15th Mar 202428th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#43 Treasure Planet (2002)

BACKGROUND

Ah, Treasure Planet. A futuristic coming-of-age story, complete with space pirates, space whales, hidden treasure, and a new cool sport: solar surfing – all the teens are doing it.

It was a project two decades in the making with two directors who had proven their worth throughout the Disney “Renaissance Era”. Plus, it combined all the magic of Disney’s traditional 2D animation style with all the amazement of technological advancements. It had all the ingredients to be the next big hit. And yet, Treasure Planet became one of Disney’s worst ever financial flops…So, what went wrong?

Well, in my mind, Treasure Planet is actually a very enjoyable film, with lots of heart and plenty of great art. I think it was a victim of bad timing and changing audience tastes.

After a whole decade of amazing movies that shaped an entire generation of children, with many of those still enjoying watching them as adults, Disney began to struggle in the 2000s. They were competing with the likes of Pixar, Blue Sky Studios, who released their first Ice Age movie in 2002, and DreamWorks, who were making full-length computer-animated films that weren’t just funny, but hilarious for children and adults alike. Disney, on the other hand, weren’t entirely sure what they were doing, and in changing their tried-and-tested formula of the musical fairy tale, they took some big risks that mostly didn’t work out.

However, in 2002, there was Lilo & Stitch, released in June, just five months before Treasure Planet. It was an original story and a non-musical, and it did exceptionally well, so that must’ve given the team working on Treasure Planet hope that their film would do well also. Yet it did not and Treasure Planet was left to struggle at the box-office. It was then forgotten for many years afterwards.

I remember when I first watched Treasure Planet. Not in the cinema, but once it had been released on DVD. Though we had watched a lot of the “Renaissance Era” films at the cinema, this must have been around the time where we weren’t that determined to watch Disney films as soon as they came out – because they were not as good as they used to be. I didn’t like Treasure Planet when I first watched it. My sister did, but I thought it was boring – and where were the princesses, and the songs? So, I never wanted to watch it again. It’s a science-fiction film, an action film, and a fantasy film all at once, and none of those genres used to appeal to me. It wasn’t until years later that I decided to re-watch and see what I thought of it. And you know what? I actually really liked it – I’ll happily admit that I was wrong and when I was younger, I’d completely missed the whole emotional grip of the film. If you re-watch Treasure Planet as an adult, you’ll also see that the film is full of brilliant quotes, and hilarious one-liners.

PLOT

For anyone not familiar with the plot of this or Treasure Island, as it sticks fairly closely to the original story, just with the obvious change of it being set in space, the film starts off with a young Jim Hawkins listening to his holographic, pop-up, audio storybook that tells the story of Captain Nathaniel Flint, a notorious space pirate who has been storing all of his treasure in a mysterious place called “Treasure Planet” that nobody else has found. The film then jumps to Jim as a wayward teenager, getting in trouble with the police, generally not having a plan in life, and spending a lot of time “solar surfing”, which is like a mix of hoverboarding and skateboarding. His mother runs an inn called the Benbow Inn, and is at her wit’s end trying to figure out what to do about Jim. Later, a pirate called Billy Bones crash-lands outside the inn and gives Jim a small golden sphere to keep hold of just as he dies. The inn is then broken into by a cyborg and his crew who Bones had warned was following him. Jim, his mother, and their family friend, Dr. Delbert Doppler, manage to escape; however, the inn is set on fire and completely destroyed.

At Dr. Doppler’s home, Jim discovers that this sphere is actually a map to Treasure Planet. Jim and Dr. Doppler decide to set off on a voyage to find this planet, with Dr. Doppler financing the trip. They board the RLS Legacy with feline Captain Amelia, her first mate Mr. Arrow, and a crew of ruffians. Jim is put to work on the ship, which I think is really unfair, because he was given the map and figured out what it was after all, why should he have to work when this is all happening because of him? Anyway, Jim is ordered to work under the supervision of John Silver, the cyborg cook, who Jim is suspicious of right from the start as Billy Bones had told him in his dying breath: “beware the cyborg”. Jim does, however, like Silver’s shape-shifting pink glob pet, Morph.

The RLS Legacy sets sail, though Captain Amelia remains concerned about some of the crew on board, not liking this crew that Dr. Doppler hired. The voyage is not without struggles, like the ship almost being sucked into a supernova and black hole which threatens to consume all of them. Jim and Silver have become close during their time working together after their initial dislike for one another, but in the chaos of the black hole, Jim is blamed for the death of Mr. Arrow. Jim is devastated, believing he checked all of the crew’s ropes that kept them attached to the ship, their “lifelines”. Little does Jim know that indeed some of this crew is dodgy, because the spider-like Scroop deliberately cut Mr. Arrow’s lifeline rope and sent him spiralling into deep space.

The dodgy crew becomes more dodgy shortly after the RLS Legacy begins to approach Treasure Planet. It soon becomes clear that Silver is actually running this crew and he is after the treasure. Him and the crew commandeer the ship, leaving Amelia, Doppler and Jim to escape quickly, grabbing the spherical map to ensure Silver can’t get it, and they crash onto a strange planet. Amelia is injured in the escape. Jim meets a crazy robot called B.E.N. who helps him figure out that this planet is actually Treasure Planet. Jim then works out that the map is actually Morph, who shape-shifted into the map during the chaotic escape. Jim realises that the real map is still on the ship. Jim, Morph and B.E.N. watch as Silver and his crew land on Treasure Planet and they steal a small boat to get back onto the RLS Legacy to look for the map. Jim is attacked by Scroop as he does so, but through some quick-thinking and some mis-steps by B.E.N. that cause him to disable the artificial gravity, Jim manages to push Scroop out into deep space.

On returning to Amelia and Dr. Doppler, Jim, B.E.N. and Morph see that the two have been captured by Silver and his crew, and Jim is forced to give up the map. They discover that the map is actually full of portals, with one of the portals allowing them to get to the centre of Treasure Planet. In the centre, they find the whole area covered in treasure and Silver’s crew begin to collect it up. For some reason, B.E.N. is reminded of something but as he does not have his memory, he can’t recall what is troubling him. Jim discovers the skeleton of Captain Flint, the hoarder of the treasure, holding B.E.N.’s memory circuit. Jim reinstalls it, which allows B.E.N. to remember everything. He tells the others that Captain Flint rigged the planet to explode if ever his treasure was discovered, and that his memory was pulled out of him so that this secret would never be revealed.

Everyone quickly tries to escape the centre of the planet as it begins to explode. Silver abandons his treasure to help Jim, who almost falls to his death, and they get everyone back on board the RLS Legacy again to leave the planet. However, the ship has been damaged and will not be able to outrun the explosion. Jim figures out that they can use the map’s portals to simply exit to a different location. He quickly builds a mini solar surfing board and makes his way to the map to change portal destinations as Dr. Doppler steers the RLS Legacy towards it. They succeed, returning to Montressor, as the whole planet explodes behind them. Later on, Jim sees Silver trying to leave without being seen. Despite Silver holding him hostage on Treasure Planet and tricking him into believing he was one of the good guys, Jim allows him to go, although it is clear that he will miss his newfound friend. Silver offers for Jim to go along with him, but Jim doesn’t want to, realising that Silver taught him to “chart his own course”. Silver heads away, but leaves Jim with Morph and half of the treasure he managed to steal, so that Jim’s mother can rebuild the Benbow Inn – that Silver just so happened to destroy… Silver also tells Jim that he is something special.

Back home in Montressor, the Benbow Inn has been rebuilt and B.E.N. is now a waiter; Dr. Doppler and Amelia have four children; and Jim has become a cadet at the Interstellar Academy. As the party at the Benbow goes on, Jim looks up to the sky and sees an image of Silver in the clouds, showing that Silver will always be watching over him.

