Treasure Planet is a classic early 2000s animated movie that I never owned. Now, I’m a 90s kid, so I think I grew up in a time when the best animated movies were coming out. And I’m talking about the classics beyond those animated movies that everyone and their parents know. Some examples include the very famous Toy Story movies, Tarzan, Aladdin and The Lion King, to name a few. Speaking of those classics, at least two of those movies have been given the live-action movie treatment. Now, I’m pretty sure Toy Story will never get that treatment, but I’m sure Tarzan will get it in the near future. I mean, I guess it technically already was, but that 2016 Margot Robbie movie wasn’t the Tarzan story we all know and love as 90s kids. It’s probably a good one. idea that these live-action movies don’t deviate so much from classic stories. Again, I have a desire to make things a little different, but personally, it would be fine if these live-action movies followed the exact same stories that the animated movies told. They would be a bit useless then, wouldn’t they? But you know what? Either way, I’m always up for seeing a live-action version of my favorite animated movies from my childhood. And having revisited Treasure Planet recently on Disney+, I have to say that this underrated classic needs the live-action movie treatment.
I feel like Treasure Planet is one of those underrated early 2000s animated movies that everyone watched but stopped talking about after it came out. It’s really a shame, because it deserves more attention. However, I admit that after going to see it in theaters in 2002, it was the only time I saw it, at least for a while. I don’t remember seeing him again after that. It’s probably because I was too enamored with the most popular animated classics, like the Toy Story and Aladdin movies. Now we have the Aladdin movie live and it wasn’t bad. It seems like Disney always wants to do more live-action adaptations and I think they should. The question is, which anime movies are on their list to make the adaptations? Oh, I’m sure they have several in mind, but I think they should put Treasure Planet at the top of this list. Now why am I pushing Treasure Planet above the rest? It’s honestly more than just that nostalgic longing after seeing it again on Disney+. In contrast, Treasure Planet bombed at the box office, which could hamper its chances of getting the live-action treatment. However, I think its chances are higher now, given the growing popularity of fantasy shows and movies. In my opinion, what made Treasure Planet so fun was how it capitalized on the steampunk-style fantasy genre. A young and naive but ambitious teenager who embarks on an adventure in space with space pirates, where the crew is a combination of anthropomorphic animals, alien aliens and an infamous cyborg at the golden eye? What’s not to like? As far as steampunk/sci-fi stories go, Treasure Planet is about as perfect as it gets.
That’s why the time has come for Disney to pursue a live action movie for Treasure Planet. In recent years, we have seen how popular the fantasy and science fiction genre has become. We’ve started to see it become more successful with several TV shows including Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime, the upcoming Lord of the Rings series which will also be coming to Prime, and the excellent Arcane series on Netflix. Now, if you want to watch a really good series that capitalizes on the steampunk genre, then Arcane is the series to binge. Seriously, it’s all kinds of fun. After seeing how well Season 1 did on Netflix, I feel like more studios can be confident in developing more shows with a similar style. Now yeah, I’m aware that Treasure Planet probably wouldn’t work as a series. However, I would still say that the recent success of some current steampunk shows might make audiences more interested in a live-action Treasure Planet movie. The growing interest in the genre may very well give the live-action film a better chance of succeeding at the box office than the animated film.
That’s honestly the only reason I imagine Disney isn’t chasing a Treasure Planet live-action movie. It is understandable, but we are in different times. Back in 2002, the whole pirate theme wasn’t really that popular, especially if you look at the multiple failed pirate movies that preceded Treasure Planet. The best example would be Treasure Island. How many times has this movie had a remake? Too many and not everyone received exactly the best reception. And of course, we all know what happened after 2002 that transformed the pirate adventure theme. Who doesn’t love watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean? If you don’t care too much about sequels, you can surely enjoy the first one. It is undoubtedly an all-time classic.
Would things have been different if Treasure Planet had come out after the first Pirates of the Caribbean? I’d love to think so, but we can find out now with a live-action adaptation. I still think it can work and with the growing success of current steampunk style shows, I think it has a chance. Now, if we talk about casting, it’s a whole different story. Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt too old to play a live-action version of Jim Hawkins? Probably, but that’s okay. I’m personally more curious to see this whole universe in live-action form. Imagine seeing what John Silver would look like. Heck, imagine what Morph would look like. With today’s improvements with CGI, I know everything will look great. Like I said, I think it will happen and it will make a lot of other people who grew up in the early 2000s very happy.