Treasure Island is a novel written in the era of the eighteenth century. The technology was basically just being started. Back then if you wanted to sail a ship, it was wooden. In this time period pirates were very common. Robert Louis Stevenson was right on point. Treasure Planet is a Disney movie that is based on the original novel of Treasure Island. Naturally, Disney put a twist on it, instead of the characters being humans, they were animals or cyborgs. The setting was completely different, instead of being on land or water like Treasure Island, they were in outer space.
The plot was majorly different. In Treasure Island there is a lot of violence, gore, and drunkenness, but since Disney produced Treasure Planet, they did a good job of keeping those scenes out of the movie. Finally, the theme differs in really just one way. It differs because, Treasure Island stresses the dangers of alcohol. Yet, again since Disney produces children’s movies they leave that out of the movie. The theme is still is in harmony with the idea of the two main characters Jim Hawkins, and Long John Silver, becoming very close friends.
Although, after deep consideration my belief is that Treasure Planet is the more enjoyable of the two because, it is easier to follow along with, and to relate too. The biggest difference in my opinion is that of the characters. The characters from Treasure Island are dry, with no sense of humor. For example, Dr. Livesey from Treasure Island is a doctor of medicine, who is very sophisticated and seems to be like a man who is very cocky.
While, in Treasure Planet they transform Dr. Livesey into Dr. Delbert Doppler. Dr. Delbert resembles a dog and instead of being a doctor of medicine is he an astronomer who is kind of a clutz, and seems to always fumble his words. Even our two characters are different! Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island is a good young man who is trying to help his recently widowed mother keep their Inn going. While, in Treasure Planet we see Jim grow up from a sweet boy, into a teenager who seems to always be in trouble. Our other main character Long John Silver is completely different. In Treasure Island he was middle-aged with a missing leg, while in Treasure Planet he is transformed into a cyborg.
A cyborg is a man or woman who is half human, half robot. Some more interesting things about Treasure Planet is that Disney completely took out the characters; Squire Trawlaney, Pew, Black Dog, Mr. Dance as well as some other minor characters. Billy Bones who plays a huge role in Treasure Island does appear in Treasure Planet but only long enough to give Jim the map. Ben Gunn is yet another character who stays the same yet they are somewhat different too. In both the novel and the movie he is a little crazy but in Treasure Planet they turn Ben into a robot who has lost his memory chip.
Captain Smollett’s characters change is my second favorite of the character changes. In Treasure Island Captain Smollett is a man who is strong willed and doesn’t back down. In Treasure Planet he is transformed into a brave, smooth skilled woman named Amelia. Finally, my favorite character change is that of Cap’n Flint. In Treasure Island he is Long John Silver’s parrot, while in Treasure Planet he is transformed into a morph. A morph is an alien creature that can take shape of anything it sees. The settings differ tremendously.
In Treasure Island it was all on land. They were on Earth, like normal people live. While in Treasure Planet they live on a planet. Their ships have to fly so, they have fake gravity. Very different from what we know. There is one detail that is kind of minor but, in Treasure Island while are searching the Admiral Benbow Inn, all the pirates do are pillage it. While in Treasure Planet not only did they pillage it, they set it on fire. The plot is very tricky to judge between these two. Either than the fact that Treasure Island has more events the plot is the same.
Treasure Island has a lot more scenes that aren’t included in Treasure Planet due to it not meeting Disney’s standards. Both the novel and the movie have very good plots, that are very similar. It’s just that Treasure Island’s plot may be a little thicker than Treasure Planet’s. The biggest difference between the two is that in Treasure Island Jim’s father dies, while in Treasure Planet his father walks out on him. In both Treasure Island and Treasure Planet a thing that stays constant is the friendship between Jim and Silver.
Silver finds a soft spot for the kid after he learns about his father dying. In Treasure Island he feels as if Jim has saved his life, so in return Silver saves his. They both had a connection that no one understands. In Treasure Planet they take it a step deeper. After seeing Jim struggle after his father left him, we saw how silver slowly became a father figure to Jim. at the end of the movie we even see how Silver gives up almost all the treasure to save Jim. Not only that, with the little treasure he had, he gave some to Jim. just so he could re build the Inn.
Another thing that is brought up is the danger of alcohol. In Treasure Island they make it a very important noted subject. While in Treasure Planet it is completely left out, due to Disney being a kid friendly movie production. Treasure Island and Treasure Planet were both very good. Both brought good things to the table. I would recommend either according to the audience In the end due to more of a character-watcher connection. I still believe Treasure Planet is the better of two. Altogether it had less violence, and it brought more to the table that I enjoyed.