CHARACTERS & CAST

In my opinion, all the characters in Treasure Planet are well-developed and all of them serve a purpose to the overall story. Jim is a typical teenager at the start of the film, albeit not one you really want to root for. He’s a trouble-maker, who gives his mother constant reason for worry, even though it’s clear Jim doesn’t mean to be a problem; he just doesn’t know what he wants to be or how to be himself. He represents a lot of teenagers, not knowing what to do or how to feel, struggling to deal with past trauma, and generally feeling quite confused and lost. Jim Hawkins was made to be slightly older in Treasure Planet than he seems to be in the book Treasure Island, and that was to widen the appeal of the movie to teenagers, as Disney is predominantly known for making “kids’ movies”, something that instantly uninterests most teens. Jim goes on an emotional “coming-of-age” journey throughout the film, with his relationship with Silver having much to do with that. Despite initial friction between the two, Silver ends up being a mentor and father-figure to Jim, something that he very much needs after his own father ran out on him and his mother.

Silver and Jim have some very touching moments during Treasure Planet, such as when they say goodbye at the end of the film and when Jim is blamed for Mr. Arrow’s death; he feels hopeless again after having gained some confidence, until Silver comes over and tells him that the incident wasn’t his fault, and “you’ve got the makings of greatness in you”. It’s a sweet and heart-warming scene – especially when you realise that Silver is actually the bad guy here! John Silver is a great “villain” in Treasure Planet, because he has hidden depths to his character. He’s torn between carrying out his mission, and obsession of finally getting his hands on the treasure, but he also ends up caring about Jim and doesn’t want him to get hurt, or get caught up in the middle of his scheme. Silver is also very funny at times, with his crazy cyborg mechanics and some great lines of dialogue.

Jim Hawkins is voiced Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt began his career as a child actor, starring in movies such as A River Runs Through It (1992) and Angels in the Outfield (1994), and in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) as Tommy. He later appeared in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), before working on Treasure Planet. In more recent years, he has starred in movies such as 500 Days of Summer (2009), Lincoln (2012), Snowden (2016), in the title role, and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

John Silver is voiced by Brian Murray, a South African actor, who had roles on stage, screen, and in radio throughout his career. He received three Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 1968, The Little Foxes in 1997, and The Crucible in 2002. Murray directed stage productions as well, such as Blithe Spirit in 1987. On screen, Murray appeared in The League of Gentleman (1960). Murray was also nominated for an Annie Award for his voice acting as Silver in Treasure Planet in 2002. He passed away in August 2018.

Let’s not forget Silver’s little sidekick, the lovable Morph. Morph is the shape-shifting blob who doesn’t talk but fills the screen with such cheeky personality it’s impossible not to like him and laugh at the silly things he does to annoy or entertain Jim and Silver. Morph is so adorable and even though he doesn’t say anything, he really lights up the screen. Morph is meant to be like Silver’s pet parrot in the original Treasure Island novel. Morph ended up being a completely hand-drawn character, by animator Mike Show, as it was too difficult to transform Morph into all the objects and people he turns into using CGI. The character’s design was inspired by how water moves in zero-gravity. Morph is voiced Sound Editor Dane Davis, who won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing in 2000 for The Matrix (1999).

Then, there is the odd couple of Captain Amelia and Dr. Doppler, who have a funny dynamic, but they are very likeable as a couple and as characters here. They start off hating each other, and end up falling in love. They both have some of the best lines, like Amelia saying “Cup of tea, and I’ll be right as rain” after she gets shot, which is so typically British, and “You can’t help people with a doctorate, you just sit there, and you’re useless.” Dr. Doppler is a bit square and awkward, a dog-like astronomer, so kind of nerdy as well, whereas Captain Amelia is the stoic and straight-talking feline captain of the RLS Legacy. She doesn’t suffer fools gladly – and one of those fools just happens to be Dr. Doppler at the start – and she is not afraid to use her authority to get things done right. If there had to be a love story within Treasure Planet, I’m glad it was between these two completely different personalities. It just shows that opposites do attract! Supposedly, there was actually a line cut from the final edit of the film that would’ve stated that Doppler had actually given birth to their four children; it was decided this was probably too much information for the kids!

Captain Amelia is voiced by Dame Emma Thompson, who made Amelia such a great character by voicing her lines with so much dry humour and sarcasm. Again, very British. She was very enthusiastic about voicing the character. Thompson was made a Dame in 2018 by Queen Elizabeth II, many years after her very successful career in acting began. Thompson has had numerous roles on stage and screen, both serious, dramatic and comedic roles. She was actually a member of the Cambridge Footlights, a comedy troupe, whilst at Cambridge University so began her on-screen career as a comedian. She was part of the comedy group at the same time as other well-known actors and comedians, such as Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Following on from this, she starred in numerous adaptations of Shakespeare plays, and period dramas, such as Howards End (1992), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and The Remains of the Day (1993). Just a couple of years later, she wrote the screenplay for and starred as Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. From then on, Dame Emma Thompson has continued to light up our screens, with roles like Professor Trelawny in the Harry Potter film series; Nanny McPhee in Nanny McPhee (2005) and its 2010 sequel; and as one of the ensemble cast in Richard Curtis’ Love Actually (2003). For Disney and Pixar, Thompson voiced the character of Queen Elinor in Brave (2012), gave a heart-wrenching performance as P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and became the snobby, and “cruel”, Baroness von Hellman for Cruella (2021).

David Hyde Pierce voiced Dr. Doppler. He continues to be most well-known for his role as Dr. Niles Crane on the sitcom Frasier (1993-2004), for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, along with two Screen Actors Guild Awards, one for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, and one as part of the Ensemble Cast award. In a way, Dr. Doppler is a bit like Niles! David Hyde Pierce was asked to voice Dr. Doppler whilst he was working on Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998), in which he voiced the stick insect, Slim. He loved the character of Doppler and was very happy to voice him. He has continued to work on screen and stage, in productions such as Spamalot from 2004 to 2006, where he played Sir Robin, and as Horace Vandergelder in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway from 2017 to 2018. Most recently, he appeared in the series Julia (2022-23) as Julia Child’s husband, Paul, and on stage is set to play the role of Major General in The Pirates of Penzance on Broadway in 2025.

The final main character to mention is B.E.N., the nervy, crazy robot. His name stands for Bio Electronic Navigator, but it’s just easier to call him B.E.N. He’s absolutely hilarious because he has no idea how to talk to anyone, having been isolated on Treasure Planet for so long, so he has no concept of how to behave in a social setting, and ends up talking super-loudly, even when Jim tries to shut him up, and is desperate for Jim to like him and be his friend. B.E.N. is an entirely CGI character.

B.E.N. is voiced by comedic actor Martin Short, who got his big break appearing alongside Steve Martin and Chevy Chase in the comedy film ¡Three Amigos! (1986), after starring in sketch comedy shows such as SCTV (Second City Television) from 1982 to 1983, and then in Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985. In the 1990s, he teamed up with Steve Martin again to be a complete scene-sealer as Franck Eggelhoffer in Father of the Bride (1991) and its 1995 sequel, and its 2020 short film. Short has also portrayed roles in numerous Disney projects, like for theme park attractions such as CinéMagique for Disneyland Paris, which ran from 2002 to 2017; The Making of Me for the Wonders of Life pavilion in Epcot – the less said about that, the better – which lasted from 1989 to 2007; and O Canada!, running from 2007 to 2019 for the Canada pavilion in Epcot; and in Disney’s films, like a voice part in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, as Jack Frost in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), and as Lumière in Beauty and the Beast: A 30^th Celebration (2022). Short also continues to voice characters for animated children’s films that aren’t Disney, such as Stefano in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) for DreamWorks and Father Willoughby in The Willoughbys (2020) for Netflix. Currently, Martin Short continues to perform shows with his long-time friend and comedy sparring partner Steve Martin, as well as act with him and Selena Gomez in the popular comedy-mystery series Only Murders in the Building (2021-present). Can you tell I’m a big fan of his?

