Treasure Planet

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Outer-space pirate treasure hunt lots of fun; fab animation.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Treasure Planet is a swashbuckling pirate adventure in outer space that is a delight for kids who understand the difference between reality and fantasy. Time and again, the film puts young Jim Hawkins and his treasure-hunting partners in danger. Soaring cartoon mayhem and suspense come from mighty explosions, firestorms, black holes, mutinous interspecies creatures, air battles, and multiple narrow escapes. A few featured characters die; one falls into a black hole. Lots of comedy along with the derring-do, including a creature who speaks "flatula" loud, clear, and odiferous.

  • Introduces a number of scientific terms, which could be explored further (i.e., cyborg, astrophysicist, black hole). Places, events, and characters from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island in the future and cleverly combines the two eras.
  • Jim Hawkins learns a great deal about coming to terms with an early tragedy and overcoming grief with constructive behavior. He comes to understand the value of "charting his own course" and sticking with it. A seemingly heartless villain is redeemed, proving that change for the better is always a possibility.
  • Consistently In trouble and nearly breaking his single mother’s heart, Jim matures into a courageous, honest, and loyal young man who makes heroic choices. The female captain of the pirate ship is a leader of the first order: wise, strong, and in control. Villains and heroes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and species.
  • Cartoon action throughout: chases, battles, falls, all manner of weaponry from the swords of centuries ago to lasers, explosions and portals leading to the unknown. Two characters die; many others are nearly killed by firestorms, falls through space, explosives, gun and cannon fire, sabotage, and toothy, clawed aliens. The creatures are more bizarre and funny than truly scary, but some have sharp claws, fangs, fiery eyes, and weapons instead of arms and legs.

What's the story?

In TREASURE PLANET, Jim Hawkins (voice of Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a spirited kid who worries his single mother by getting into trouble with a contraption that is like a flying skateboard. A dying man gives him a map that can lead him to the planet where the greatest pirate in history hid his treasure. Dr. Doppler (voice of David Hyde Pierce), a family friend, finances an expedition to go in search of the treasure.

Doppler and Jim set off on a huge ship led by Captain Amelia (voice of Emma Thompson). Jim is assigned to work with the ship's gruff cook, John Silver, a cyborg who is part human, part machine. Jim thinks John is his friend until he overhears him talking to the crew about plans to take over and steal the treasure for themselves. Once on the planet where the treasure is hidden, Jim meets BEN, an oddball robot with half his memory missing (voice of Martin Short). Jim, John, and the others race each other and the pirate's booby-traps to get the treasure.


Is it any good?

 

If Treasure Planet is not Disney at its best, it's Disney at its still-pretty-much-better-than-anyone else. This animated sci-fi adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story is a dazzling vision, with masted schooners sailing past stars and planets. Computer and hand animation are brilliantly combined, using the best of both worlds so that the characters have a full range of expressions while the vistas are magnificently three-dimensional. This is exactly what animation should be about, presenting us with a thrillingly imaginative adventure that's utterly liberated from trivialities like the laws of physics and possibility.

Treasure Planet is wonderfully visually inventive, with dozens of witty details. John Silver is a marvel of animation integration and form tied to content, his mechanical parts created by computer and his human parts created by hand. The voice talent is marvelous, especially Thompson, playing the captain as a sort of starchy governess who happens to be extremely brave and have a wicked sense of humor, and Short, who was born to be animated.


Explore, discuss, enjoy

  • Families can talk about why it was hard for Jim to behave well before the trip and what will be different for him afterward. 

  • How does this pirate story compare with others you've seen or read? What aspects are different? The same? 

  • If you had all that treasure, what would you do with it?


This review of Treasure Planet was written by
Parent of 4 and 9 year old
April 9, 2008
 
Glad you didn't rate this for under 7
My 5 year old hid behind the couch. It was very scary for him. Neighbor kids, aged 7, weren't AS scared, but were often confused and had a hard time following the film.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Great adventure story with important moral lessons!
Not only is this movie wonderfully animated, it is based on a classic story that teaches that not everyone is what they appear and that even "bad guys" are human and can be reached emotionally. It also illustrates what comes of extreme greed...no good. I would recommend watching this with your child(ren) and talking to them about what they see and discuss consequences. A very enjoyable effort by Disney.

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Teen, 14 years old
February 14, 2011
 
A treasure of a movie!
I remember seeing only ONE commercial for this movie when I was younger. I have always wanted to see what this movie was about. Recently, I was searching the TV guide and I saw that Disney XD was showing it, and I watched it.... And I can't believe that this movie is not a Disney Classic! It was amazing! I could not shut up talking about this movie! The next day, I bought the movie on Itunes and watched it again! I think i'm gonna go take a look at the soundtrack! (BTW the score for the movie was composed by James Issac Howard, my favorite composer!!! He again made a movie magical by music!) Check both the movie and album on itunes! You will love it!
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Parent
September 4, 2011
 
Triple G
Great Adventure. Great Soundtrack. Great Disney animation.

