov 2008

It's amazing how memory and bad association can play tricks with you. My opinion of Treasure Planet has bounced back and forth over the years, from starstruck adoration to distaste, it's financial failure leading to the closure of Disney's traditional animation department.

Recently I gave it another viewing, and boy was I wrong. It's not quite a classic, but it is indeed amazing and deserving of the Disney seal. The story is exciting enough, funny enough and touching enough to hold your interest, and while some characters grate on you (Martin Short's turn as a malfunctioning hermit Robot), most are beautifully realized in theory and animation (like a devilishly imaginative cyborg Long John Silver and a bitingly sarcastic, prim and graceful felid-captain by the phenomenal Emma Thompson), making you root for them.

And of course, as I've said before, the artwork is phenomenal, from sweeping galactic vistas to Roger Dean esque alienscapes. Good film, and better than Titan A.E.