There are a few other supporting characters to mention as well. One of these is Scroop, the “spider psycho” as Jim and Morph like to call him! He is a very scary character, with his deep, gravelly voice having a lot to do with that, as well as his spider-like characteristics, like huge eyes, fangs and claws. Michael Wincott voices the character, and some of his credits include Guy of Gisbourne in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991); Ed Gein in Hitchcock (2012); and hacker Adrian Cross on the TV miniseries 24: Live Another Day (2014). The secretive, dying pirate Billy Bones, who Jim Hawkins meets at the start of the movie and receives the map from, was voiced by Patrick McGoohan in his final film role. McGoohan had appeared in the British television series Danger Man (1960-68), for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Actor; Escape from Alcatraz (1979) as Warden Arthur Dollison; and as King Edward Longshanks in Braveheart (1995). Supposedly, McGoohan had a cold when it came time for him to record lines for Billy Bones. The animators weren’t concerned as Bones had to sound like he was unwell, so it worked for them[1]!

A few more actors to mention are the voices of Jim’s mother, Mr. Arrow, and the narrator of Jim’s bedtime story. Jim’s kind, but exasperated, mother is voiced by Laurie Metcalfe, known as the voice of Andy’s mother in the Toy Story franchise of films to Disney fans. The strait-laced Mr. Arrow is voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne, who had voiced Francis in Oliver & Company (1988) for Disney, and Tony Jay is the narrator of the bedtime story. He had voiced Monsieur D’Arque in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) before Treasure Planet. There are so many brilliant actors credited in Treasure Plant, I wonder whether many of them even remember doing this film, and if they do, whether they are proud of it…. I hope so. The script is so full of humour that it’s easy to stay interested and involved in the story, and I think the actors have a lot to do with that.

MUSIC

Moving on to the music. Treasure Planet, like most of the other Disney animated movies released in the 2000s, is not a musical, unlike the movies of the Disney “Renaissance”. Although it does include some songs, they are not sung by any of the characters. There are only two songs in the movie, both written by John Rzeznik, founder and frontman of the rock band The Goo Goo Dolls, who had hits with songs like “Iris”, “Slide”, and “Better Days”.

Rzeznik wrote the song “I’m Still Here”, which is also known as “Jim’s Theme”. It plays during the sequence where Silver is teaching Jim how to be a real space sailor and learn some responsibility, but we also see some backstory of Jim’s father leaving him and his mother without even saying goodbye to Jim. This shows the hurt that Jim has kept inside him for all those years and why he acts out, getting himself in trouble. This is Jim saying how lost he feels and wondering why no-one seems to see anything of worth in him. This is my favourite of the two songs, so there wasn’t much to choose from, but it is a very underrated song from a Disney animated movie, because there is so much emotion running through it. The lyrics actually mean something outside of the film. It’s a beautiful song and scene.

The other song written for the film which plays during the End Credits is “Always Know Where You Are”. It’s quite an upbeat song that ends the film nicely, as it shows that Jim is happy to be back home, and feeling more settled with an actual career path ahead of him. It is performed by the British band BBMak, who released the popular singles “Back Here” and “Still On Your Side”. It’s a perfect “walking-out-of-the-cinema-after-seeing-a-really-great-movie” sort of song, if that makes sense. Sadly, it doesn’t sound like too many people experienced Treasure Planet at the theatres, so it was perhaps a bit of a waste…

The score for Treasure Planet was composed by James Newton Howard, in his third for Disney Feature Animation. He had previously composed the scores for Dinosaur (2000) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). James Newton Howard has composed scores for various film including The Hunger Games series of films, and the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, as well as Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) and Jungle Cruise (2021) for Disney.

Treasure Planet’s score combines the futuristic elements of the story with traditional instrumentals. I particularly like the piece “Silver Leaves”, which plays during that moving moment when Silver and Jim are saying goodbye, possibly forever. I also like “Silver Comforts Jim”, after Jim believes that he was to blame for Mr. Arrow’s death during the chaos of the black hole. Any piece of music playing during a scene with Silver and Jim is amazing. In terms of the more action-filled scenes, James Newton Howard’s score compliments those moments too, with that feeling of adventure and bravery. These moments sound quite similar to the instrumental pieces in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), I think, albeit Treasure Planet does sound more “piratey”, with a frequent use of pipes.

PRODUCTION

Looking at the animation for Treasure Planet, it is clear that the backgrounds are absolutely stunning. Disney wanted a “storybook” feeling to the artistic style of Treasure Planet. They ended up replicating an illustration style called the Brandywine School which had been taught by Howard Pyle to artists such as N.C. Wyeth’s, who created the original illustrations for the 1911 edition of the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The style followed ideas like choosing warm colour palettes, making the scenes appear to be bathed in light, and not making everything so crisp in detail. They wanted to put that same type of illustration into this new modern, space adaptation. The space backgrounds feel really magical, and I think overall the film looks impressive.

The Disney team could also take advantage of technological improvements when designing Treasure Planet. Firstly, they were able to hand draw characters and place them onto 3D backgrounds, and they could make fully computer-generated characters, such as B.E.N. They created hybrid characters too, and one of these is John Silver. John Silver is a hand-drawn character by animator Glen Keane, with a computer-generated arm, leg, and headpiece animated by Eric Daniels. To see how the two different animation styles would work together, the team used Captain Hook for inspiration. They relayed a digital arm onto previous footage from Peter Pan (1953) so they could see just how it would look on screen.

They also took advantage of previous technological advancements at the Disney Studios by using their Deep Canvas technology. It had been used in Tarzan (1999) and won a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 2003. This technology allowed for CGI backgrounds to be produced that looked like traditional paintings. It was used to create about 75% of the environments in Treasure Planet. The Disney team also used Virtual Sets, which allowed for 3D, 360-degree sets to be created so that sequences could be staged and shot from different angles. One of these was the RLS Legacy ship, named RLS after Robert Louis Stevenson[2]. The Disney studios made the entire film using the “70/30 law”, which meant ensuring that not only the art styling and the characters, but also the sound and music, were 70% traditional and 30% science-fiction, though it could be argued the film is more science fantasy, as it is based in an alternative version of the future. The movie is not set in space as we would know it; in fact, it takes place in “the etherium”, an atmosphere that is more like a space ocean with breathable air and life. This meant that characters wouldn’t need oxygen tanks or spacesuits, and could freely move around space[3].

So, that’s all the good stuff about Treasure Planet. Now, let’s see what went wrong. Well, to begin with, it’s actually a very nice story. Ron Clements and John Musker first met during production on The Fox and the Hound (1981). The two then teamed up as story artists on The Black Cauldron (1985) during early stages of development, but were later removed from the project along with many others. Clements then pitched the idea of an animated picture based on the stories of Sherlock Holmes; this became The Great Mouse Detective, which both Clements and Musker directed, and was the next feature film to be released after The Black Cauldron. The Great Mouse Detective was a successful film.

This all took place during the difficulties that Disney Animation faced in the mid-1980s, when new executives were brought in from outside studios to manage the Walt Disney Company. Michael Eisner, the new CEO, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the new Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, brought in a new way of pitching ideas, something they called “the gong show”, where anyone could pitch ideas for new projects that Eisner and Katzenberg would either approve, or “gong”, i.e., reject. Musker had an idea for an edgy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and Clements put forward both The Little Mermaid and Treasure Island in Space during the “gong show” in 1985. Katzenberg hated both of Clements’ proposals, but specifically disliked Treasure Island in Space because he said Disney didn’t want to make a science-fiction or pirate film, and that a story following a teenage boy without a love interest would not be a good sell to potential audiences.

Katzenberg did eventually approve The Little Mermaid (1989), which was directed by Clements and Musker and was a massive hit, signalling the start of Disney’s “Renaissance Era”, a time when Disney Animation was booming. However, Clements did not want to let his idea of Treasure Island in Space be forgotten, so, along with Musker, they re-worked the proposal to become Treasure Planet. It was pitched to the executives again, and was rejected – again. Instead, the two directed Aladdin (1992), which was also hugely popular and a box-office smash. But the pair just couldn’t let go of Treasure Planet.

