It's not a new thing for good stories to be overlooked for a while. Good art is not always appreciated or even understood. I, and many others, would place Disney's Steam punk rendition of Robert Lewis Stevenson's classic in this category. While the animated film was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature its mixed reviews and poor turnout in the box office cost it the appreciation I feel it deserved. However, like most good art, the movie has made a bit of a come-back in the hearts of viewers. It is a bit of what we could call a cult classic at this point. These days if you do any research Treasure Planet is almost universally identified as an "underrated" Disney classic.
But you aren't here to get everyone else's opinion, so why don't I give you mine.
Treasure Island is a story that is recognized a lot in media. Not without reason, the story is a beautifully written one. As a child this story was one of the formative stories in my life, along with Lord of the Rings and Peter Pan. The original book is an incredible read, and easy to get through. It's no wonder it's considered a classic. Muppet Treasure Island is actually pretty good too, and It's the movie still what I think of when I hear "Muppets"
Treasure Planet is everything that I could possibly hope for in an animated movie. I have watched this movie redundantly to the point that any normal person would be bored. Not unlike a child actually.
Treasure Planet has a lot to offer. From the first moments of the movie you are treated to an taste of some of the beautiful animation that is displayed through the film. The setting in space it taken full advantage of and the color pallet is brilliant. Because aliens and technology play a large role in the film it could have been easy for the movie to look more like a patchwork quilt then a realistic world. While there were a few unbelievable creatures or the most part the animation was smooth and played out beautifully. The idea of ships in space may seem a bit ridiculous, but it flows so beautifully in the animation that it feels as natural as cars on roads.
Another aspect of the movie that I really enjoy is the script. The dialogue is so descriptive of the characters, and never feels forced or contrived. Captain Amelia, for example, had a complex dialogue fat with complicated words. Her dialogue is one of my favorites because there is always more layers to discover as you dig into her words. And of course, who can forget Silver, a complex character and a "villain" that in my opinion, doesn't have a parallel in all fiction. Iconic lines like "You're going to rattle the stars, you are." and the "You've got the makings of greatness in you." speech define the character not just as a charismatic man, but one with real depth.
This brings us to the ultimate beauty that is Treasure Planet. Yes, it had beautiful animation, action, deep themes, and comedy lines that were pure gold, but ultimately the wonder of this movie is in it's characters. Treasure Planet is essentially character driven and revolves around one essential relationship. The friendship, if you can call it that, between Silver and Jim is deeply relevant and resounds through multiple generations, but perhaps in this one more then ever before.
Jim is a character who has suffered deeply from his fathers abandonment when he was a young child. This wound is never downplayed in the movie and all the appropriate respect is given to this absence in Jim's life. While they do not pull any punches with Jim's backstory, it is not an irrelevant character twist but is skillfully woven into the plot.
On the other end we have Long John Silver who is both villain and father figure at once. While we know that Silver begins his friendship with Jim as only a way to distract him and gain information on the treasure we quickly see that Silver truly grows to love the boy. It is ironic that Silver is one of the least trustworthy characters in the movie, but is probably the first person to place any real confidence in Jim. Silvers character is tragic in many ways while in others he accomplishes more then anyone else in the films. When Silver runs away in the last minutes of the film he shows that he is not by any means a perfect man, or even really reformed. Silver's relationship with Jim was not a radical change of heart for him as a character, which almost makes it better. While you could argue that Silver abandons Jim again, like his father did, you cannot deny that Silver changed Jim's life in a radical way. Jim is no longer defined by other peoples choices, but is "charting his own course."
There are multiple lessons we can come away from this movie with. While there are the typical Disney themes of self-confidence and believing in your dreams, I don't think these are the best take away. One of the reasons that this film resounds so much with me is because Silver is so broken and yet does something so amazing simply by reaching out to another person. This simple action on Silver's part end in sacrifice and struggle but never regret.
In a culture that focuses on all the damage that could be caused by a carelessly spoken word or a character flaw, be it right or wrong, we often choose to pick people apart for their flaws instead of seeing their potential. Long John Silver was by no means a good man. He was a pirate who was fully willing to do whatever it took to get his hands on gold. Despite all these sins, Silver changed one life for the better, and in the process rescued many more. Long John Silver saw something in a hurting boy that others chose to ignore.
We as humans mess things up a lot. Sometimes those things are small, sometimes we make mistakes that leave lasting effects. It's part of the human experience. But no matter how many mistakes you make you still have great value and worth, because nothing touches the human heart like the love of another human. This isn't about redemption or turning a new leaf, it's about the simplest and purest of all things: the ability of one human to profoundly impact another. Most of us are like Long John Silver or Jim. We have the capacity for great evil, or the ability to "rattle the stars". We have all made our mistakes and we carry the wounds from those other's have made, but we all have the capacity to reach out to help our fellow man.
Because these themes are so influential to me I have leaned heavily on them in my story telling. Relationships in my book spread beyond a few romantic endeavors and often explore the affects that one human can have on others. Some of my characters are struggling to overcome pain in their relationships, while others are experiencing encouragement and love. Themes like friendship, found family, and the affects of a single act of kindness play largely into the plot. One character especially is largely influence by Jim Hawkins, along with others. Amonshek, who you were introduced to last week, is a man who is largely molded by the relationships in his life. Next week I will be releasing a short story from Amonshek's backstory to let you get a glimpse into a few of those relationships. If you appreciate deep and complicated relationships you will enjoy this character and will be particularly interested in his role in Smoke Fire and Ash Vol 1. If you haven't already, check out last weeks post.
If you want to keep up with the progress on the book be sure to come back here every week for updates and short stories. You can also follow me on twitter, Here and on Facebook Here. I'm also working on a short story to release on Wattpad, so you can have a taste of my writing before Smoke, Fire and Ash Vol 1 is available. I will be sure to provide more information when that is available.
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