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Treasure Planet

FILM · 2002 · USA

Treasure Planet

27 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

  • Treasure Planet — production image

27 Interesting Facts About Treasure Planet

Interesting Facts (22)

  1. #001

    When Jim's mother sits with him on his bed to read his book, a Stitch plush toy dressed in an astronaut suit is visible on his bookshelf.

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  2. #002

    The human characters were hand-drawn. John Silver's cyborg leg, arm and eye, along with the robot B. E. N., were rendered as CGI. The ship was created using Disney's "Deep Canvas" process. In some scenes, all three animation types appear at once.

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  3. #003

    When Jim and Dr. Doppler arrive at the spaceport, they receive instructions from two characters on a staircase. These are caricatures of directors John Musker (at the top of the stairs) and Ron Clements (holding the bottom of the stairs).

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  4. #004

    At the end of the film, Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia (two aliens) get together and have a child. Several lines cut from the film revealed that Dr. Doppler (the male alien) gave birth to the children. Disney ordered the lines cut because it considered men, even male aliens, giving birth too risky for a children's film.

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  5. #005

    Jim's full name is James Pleiades Hawkins. The Pleiades is a star cluster located in the constellation Taurus.

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  6. #006

    The film's look was based on nineteenth-century oil paintings.

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  7. #007

    Alan Silvestri left the film to work on Lilo & Stitch (2002), which Chris Sanders was also working on. The company then asked James Newton Howard to score the film, and he conducted and recorded all the music in less than five months.

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  8. #008

    John Silver's appearance was based on Wallace Beery's version of the same character in Treasure Island (1934).

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  9. #009

    Captain Amelia's hair was originally going to be jet black. However, a last-minute change gave her light red hair similar to that of her voice actress, Emma Thompson.

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  10. #010

    This was the first Disney film in which maquettes (small character reference sculptures) were not made entirely by hand from clay. Silver's cyborg parts were made from plastic using laser technology.

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  11. #011

    Footage from Peter Pan (1953) was used to test CGI grafts over 3D backgrounds.

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  12. #012

    Jim Hawkins' performance was partly based on James Dean.

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  13. #013

    For the scene in which John Silver slices shrimp, the animators visited a Benihana restaurant to take notes.

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  14. #014

    Dr. Doppler, a dog-like alien, describes his meal as Alponya soup. Alpo is a well-known dog food brand in the United States.

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  15. #015

    When Ben regains his memory, the classic Windows error beep can be briefly heard.

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  16. #016

    To boost Jim's "bad boy" reputation, the filmmakers gave him a black jacket that he wears in most scenes during the first half of the film. In the second half, however, he is no longer seen wearing the jacket.

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  17. #017

    In the original design, Amelia was to have hair tentacles that could move and hold objects.

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  18. #018

    Initially, Disney wanted to co-produce the film with the Italian animation studio Rainbow S.p.A., and in 1987 there was a Treasure Island miniseries made in Italy, Treasure Island in Outer Space (1987). However, Rainbow stepped back from the deal because they were busy at the time.

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  19. #019

    In the opening scene, as Flint's ship flies toward the merchant ship, the clouds form the image of Mr. Scroop.

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  20. #020

    Mr. Scroop is quite clearly based on Israel Hands, a similarly unbalanced pirate in the original novel, and there is in fact a different crew member aboard the ship named "Hands" (though his name is never spoken in the film). He also carries elements of George Merry through his rebellious and hostile behavior, especially toward Silver's orders (Merry starts the mutiny prematurely; Scroop kills Mr. Arrow, which Silver does in the original novel).

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  21. #021

    Etherium, the substance that fills the space between planets and through which ships fly, is based on a "real" element of 19th-century physics: the Ether, believed by some to be the medium through which light travels, instead of what is normally considered "empty space" (some believe so to this day). The concept, once accepted as fact, is now known only to those who study 19th-century physics.

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  22. #022

    The troubled production of "Treasure Planet" was one of the factors that contributed to Peter Schneider leaving his post as head of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

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Production Story (3)

  1. #023

    A planned sequel was cancelled due to the film's box office failure, and when John Lasseter was appointed head of Walt Disney Animation Studios, his first task was to cancel all sequels and television programs. In the proposed treatment, Jim Hawkins and his love interest and Royal Interstellar Academy classmate Kate must work with Long John Silver to stop the traitorous Ironbeard from freeing prisoners on the Botany Bay Prison Asteroid. Willem Dafoe was to voice Ironbeard.

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  2. #024

    The film was pitched to Disney by John Musker and Ron Clements several times: (1) in 1985, during the production of The Black Cauldron (1985), but they were ultimately assigned to direct The Great Mouse Detective (1986). (2) After directing The Little Mermaid (1989), they were ultimately assigned to direct Aladdin (1992). (3) After directing Aladdin (1992), the studio asked them to direct Hercules (1997). Musker and Clements agreed to direct this film only on the condition that they be allowed to make it immediately afterward.

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  3. #025

    After some disappointing test screenings, Disney hoped to counter this by increasing the promotional budget, particularly for the use of television spots.

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Behind the Scenes (1)

  1. #026

    The contest between Jim and Silver, in which each tries to persuade Morph to come to them so they can get the map, was improvised.

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Easter Eggs & References (1)

  1. #027

    The ship is named the "R. L. S. Legacy", a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of the book ("Treasure Island").

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Related pages

  • Big Hero 6 — Treasure Planet comes up in the facts on that page
  • Frozen — Treasure Planet comes up in the facts on that page

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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