In 1993, the two pitched the idea again and it was, once again, rejected, but this time, Roy E. Disney said that he did actually like the idea, and brought it up with Michael Eisner. Eisner was more receptive to the idea, but Katzenberg was not, and was annoyed at Roy E. Disney seemingly going behind his back about it. In the end, Katzenberg made a deal with Clements and Musker, based on the fact that the two had directed some major movies for Disney Animation. The two had to make one more Disney animated movie and then they could work on Treasure Planet. They set to work on Hercules (1997). Katzenberg left Disney in October 1994, so to ensure Clements and Musker were still allowed to make Treasure Planet, the two signed a seven-year-contract with the specific stipulation that after directing Hercules, they were free to work on Treasure Planet or another project of their choice. So once Hercules was done and released, Clements and Musker got to work – finally – on their “passion project”. They didn’t mind the long wait to this point particularly, though, as it meant that technology had advanced significantly in that time.

The reason that setting Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island in space was so important to Clements and Musker was because they wanted it to be new, fresh, and exciting to a younger generation. It was first written as a serial story within the children’s magazine Young Folks in 1881 and 1882. It was first published as a book in November 1883. It has since been adapted in many media formats, including as a 1934 film, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper as Silver and Jim respectively, and Disney’s own live-action film in 1950, which starred Bobby Driscoll, who went on to voice the title role in Peter Pan (1953), as Jim Hawkins. It has also been adapted as a television series, with one being released in 2012 on Sky, with Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver. Let’s also not forget Muppet Treasure Island, released in 1996, where the Muppets were joined by real-life actors like Tim Curry and Billy Connolly, who played Silver and Billy Bones.

Apart from the change of setting and making the story more futuristic, the basic plot of Treasure Planet is similar to the original novel. The story was written by Clements and Musker, and Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who had all written Aladdin (1992) together. Rossio and Elliott had also co-written Shrek (2001) for DreamWorks, which won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production. Rossio and Elliott also wrote the screenplays for some of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The screenplay was written by Clements and Musker, as well as Rob Edwards. The trio later worked on The Princess and the Frog (2009) together[4].

RECEPTION

After four and a half years of production, a reported $140 million budget, many delays, and a huge push in new animation developments, it was time for Treasure Planet to be released, in November 2002. It premiered in Paris on 6^th November, before having its US premiere on 17^th November; it was widely released on 27^th November, at both IMAX theatres and regular cinemas simultaneously. But unfortunately, even with all that money, plus a supposed $40 million marketing budget, and merchandise tie-ins with Hasbro and McDonald’s Happy Meals, Treasure Planet did not do as well as was expected. That might actually be a huge understatement.

It was deemed funny “enough” with some good supporting characters, but many did not like this futuristic take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story. Some also considered it to be “gimmicky”, whilst others did praise the animation, so reviews were mixed, but not terrible. The problem was how little money Treasure Planet brought in, despite being released at the optimal time of the holiday season. It grossed only $16.6 million in its first five-days, becoming one of the biggest financial flops in Disney Animation. It would seem that two decades later, with the release of Strange World (2022), that Strange World might now be considered the worst flop, but back in 2002, Treasure Planet was considered to be Disney’s biggest financial failure, so yes, even worse than The Black Cauldron (1985).

To be fair to Treasure Planet, it was released at the same time as movies like The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). My family did actually see Harry Potter at the cinema when it came out, but not Treasure Planet; we waited for the DVD…Great, now I have guilt…Die Another Day (2002), the new James Bond film, had also been released just a few days before, so it was likely to struggle with that competition. Disney executives reiterated that Treasure Planet was received well by test audiences, but this was not what the Walt Disney Company needed, especially as the tragic events of 9/11 had meant less footfall at their theme parks. The surprisingly positive response to Lilo & Stitch (2002) in June of that year may have given them some false hope about how Treasure Planet would be received.

Some like to say that the fact Clements and Musker’s dream project had been rejected so many times meant that it was doomed to fail from the start. Some Disney executives blame their marketing for not focusing enough on the fun elements of the story. However, some executives claimed to have foreseen issues months before its release but alas, it was too late to change anything as their release date was locked in with promotional tie-ins[5]. Another reason for its failure was that CGI had started to become immensely popular as an animation technique, as it was quicker and cheaper, and could achieve much more than hand-drawn animation. There were other studios using CGI brilliantly, like Pixar and DreamWorks, so it was hard for Disney to compete. Some would say that Disney did not understand the new and changing tastes of their audience, as Disney knew they had to move away from their “Broadway-style” as more animated features flooded the market, but were unsure where to go, and where to focus their attentions.

Surprisingly to everyone, Treasure Planet was deemed “good enough” to be nominated in the second ever Best Animated Feature Film category at the 2002 Academy Awards, along with Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, however, both lost to Spirited Away (2002). To be fair, these movies are completely different, and Spirited Away in particular has a unique style all of its own, that it’s not easy to compare them, and perhaps they shouldn’t be.

LEGACY

So, what happened next? Well, a follow-up film was actually being written before Treasure Planet was even released, so there could have been a time when a Treasure Planet 2 would have existed. It is said that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emma Thompson, and Martin Short were already attached to the film to reprise their roles, and that the story would have followed on from the first movie, and looked at Jim’s time at the Intergalactic Academy and his work role after that. A new villain, called Ironbeard, was also dreamed up with Willem Defoe allegedly lined up to voice the character. There were also rumours of a spin-off television series around this time[6].

There were plans for Treasure Planet to be used as new story material for the Submarine Voyage ride in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. There had been similar plans for this to be done with Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), a previous Disney movie release, but despite mock-ups and some light promotional work, this idea was abandoned due to Atlantis’ poor reception. Disney hoped the same would not happen with Treasure Planet, but it sadly did. Submarine Voyage would finally be rethemed in 2007, to Pixar’s Finding Nemo (2003)[7].

Because of Treasure Planet’s disappointing box-office results, Disney announced that Home on the Range (2004) would be their final traditionally 2D animated film, moving into computer animation from that point onwards. Ron Clements and John Musker left Disney in September 2005, but after the acquisition of Pixar and the naming of John Lasseter as the new Chief Creative Officer at the company, Clements and Musker were invited back to Disney to direct The Princess and the Frog (2009), a movie that went back to Disney’s roots of 2D animation. Musker and Clements then directed Moana (2016), this being their first fully computer-animated film[8].

At the Disney Parks, Jim Hawkins was seen as a walkaround character at Walt Disney World Resort’s Tomorrowland in 2020 and at the Disneyland Paris FanDaze event in 2019. He was also seen as part of Disneyland Paris’ 25^th anniversary parade along with B.E.N., and even Kida and Milo from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. These are the most recent sightings of Treasure Planet characters that I could find. It is likely that Jim and B.E.N. did appear as meet-and-greet characters at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, at least around the time of the movie’s release in 2002. Generally, there is very little reference to Treasure Planet at any of the Disney Parks, however, for the Disney100 celebrations, there was a small amount of dialogue and footage from Treasure Planet that featured in Disneyland’s Wondrous Journeys fireworks show in 2023; it closed in August 2023. A brief glimpse of a scene from Treasure Planet can currently be found towards the end of the Wonderful World of Animation show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Other than a few pieces of merchandise, such as ornaments and pins that were released by Disney in 2022 for the movie’s 20^th anniversary, Treasure Planet is not normally recognised by the Walt Disney Company. A live-action remake has not even been officially announced – huh? Disney, are you ok? – though it is clear that fans of the movie want it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The fact is Treasure Planet was a risk, a risk that did not pay off at the box-office, and was not received well at the time. However, it has since gained a reputation as a “cult classic”, especially popular with fans of science fantasy and those who were children around the time of its release. I think for my family there were too many choices at the time to make Treasure Planet seem like a worthy cinema choice, but times have changed. People change. I know I gave Treasure Planet another chance, and found I loved it, and there were so many things to like about it, and so much to praise here.

Treasure Planet has enough heart, humour, adventure, and artistic styling to prove popular for many years to come, and if anyone has not watched it since it came out, then please, give it another chance.

You might find it’s your new favourite.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Treasure Planet (2002)’, pp. 127-129.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

[5] Credit: Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller, ‘Disney’s ‘Treasure Planet’ an Adventure in Losing Money’, Los Angeles Times (online), 6^th December 2002.

