COURTESY BUENA VISTA PICTURES Teenager Jim Hawkins discovers a map to hidden treasure, leading to fantastic space adventures in "Treasure Planet," Disney's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island."

Pirates in space

Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure
classic is set against the stars
in thrilling animation

"Treasure Planet" Rated PG Opens tomorrow in wide release in most local theaters

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Review By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

This warm-and-fuzzy movie about good over not-so-good, with heart-stopping escapes and stunning animation set in the future (but linked to a classic tale), makes a perfect crossover holiday film for teens and adults.

The film features an unlikely but entertaining mix of sci-fi future and buccaneering past, marrying bits of Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson (whose "Treasure Island" it's based on) and George Lucas.

In this 21st-century version, galleons sail the universe, and first mates are cyborgs still with mutiny on their minds.

COURTESY BUENA VISTA PICTURES

Jim Hawkins, a 10-year-old who loves sky surfing, will embark on his own intergalactic search for riches, spurred on by a swashbuckling 3D pirate pop-up novel, where interactive visual effects present the stories for "readers."

Five years later, Jim (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt of "3rd Rock from the Sun") remains an adventure seeker whose endeavors often place him on the wrong side of angry galactic police robots.

Jim lives with his single mom, who's still mending her broken home after her husband's hasty departure. Jim's humdrum existence receives a much-needed jolt when a sluggish pirate named Billy Bones crashes at his home with a cyber-map. "Beware the cyborg," Bones warns before dying.

Bones' futuristic map points the way to Treasure Planet, a legendary location thought to contain the loot of a thousand worlds. With his mother's reluctant blessing, Jim leaves to retrieve the treasure and truly start his long-awaited adventure.

Jim takes on a neurotic partner, Dr. Doppler (David Hyde Pierce), and recruits the crew of the R.L.S. Legacy (a clever homage to the story's original author) for the adventure. Captained by the businesslike Amelia (Emma Thompson), the Legacy boasts a crew of intergalactic monstrosities that will remind you of the characters in the bar scene of the original "Star Wars" movie.

Lobster creatures share quarters with wormy beasts that possess more eyes than arms. And the ship's cook, John Silver (Brian Murray), is a partial cyborg, which raises Jim's suspicions. Silver hangs with Morph, a tiny pink glob of jelly that occasionally alters its form.

While the cute Morph should have been "Treasure Planet's" main comic relief, instead it's B.E.N., a robot inhabitant of Treasure Planet who tries to assist Jim but is far more annoying than helpful. Voiced by Martin Short, B.E.N. is the most annoying, useless and unnecessary character in this otherwise delightful movie.

WHAT WILL keep adults interested are the visually breathtaking, warm and vivid color schemes. The adventure and pace slows a bit for the surrogate father subplot between Silver and Jim, but it is touching.

The strong core story owes more to the swashbuckling serials of yesteryear cinema than it does to steely science-fiction ponderings of the future.

Clearly, it's difficult to get adults and teens to watch a "cartoon" in theaters. What Disney has going for it is that "Treasure Planet" is based on a classic story, which has always has been at the core of Disney's success (and a story that the studio first adapted way back in 1950 as a live-action adventure).

By moving the idea of pirates, something kids love, into the realm of outer space, something teens love, Disney looks like it has a huge ace in the hole.

Along with the phenomenal success of this past summer's "Lilo & Stitch," "Treasure Planet" returns Disney's animated fare to legendary form, producing a wondrous and imaginative adventure that's rich in details and big on heart.

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