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Teen, 14 years old
October 15, 2010
 
Wow..... words can not discribe how utterly wicked that was!
Oh my gosh, I just got done watching it, it was PURE awesome! Jim starts out as rebelous (but CARING) Teen, who cares about his mother and other people (which is unfortunitly rare these days) I mean he's not a down right brat as others say if you pay attention, I mean my gosh, his dad left him and his mother with practicly no explenation. People take this movie too harshly. Yes, it can be scary for little ones, but seriously, do you want them to grow up to be wimps? (I'm being rude, forgive me) I mean, Jim's adventurous, but was heart broken when his dad left, so he's been troubled (Wouldn't you?) and then he sets out on this awesome adventure (and totally bizare and hysterical) It's funny, heartfelt, and I LOVE it when the bad guys turn good! And no (Dude falls in love with princess) thing! It would be confusing for little ones so I suggest 10 and up. There are quite a few 'scary' characters (they're aliens-but show good sides) It had a good story line, all of the characters are wicked, although when that thing killed one of the captians (not gory) I had to think "You killed him you son of a b*tch!" But thats MY opinion, this movie is AWESOME for kids to see, totally creative, keeps you at the edge of your seats. Don't judge it so harshly by Gosh! I know you guys have personal opinions of your own... so sorry to offend (Watch-the-movie!)
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Teen, 13 years old
September 28, 2010
 
A very good disney film even for a box office flop.
This is a good disney film. It's has innovative animation even for a box office flop. It has action and a sexy captain amelia. It's not the best, but it's good. I highly reccomeded it
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Teen, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Parent of 9 year old
September 29, 2009
 
Treasure Planet lacks the treasure
My daughter found the movie very scary in parts. In the beginning, a turtle with a raspy voice and sharp teeth dies in front of you. Another scene shows a character being sucked into a black hole. The main character is a down in the mouth rebellious brat who never seems to progress in one direction or the other, although he is the primary focus as the hero. I wouldn't recommend this movie.
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Kid, 10 years old
January 16, 2010
 
nice
I saw this movie when I was seven and it was pretty good

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Teen, 14 years old
October 31, 2010
 
Back when Disney was fun..
It was a pure Disney movie, it should have been made a classic. It's sad that 'Wizards of Wavery Place' won a grammy, but this was concittered a Disney flop. It starts showing Jim when he was little, always interested in adventure, and his mother was a very kind woman. It shows him later as a 15 year old boy who still loves adventure, he was caught breaking the law by going in a zone he shouldn't have been riding his solar surfer. His mother (Sarah) was working hard by working at an Inn, and obviously stressed by the work and by Jim's behavior. She scolded him like any mother should, and he's ashamed of his actions. His father left when he was a preteen and he still hasen't recovered (making him a relatable character for many) For behavior: Jim's a caring boy but also a typical teenager (except for the part of obsessing over girls- thank goodness) and he just wants to set things right, but he doesn't know how to trust. Silver is actually a very caring person, but he hesitates to show it. He and Jim become very close (Silvers one of my favorite characters- you got to love him) Amelia is a smart and neat captain that's responcible and loves to use fancy words, she's a very fun character and she is not cold hearted at all. Delbert is a goofy know-it-all, but he's also very sweet. Throughout the film there was really only 1 bad guy that remains bad. Back when Disney was good.. For sexual: pretty much nothing, except the connection between Delbert and Amelia which isn't shown very much at all. Violence: Someone died by his lifeline being cut and he drifted into a black hole. Guns are shot, but nobody is really hit, Jim nearly gets punched, just quite a few violent scenes, but seriously its not nearly as bad as people carry on about it (Oh no.. violence! I don't want my precious darlings to see such a thing! I should dismiss the whole movie just for something silly!) -thats my way of looking at it. For crying out loud just lighten up and watch the movie.. Violence is really the only thing to worry about, the movie is great, you can adapt to all of the characters, they learn to understand eachother.. this was good Disney, until they went all commercial and 'ooh that boy is so hot, lets date him!' seriously this movie is amazing.
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This review of Treasure Planet was written by
Topics:magic and fantasy, adventures, book characters, pirates, robots, space and aliens
Studio:Walt Disney Pictures
Directors:John Musker, Ron Clements
Cast:Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Laurie Metcalf, Martin Short
Genre:Family and Kids
Run time:95 minutes
Theatrical release date:November 27, 2002
DVD release date:April 29, 2003
MPAA rating:PG
MPAA explanation:scenes of peril, character death

This review of Treasure Planet was written by
 

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