[6] Credit: Zach Gass, ’10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Canceled Treasure Planet 2’, ScreenRant.com, 29^th February 2020.

[7] Credit: Kayleigh Donaldson, ‘The History Of Treasure Planet, Disney Animation’s Biggest Ever Flop’, SlashFilm.com, 27^th November 2022.

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

26th Jan 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#18 The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Disney Animation, Silver Age
adventure, fantasy, king-arthur, magic, merlin
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BACKGROUND

“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England”.

These words set the scene for the Disney animated classic The Sword in the Stone, the last Disney animated feature to be completed and released during Walt Disney’s lifetime.

Unlike other Disney animated features, where the timeframe that they were produced in has its own story, the 1960s weren’t a particularly exciting or painful time for the Disney Studios. Throughout the 1950s, they had been rebuilding after the impact of World War II and had some mixed results. Cinderella (1950) was a big success, but Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) received mixed reviews, the latter of the two being hugely costly to make and therefore, it took a while for it to make any money.

Because of the disappointment of Sleeping Beauty, the 1960s began an effort to make new movies cheaper. The Xerography process helped this and was instrumental in the creation of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), a very popular box-office release. So, The Sword in the Stone was going to go the same way, something quick and cheap to make.

Once again though, The Sword in the Stone could not mimic the results of its predecessor, and, although it got some good reviews and made a small profit, it has not been remembered like other Disney animated features have been. It’s another one of those that has been forgotten or trashed by some, and remains a favourite with a small number.

I personally really like The Sword in the Stone, but I believe I am in the minority there. I don’t think it’s even that this film is inherently bad. At the time of its release in 1963, it would have been compared to other Disney movies and felt that it was lacking some “Disney magic”. In current times, I think it has the additional trouble of being forgotten in amongst all the other King Arthur and/or Merlin adaptations, of which there are many, with a general feeling that the story has been “overdone”.

But for me, and most children who have seen it, The Sword in the Stone was my first introduction to the legend of King Arthur. Since then, I have watched many others, including the 1967 movie of the musical Camelot, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), and the BBC television series Merlin (2008-12) all of which take a different look at the legend. Disney’s The Sword in the Stone is a lighter, funnier version of the story, and that’s why I like it, because it is so different and pleasant to watch, whereas other adaptations can be a bit dark, delving into the story more with Black Knights, grails, and evil sorcery.

PLOT

Even though everyone knows the legend of King Arthur, The Sword in the Stone follows a unique story, so I will recount it anyway. The film starts with a short sung-through backstory, telling us how the old King of England, King Uther, has died with the heir to the throne unknown. An unseen narrator then tells us that The Sword in the Stone has been created in order to find the rightful king. Many try to pull the sword but to no avail, the sword being left to time and forgotten.

Then the story of Arthur can begin. In this version, Arthur is an 11-year-old orphan, living with his foster father Sir Ector and foster brother Kay, who have given him the “affectionate” nickname of Wart. Arthur has accidentally ruined Kay’s hunting trip by making him misfire his arrow. Arthur goes into the forest to retrieve it and in doing so, falls through a cottage roof, which happens to be the house of the wizard Merlin. Merlin has been expecting him, though he doesn’t know exactly who he is, only that he’s important for some reason. Arthur insists he must get home, so Merlin and his talking owl, Archimedes, accompany him back to Sir Ector’s castle, where Arthur is given “demerits” for running off and being late. Merlin introduces himself to Sir Ector, who is both suspicious and scared of Merlin’s sorcery. He leads Merlin to a room in one of the crumbling, leaking towers of the castle where he can stay. Merlin is not impressed, but wants to be able to educate Arthur to give him a better future, so Merlin and Archimedes stay. Arthur is being trained to be Kay’s squire, since Sir Ector has been informed of a New Year’s Day tournament, where the winner will be crowned the new King of England, so naturally Ector wants Kay to win and become king.

The next day, Arthur starts his lessons with Merlin. The first one involves them both becoming fish in the castle moat, where he begins learning how fish move in water. The two are attacked by a giant pike, with Merlin giving Arthur the chance to show that brains can beat brawn. With some help from Archimedes, Arthur succeeds and outsmarts the pike. Merlin quickly turns both of them back into humans. Because of this, Arthur is late once again for his training and Sir Ector tells him to get to the kitchen to wash dishes, ignoring all of the magical events that caused him to be late. Merlin finds Arthur in the kitchen and sets up a magical assembly line to get the dishes cleaned whilst they are both away. Merlin then turns them both into squirrels, to learn about gravity, but at the same time, the two are chased by female squirrels who have fallen in love with them. This is awkward and uncomfortable for Merlin and Arthur who try to outrun their fans. At the same time, a wolf, who has been following Arthur since the opening scene in the forest, returns and waits for Squirrel Arthur to fall to the ground so he can finally eat him. Arthur does fall, but luckily his new friend helps fight off the wolf. Once again, Merlin quickly turns him and Arthur human again, which confuses the female squirrels. Merlin angrily scares his off, while Arthur tries to let his one down gently. She doesn’t understand, being a squirrel, and runs up a tree to cry…

Meanwhile, Ector, Kay and the cook see the enchanted dishes in the kitchen and try to stop this “dark magic”. It doesn’t work, but Merlin and Arthur return and Merlin puts a stop to the spell. Arthur tries to defend Merlin from Ector’s tirade. As further punishment, Arthur is no longer allowed to be Kay’s squire; Hobbs will replace him. Arthur is upset, so to try to make it up to him, Merlin endeavours to teach him full-time, but because Merlin has time-travelled and seen the past, present, and future, his lessons confuse Arthur. Archimedes is tasked with taking over, and begins with the basics like the alphabet. Merlin wants to get involved again so begins a lesson on aircrafts and flight, but his model plane falls and crashes into the moat, with Archimedes confirming that “if man were meant to fly, he’d have been born with wings”. Arthur says how he’s always wanted to fly, so Merlin turns him into a sparrow. Arthur and Archimedes set out on a flying lesson.

During the lesson, Arthur is pursued by a hawk and falls down a chimney into a cottage in the woods. This is the home of Mad Madam Mim, an eccentric sorceress and Merlin’s nemesis. Arthur is about to be destroyed by Mim when Merlin comes to rescue him. Mim challenges Merlin to a wizard duel, where the two turn themselves into different animals to fight and outwit each other. However, Mim cheats, going against one of her rules about only turning themselves into real animals, not mythical ones; she turns himself into a dragon. To outsmart her, Merlin turns himself into a germ, called malignalitaloptereosis, which Mim catches, giving her a nasty, but survivable illness, where she needs lots of sunshine to get better, something she despises: “I hate sunshine, I hate horrible, wholesome sunshine!”

Just before the tournament, at Christmastime, Arthur is informed that Hobbs has mumps so he can be Kay’s, now Sir Kay as he has been knighted, squire in the tournament. Arthur is overjoyed and goes to tell Merlin and Archimedes the good news. Except Merlin is far from happy for Arthur, thinking he’s throwing away all their lessons and teachings, passing over education for a menial position. Merlin is so angry in fact that he blasts himself to 20^th Century Bermuda. Archimedes continues to support Arthur though, going with him to London for the New Year’s Tournament.

During the tournament, Arthur forgets Kay’s sword and must find him another one quickly. The inn, where he left the sword, is closed, so him and Archimedes go to a churchyard and see a sword set in a stone. Arthur touches it and a beam of light comes over him. Archimedes warns him not to touch it, but Arthur insists Kay must have a sword, and pulls it out of the stone. Arthur hands the sword over to Kay, where him, Ector, and everyone else present at the tournament finds it is actually The Sword in the Stone. Nobody believes that Arthur pulled it himself, so they order Arthur to show them where he found it. They all go to the churchyard, and place the sword back in the stone, asking Arthur to pull it out again in front of everyone. Kay decides that the sword will be easy to remove now, since it’s already been pulled out, so tries to pull it to become king. It doesn’t move, and despite Ector’s strength and those of some other knights, it won’t budge.

Someone in the crowd says Arthur should be allowed to pull it again. Arthur steps up to the stone and easily removes the sword, where he is proclaimed King. All the others kneel in front of him, including Ector and Kay, and Arthur is crowned. In the castle, Arthur feels he is not ready for this role and tries to run away, but he cannot as everywhere he turns, there are people watching him. Luckily, Merlin returns from Bermuda, and realises Arthur was special because he was going to be king. Merlin prepares to help guide Arthur through his new life, pleased to see how he has finally fulfilled his full potential.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Arthur – I can’t call him “Wart”, it seems too mean – is drawn to resemble a typical eleven-year-old boy. He is described as “scrawny” which you can see from his twig-like legs. But the whole point of Arthur is that he is the kid nobody expects anything of, he’s just an orphan with no life plan and not much of a future. He is teased and, frankly, bullied by his foster brother, Sir Kay, who thinks Arthur is just a pain, some kid he’s supposed to look after. He is used as a servant by Sir Ector, yet, he still seems pleasantly happy with his lot in life. Merlin tries to help educate him, but Arthur is happy enough training to be a squire, much to Merlin’s annoyance, though Arthur does enjoy Merlin’s magic and the adventures they go on. We see at the end when Arthur is crowned King, that he is terrified of his future, and how in the world do they expect him to be a king and rule the country. He thinks nothing of himself, until Merlin shows him, he can be so much more.

Arthur had three different voice actors during the three-year production of The Sword in the Stone. The original voice actor was Rickie Sorenson, who was known for his television roles at the time, such as portraying Tommy Banks in the television series Father of the Bride (1961-62). Sorenson had also voiced Spotty for Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). As his voice had started to change during the long length of production, he could not finish the lines by the end of it. Director Woolie Reitherman drafted in two of his sons, Richard and Robert, to finish the lines. The changing voice is quite evident during much of the film, but particularly in the final scene. Once you know about it, too, it can be a tad bit distracting…

Merlin is the cranky, intelligent, time-travelling wizard who helps Arthur. He is meant to be an old curmudgeonly sort of man, and he is at times in the movie, getting angry quite frequently, however, he is also kind and understanding. Bill Peet incorporated some of Walt Disney into the character of Merlin, as he was sort of the “wizard” of the studio. Facially, he used Walt’s nose for the character, and emotionally, used some aspects of his temperament, such as being cantankerous and demanding, but also playful and intelligent. Walt either didn’t notice or never commented on the similarities between himself and Merlin[1]. Karl Swenson voiced Merlin here. Swenson was particularly good at vocalisation after working extensively on radio during its “golden age”, before moving into screen roles. Swenson is probably most well-known for appearing as Lars Henson in the series Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1978. He also appeared in the Western film The Wild Country, produced by Walt Disney Productions, in 1970.

Archimedes is Merlin’s wise old owl, who is also quite cranky and grouchy at times! But he does have a caring side, as we see when he is the only one of him and Merlin to support Arthur in his dreams to be a squire, accepting that education can’t be forced upon someone. Archimedes is my favourite character because he’s so sarcastic towards Arthur when he doesn’t understand anything, even things Archimedes thinks are quite basic, and towards Merlin, when he mentions these crazy future inventions, like the aeroplane. This leads me to my all-time favourite scene. Merlin is trying to show Arthur that man will fly someday, and shows him a model aircraft which he picked up in the future at some point. He spins the propeller to wind-up the model, not realising that, when he goes to launch it out the window, that his beard has got tangled and the plane simply unravels his beard and crashes down to the ground below, to which Archimedes responds with: “Oh, man’ll fly alright, just like a rock!”, before proceeding to laugh hysterically. He reminds me of me – laughing way after everyone else has stopped and the joke is no longer funny! Disney legend and animator Ollie Johnstone loved this scene too. Junius Matthews, the voice of Archimedes, had to make sure that his laughter continued to feel sincere, not forced, for the full twenty seconds. By the end of it, both Matthews and Archimedes were exhausted! Junius Matthews would later be cast as the original voice of Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. Matthews was actually recommended for a part in The Sword in the Stone by Karl Swenson, with them trying Swenson out as Archimedes and Matthews as Merlin, however, the two roles were later switched, which I think was definitely for the best[2].

Legendary Disney animator Milt Kahl loved animating The Sword in the Stone characters. He is particularly praised for designing Sir Ector and Sir Kay without any live-action or reference material. Those two characters both start off seeming harsh and uncaring towards Arthur; giving him the nickname “Wart” doesn’t help their case. They aren’t loving familial figures. By the time Arthur is proclaimed the new king, they become much more kind towards him, unsurprisingly. They aren’t all bad though, as they are quite bumbling and idiotic at times so that’s funny, like when they are trying to fight the “hexed” kitchen equipment that is washing itself after Merlin cast a spell on it. It’s a satisfying scene to watch, that assembly line. Kay and Sir Ector trying to ward off the “devilish magic” with swords is ridiculous; Ector gets smashed over the head several times, and ends up being washed himself, and Kay gets stuck in the fabric of the mop while it’s mopping the floor. These two are not true villains, but it is nice to see them get some sort of comeuppance! Some of this scene was actually reused animation of Horace and Jasper being attacked by Pongo and Perdita in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). The two characters can also be seen laughing at Arthur in a similar fashion to King Stefan and King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty (1959) earlier on in the movie.

Sir Ector was voiced by Sebastian Cabot, a British actor with quite a distinctive voice. Cabot had worked for Disney, starring in some of their live-action films, like Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956) and Johnny Tremain (1957). After The Sword in the Stone, Cabot would again return to voice acting for Disney, performing as Bagheera the panther in The Jungle Book (1967) and then being The Narrator for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). Sir Kay was voiced by Norman Alden, this being perhaps his most well-known film role, however Alden did also voice the character of Kranix in the animated film The Transformers: The Movie (1986), alongside big names such as Eric Idle and Leonard Nimoy.

Artist Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas were assigned to design Madam Mim, making her suitably wacky and crazy with their design choices. It was decided that Mim could not be a tall, attractive woman and that she had to be eccentric and old like Merlin, so she was given a short, chubby body with thin arms and legs. However, there is one brief moment where Mim turns herself into a tall, attractive woman. Supposedly, this version of Mim resembles a layout artist who worked at the Disney Studios at the time, however, she never said anything about any similarities, nor did Milt Kahl confirm it!

I like Madam Mim, though again, she is not much of a villain, but just about the only one this film has, despite the fact she only appears in the movie for around ten minutes in total and she has no relevance to the overall film. Mim is the witch nemesis of Merlin. She’s mostly just eccentric, but she does try to destroy both Arthur and Merlin; Arthur by turning herself into a cat to eat him when he’s a bird, and Merlin through the wizard’s duel. The wizard’s duel is an impressive scene in the movie, kept in the film by Bill Peet and created only by him. He wanted the duel to be a big visual treat for the audience, which it certainly is. The duel involves fifteen different visuals of animals, which had to keep the signature colours of Merlin and Mim – blue and pink/purple respectively. They also had to keep the visual characteristics, like Merlin’s beard, and Mim’s lavender hair, along with their personalities; Merlin by outwitting Mim with his quiet, calm intellect, and Mim with her brash overconfidence in her powers[3]. She’s a funny villain, not properly devious, but mildly intimidating! She was going to have a darker role in the movie, according to an alternate opening, where she was plotting to find Arthur, the missing heir to the throne, to usurp his position as ruler, and kill him before he ever pulled The Sword in the Stone.

The idea for Mim was her to be a cross between a spoilt brat and a crotchety old hag, always wanting to win so she lies and cheats, never playing fair to ensure that. Martha Wentworth was chosen to be Mim’s voice actor. Wentworth had a long radio career from the 1920s, and was known for her amazing voice impressions. For Disney, she voiced Jenny Wren in the Silly Symphonies Disney short cartoon Who Killed Cock Robin? in 1935 and also voiced Nanny in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). She also voiced Granny Squirrel here, the one who seems to like Squirrel Merlin[4].

MUSIC

The music for The Sword in the Sword was written by the Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman. This was the first animated feature they’d worked on, though they had already done some work for Disney in the movies The Absent-Minded Professor and The Parent Trap in 1961. The Sherman Brothers then continued to work on Disney projects for many years, including for more movies, such as Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967), as well as Disney attraction theme songs, like “It’s a Small World (After All)”.

The first song in the film is actually more of a sung-through narration, where we learn the background of how and why The Sword in the Stone came to be, simply called “The Sword in the Stone”. I really like it as an opening number, as it gives us a bit of backstory explained in a more interesting way and sets the viewer up for what’s to come. The song was performed by Fred Darian.

After that, we have the song “Higitus Figitus”, performed by Karl Swenson as Merlin, when Merlin is magically packing all of his belongings into one small suitcase. It’s a little bouncy tune full of nonsense words so perfect for a film aimed at children. This is the most remembered song in the film, I’d say. The Sherman Brothers said they made up the title words using a mixture of what sounded like British words to match Merlin’s nationality and the setting of the film, and some Greek and Latin words to signify his intelligence and love of books. The Shermans thought just using “abracadabra” as the magic words would be too boring – which is true. Originally, they had written the song “The Magic Key” to be performed at this point, with Merlin telling Arthur about the importance of education, but it was replaced with “Higitus Figitus”. A good choice, I think.

Then we have two songs that are performed during Arthur’s lesson as a fish and as a squirrel. The first, “That’s What Makes the World Go Round”, is another bouncy tune that I like, but I can see why it’s perhaps not very memorable to most people. I sometimes just remember it randomly for some reason. Both Karl Swenson and Rickie Sorensen perform this one, but the next, “A Most Befuddling Thing” is just sung by Swenson as Merlin and is another that people might remember more for the squirrel sequence than the song because it is pretty hilarious. At this point in the film, the two are squirrels but Arthur finds himself being pursued by a female squirrel, who does not take “no” for an answer. Merlin is trying to tell Arthur that love is an odd thing that can’t be explained and just happens. Soon, Merlin finds himself being chased by a squirrel too and that’s where the song stops! Merlin’s one is not as “attractive”; she’s a bit bigger and more muscular so when she tries to “flirt” with Merlin by pushing him over, he slams into a tree trunk. It’s even better because he’s laughing at Arthur, telling him he’s on his own with that one, when his shows up. Arthur’s squirrel is much cuter, and she’s become a fan-favourite. I never fail to laugh at this scene of the two of them being chased around. However, the end of this scene is incredibly sad because the girl squirrel realises Arthur is not a squirrel, but a human, as he’d tried to tell her, so she runs away, scared, and cries to herself in the tree. The final shot is of her sitting on a branch at the very top of the tree, sniffling and sighing. Unrequited love, eh?

The “villain’s song” of The Sword in the Stone is performed by Martha Wentworth as Madam Mim and it is called “Mad Madam Mim”. She is basically showing off her magical powers to Arthur. I like it but probably more for Mim than the song itself; she’s just so strange but so confident about it! There is also a brief section of a deleted song that appears in the film. It is only a few seconds long, so I’m not classing it as a song, where Ector and Pelinore are singing around the table at Christmas. The song is “Blue Oak Tree”. The full song would’ve appeared in the movie being sung by the knights, talking about the oak tree on their crests, and how they fight for this meaningless picture[5].

The musical score was written by George Bruns, who had scored Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) beforehand, but had worked on the music for some of the 1950s Disney live-action films before that as well. He went on to write the score for other movies such as The Jungle Book (1967), The Love Bug (1968) and Robin Hood (1973). Though I cannot pick out an individual part of the score that I really like, other than the main title, I like how it feels both medieval and magical, fitting the atmosphere and tone of the overall film. For his score for The Sword in the Stone, Bruns was nominated for Best Score – Adaptation or Treatment at the 1964 Academy Awards, but lost to André Previn’s score for Irma la Douce (1963).

PRODUCTION

The production of The Sword in the Stone took place during the “Silver Age” of Disney animation. After the “Golden Age”, Walt’s enthusiasm for animation had started to decline despite having acquired rights for new animation projects, partly because of the lacklustre performance of some of his passion project movies, like Fantasia (1940), and because of the reputation of the Disney company after the animator’s strike, and the impact of World War II. Walt was spending more time on other pursuits.

In the 1960s, when The Sword in the Stone was in production, Disneyland was open, so Walt spent his time working on ways to improve the park and its attractions. He was also focused on television and live-action films at this point. His brother, Roy O. Disney, had even asked him about closing down the animation department altogether around this time, as they had plenty of material that could simply be re-released. Walt did not want to do this, but did reduce staff numbers and looked at cheaper methods, like Xerography, where animated drawings could be printed directly onto cels instead of painstakingly inking and painting. This technique was first used by Disney for One Hundred and One Dalmatians in 1961, which did well and secured the short-term future of animation. But Walt was not very involved even in that film. The last animated film to take up much of Walt’s attention was Sleeping Beauty (1959) and despite being among the ten highest grossing films of 1959, it was not able to recoup its costs, simply because of how expensive the animation was.

So how did they end up with The Sword in the Stone? Walt Disney first obtained the rights to T. H. White’s 1938 original standalone children’s story The Sword in the Stone in 1939. White’s series was not complete at this point, so when White published his novel The Once and Future King in 1958, which consisted of several shorter novels that he had written between 1938 and 1940, some elements from the original story were omitted in the final novel, such as the appearance of Madam Mim[6]. Disney did not know the final tonality of the whole series until many years after the rights were first purchased and the full series of books took on a new tone altogether, darker, more adult, more political. As this would not fit the Disney way of doing things, Bill Peet, Disney veteran of thirty years, spent a lot of time sifting through the material to figure out what would work. He wrote the screenplay before storyboarding the film, against process, because of this. Bill Peet wanted to make the story fun and playful so avoided talk of the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, and Guinevere, for example[7]. I am glad that Disney didn’t stray into complex themes. As well as not fitting in with the Disney theme, I have found that the Arthurian legend gets complicated when it delves into wars and dark magic. With the BBC series Merlin (2008-12) I loved the first two series, but then by series three, Morgause and Morgana started being evil and that sucked all the fun out of it for me!

In 1949, the Disney Studios began completing their first storyboards for the movie, however, it wasn’t until Walt Disney saw the Broadway production of the musical Camelot in 1960, another adapted work based on the legend of King Arthur, that he felt confident enough to put The Sword in the Stone into production[8]. Also, Walt felt as Sleeping Beauty (1959) and The Sword in the Stone were so similar in style, both being set in medieval times, that a different style of film had to be released in between the two. This was One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), which was written by Disney storyman Bill Peet.

After that, Bill Peet was then assigned The Sword in the Stone to work on by himself. At the same time, Marc Davis and Ken Anderson were working on their own movie, an adaptation of Chanticleer and the Fox. Davis and Anderson spent months working on their pitch to Walt and the concept was considered to be some of the best art seen at the Disney Studios in years. It would’ve been quite a different film to come from Disney Animation, as Floyd Norman stated in a later interview. Everyone at the studios thought it would be a guarantee that Walt would want to produce the film, but that was not the case. Walt said he didn’t like it and that was that. It was thought that Walt wanted to make a quick film with a low budget, in a similar fashion to Dumbo (1941), so he went with Bill Peet’s adaptation of The Sword in the Stone instead, where Peet was given a lot of freedom over the story.

Despite the disappointment that Anderson and Davis must have felt, the production of The Sword in the Stone was not marred with constant conflict and clashes. Though the story was difficult to adapt, given the source material, the animators worked together to devise clever characters; the Sherman Brothers were brought in to write the songs for it; and Woolie Reitherman was named as the sole director of the film, with The Sword in the Stone being the first Disney animated film to be directed by just one person. It was also only the second Disney animated film to be written by one person, Bill Peet. Walt Peregoy, lead background painter for Sleeping Beauty (1959), showed how much Disney Animation could push their colour palettes, with varied bright colours in The Sword in the Stone, where he practically painted all the backgrounds single-handedly.

But perhaps because of the lack of conflict, it resulted in a “bland” film that was lacking the Disney magic. Because of this, Walt Disney then made sure to be more involved in the following Disney animated film, The Jungle Book (1967), where he clashed with Bill Peet numerous times, leading to Peet leaving the Disney Studios altogether[9].

RECEPTION

The Sword in the Stone was released in December 1963, with it premiering in the UK a couple of weeks earlier than in the US. It made a small profit at the box-office, but nothing like the return of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Disney Animation’s previous movie release. The critical reviews were not as good either, with many saying that the plot was thin, and that it strayed too far from the legend of King Arthur. I can see why this comment was made, as The Sword in the Stone does feel like a set of sequences strung together at times, but I still enjoy it. Others did find the movie funny and appreciated the smaller cast of characters, as Disney has been known to crowd their movies with too many. It was a mixed bag of reviews back then, but even audiences today don’t generally love it, probably for similar reasons. The Sword in the Stone was later re-released in theatres in 1972 and again 1983, before being available for home releases.

LEGACY

Thanks to The Sword in the Stone celebrating its 60^th anniversary in 2023, there has been more merchandise than usual related to the film in recent years, including pins, ornaments, and figurines. Disney had previously only tended to do big lines of merchandising for their most popular films, so with them now celebrating milestone anniversaries, and with the Disney100 celebrations in 2023, it’s good to see that fans of any animated Disney film can now find something related to their favourite film.

The Sword in the Stone did not receive any sequels or spin-offs, not even in the direct-to-video market, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, a live-action remake of the film was announced in 2015. A director was later attached to the project in 2018. Since then, there has been no further official news on the live-action film, so whether or not this will happen, I don’t know, but I will just say that there are so many live-action adaptations of the story of King Arthur that I’m not sure it’s worth Disney’s time and money to make it. The Disney Channel Original Movie Avalon High (2010) was based on a book by Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries book series, which was itself loosely based on the Arthurian legend, and 20^th Century Fox, now owned by Disney, released The Kid Who Would Be King in 2019, which again is another adaptation of the same story. These are just Disney’s own versions of the story; countless other movie or television productions have also been created around King Arthur, Merlin, and/or Excalibur in just the last few years.

The Sword in the Stone, despite not being one of Disney’s “best” features, has left a legacy within some of the Disney theme parks. Five of the six parks have definitely had or currently have The Sword in the Stone, with Tokyo Disneyland seeming to be the only one that hasn’t; I am uncertain if they have had one in the past, but they certainly don’t have one now. There used to be an official ceremony in front of The Sword where guests would be given the opportunity to pull the sword. Normally, this honour went to a child, after some adults had already tried to pull it. Once the “worthy person” was chosen, The Sword would be able to be pulled just a few inches out of the stone, for safety reasons. A short Coronation Ceremony then took place, where the Ruler was given a crown and cape. They also received a “royal medallion” and certificate as a prize. For anyone who doesn’t want to believe in magic, The Sword is able to be lifted after magnets holding The Sword in place are disengaged by a cast member.

In the summer of 1983, the first The Sword in the Stone ceremony took place at Disneyland in front of the carousel, with Merlin appearing to officiate the ceremony. Variations of the show where also performed at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida from 1993 to 2006, and at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland from their opening dates in 1992 and 2005 respectively. I don’t believe any of the ceremonies at any of the Disney theme parks are still going, but The Sword is available to anyone for a photo-op or just to test your strength. Some have gone too far with this and managed to break The Sword though, so please be careful with it. In January 2020, at Disneyland, the sword was unavailable for a period of time as a guest broke the sword attempting to remove it and it had to be fixed. It was very old though, so probably not a big surprise that it broke! Shanghai Disneyland also has a sword in the stone, but doesn’t have a ceremony for it.

Alongside this, a Wizard Duel-inspired dark ride was considered for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World when it was being constructed for its opening in 1971. This was so that the attractions were not simply copies of the ones over at Disneyland, with this dark ride being planned as a substitute for Snow White’s Scary Adventures, however, the idea was rejected by Roy O. Disney, who felt guests wanted some of the same attractions as the ones that could be found at Disneyland[10]. Also at the Magic Kingdom, Merlin used to be the “host” of the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom interactive game, where guests used interactive screens and packs of cards to battle different Disney villains and help Merlin defeat Hades. It was a fun game, and something good to do when the park had very long queues for attractions. It ran from February 2012 until January 2021. After the disappearance of the walk-around character of Merlin from The Sword in the Stone ceremony in 2006, this was Merlin’s last known appearance at the Magic Kingdom.

But that’s just one park. At Disneyland, the Magic Happens parade features Merlin and Arthur on their own float, complete with The Sword in the Stone. This is a random, but much appreciated, addition to the parade, as many of the other floats are themed to more popular Disney animated films, such as Frozen II (2019), Moana (2016), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). The Magic Happens parade first debuted at Disneyland in February 2020, but closed shortly after due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It then began again in February 2023 as part of the Disney100 celebrations. Disneyland’s carousel is named King Arthur Carrousel, due to the medieval faire surroundings of the carousel in Fantasyland, however, the carousel actually features scenes from Sleeping Beauty (1959) on the inside. The Sword in the Stone has been placed right in front of the carousel though. Finally, Merlin has featured at the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween event as a meet-and-greet location.

At Disneyland Paris, along with their sword in the stone, there is a shop within the castle called Merlin l’Enchanteur (Merlin the Magician), which sells items such as jewellery, crystal, and glass displays. You can go past a miniature “The Sword in the Stone” during Le Pays des Contes de Fées attraction, their version of the Disneyland Storybook Land Canal Boats. Merlin and Arthur were also spotted recently for a meet-and-greet at the Annual Passholder Party at Disneyland Paris in March 2023. It is quite rare to see Arthur as a walkaround character. Disneyland Paris’ carousel is also named for the Arthurian tale – Le Carrousel de Lancelot, but as Lancelot isn’t mentioned in The Sword in the Stone, it isn’t a movie reference unfortunately.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, The Sword in the Stone was actually removed in 2023 to make place for their new “Dream Makers” statue, a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse sitting on a bench. It was located in front of the Cinderella Carousel. There are however two shops named after Merlin still, both situated in Fantasyland: Merlin’s Treasures and Merlin’s Magic Portraits. Merlin’s Magic Portraits is just a cart where you can pick up your Disney PhotoPass pictures, whereas Merlin’s Treasures is a souvenir shop housed in a cottage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Although The Sword in the Stone did not span a great franchise or a huge fanbase, it has become one of the first introductions for many to the legend of King Arthur. Because it is aimed at a wide audience, it is accessible to many and is nice, light entertainment. Some of the animation is a bit basic in places, and the soundtrack is not one of Disney’s best, but I don’t care; that’s never been enough to take my focus away. I think The Sword in the Stone is funny and I find it sad that it may have been forgotten amongst all the big Disney hits.

Still, the never-ending fascination with the Disney Parks’ Swords in the Stone has kept the legend alive and people just won’t give up trying to pull them out!

Everyone knows we have a King of England already, right?

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Sword in the Stone (1963)’, pp. 52-54.

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Wizard Facts about Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone’, D23 (online), 21^st December 2018.

[3] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Wizard Facts about Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone’, D23 (online), 21^st December 2018.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Mad Madam Mim’, CartoonResearch.com, 21^st August 2020.

[5] Credit: Disney, Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers (2001).

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Mad Madam Mim’, CartoonResearch.com, 21^st August 2020.

[7] Credit: William Fischer, ‘How ‘The Sword in the Stone’ Pulled Walt Disney Back Into Animation’, Collider (online), 4^th August 2021

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Sword in the Stone (1963)’, pp. 52-54.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Floyd Norman Remembers The Sword in the Stone’, MousePlanet.com, 1-8^th November 2017.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Floyd Norman Remembers The Sword in the Stone: Part One’, MousePlanet.com, 1^st November 2017.