Well, here we are, in the final installment of The Comparison--where I finally get around to the actual comparing of the two things I set out to compare. I've talked about Treasure Island (in two separate installments, no less!) and about its less-well-known adaptation, Treasure Planet. I've given an overview of opinion on both pieces of media, and now I'm going to compare and contrast them. As with both of the preceding reviews, this will be divided up into Plot, Characters, and Setting. So here we go with the thrilling conclusion...
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First up: Plot.
As I mentioned in the last post, Treasure Planet is a movie, and not a particularly long one, so it didn't have the space to really stretch the story out the way the book did. This is actually a common thing; most book-to-movie adaptations have to cut some details for the sake of time. (Unless you're Peter Jackson, in which case you add details in order to take up more time. I'm still bitter.) Generally the question isn't whether the adaptation cut anything, but what they cut and how well they did it.
In this case? I think Treasure Planet did a good job of condensing the plot.
For one thing, they cut out the overly-long beginning, which I was really glad for. In the movie, Billy Bones shows up, he gives Jim the map (actually gives it to him!), mutters a vague warning about "the cyborg", and dies. Bam, we have kickstarted the plot.
This continues throughout the movie: everything that happens happens for a reason, to advance the plot somehow. Either it contributes to what's going on, or it gets cut. And it works.
Probably the biggest difference of all from book to movie is that the movie added an emotional subplot/arc that was not there in the book. This actually tied in well, I think, with the direction the adaptation was going. See, if you'll remember, back in my first Treasure Island post I talked about how Long John Silver's betrayal doesn't seem to have a lot of emotional effect on the characters. I also mentioned how the author didn't seem sure of how he was trying to portray Silver/build up the betrayal. Of course, both of these things were done fairly well, and I think in the context of the longer book they worked out. However, these creative decisions wouldn't have worked for a simplified, faster-paced version of the story, and I think the screenwriters knew this. Thus, I really like how it worked out in Treasure Planet.
You see, in the movie, the first mention of Silver we hear is Billy Bones telling Jim to "beware the cyborg" just before he croaks. Shortly afterward, we see a mysterious cyborg-looking shadow lead a group of pirates in burning the Benbow Inn. Thus, when we first meet John Silver, he's already been established as a very shady, if not outright villainous, character. That makes it all the more touching/suspenseful to watch him and Jim form a father-son bond, and that, in turn, makes his subsequent betrayal all the more terrible.
As a side note, in the movie, I feel like Mr. Arrow's death was tied into the greater plot in a way that made more sense. In the book, as I've said, Arrow is a drunk loser who falls overboard during a rainstorm and nobody cares. In the movie, Mr. Arrow is an upstanding first mate--a good friend and confidant of the captain--who is killed by Scroop, who then makes it look like it was indirectly Jim's fault. This ties into Jim's arc and his relationship with Silver, but it also establishes just how far Scroop is willing to go as a villain, and it's a genuinely tragic moment, since Arrow was such a great guy.
And of course--spoiler warning here--the ending of the movie is vastly different from the book. Flint's trap is a big difference (that wasn't present in the book), as is the treasure being destroyed and the last-second escape from the treasure horde place.
Silver still gets away from the good guys and escapes justice in the book, though.
(There you go. I just told you the whole ending. Now you don't have to watch the movie.)
Next up: Characters.
The characters in Treasure Planet are mostly similar to those in the book. However, there are some differences here worth talking about, so here we go.
First up: Jim Hawkins. Jim Hawkins, in the movie, is older than his book counterpart. (He's fifteen in the movie, if I'm remembering correctly.) He's very smart, but he's also reckless and sullen, feeling he has no future worth considering.
The main difference with this character is probably his recklessness. As I said in my first Treasure Island post, I feel like Jim's impetuousness wasn't a very consistent character trait. This isn't the case in the movie; Jim is very reckless and while it sometime helps him or works out in his favor, other times it's purely self-destructive. It's also part of his character arc: over the course of the movie he learns to harness his impulsiveness and think through his actions more.
Next is Dr. Delbert Doppler, who as far as I can tell is a composite character, a cross between Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey from the book. He's got Trelawney's naivete about the workings of the world, but he's also got Livesey's intelligence and doctorate. (He's not a medical doctor in the movie. So that's different.) He occasionally functions as comic relief, but he's also a character in his own right. (He's also, in the movie, an alien that kinda looks like a dog. It's a little weird.)
I already talked about Captain Amelia, who's different enough from her book counterpart that she counts as her own character. I don't want to repeat myself, so all I'll say is: I really like Captain Amelia and I'm glad she's in the movie. She's a great character.
The other female character in the movie is Jim's mother, Sarah Hawkins, the sole proprietor of the Benbow Inn. Yes, that's right: the movie removed the character of Jim's father, and they did it for a few good reasons. A) Jim's dad doesn't do much in the book other than get sick and die in the beginning. B) Jim's abandonment issues concerning his father tie into his emotional arc and the relationship he has with Silver. C) It's just all around a more economical use of a character. In my opinion, anyway.
And then, of course, there's Silver, the villain.
Silver is... well, he's actually pretty similar to his book incarnation. He's smart, fast-talking, eloquent, ambitious, murderous, and he hides it all under an exterior that's kind, friendly, and respectful of authority. However, in the movie, his relationship with Jim is a lot more pronounced, and a lot more integral to the story. Also, as far as I can tell, he never knew Captain Flint personally in the movie.
And... I think that actually wraps it up for the Characters section. I'm running short on space here, so let's move along to Setting.
The settings... well, whether you're in the book or the movie, the settings are beautifully imagined and communicated to the audience. The scale is much larger in the movie (they're travelling between planets, through space), but that comes with the territory in a sci-fi film. Obviously the movie is inherently more visual, but if you've read the book you know that Robert Louis Stevenson held nothing back in his descriptions of his settings. (Especially the island itself.) So I actually think the book and movie are pretty similar in that respect. And I think it's somewhat indicative of the overall spirit of the adaptation: there are several changes in terms of aesthetic and scale, but the overarching plot and characters are pretty similar to those in the book.
This continues throughout the movie: everything that happens happens for a reason, to advance the plot somehow. Either it contributes to what's going on, or it gets cut. And it works.
Probably the biggest difference of all from book to movie is that the movie added an emotional subplot/arc that was not there in the book. This actually tied in well, I think, with the direction the adaptation was going. See, if you'll remember, back in my first Treasure Island post I talked about how Long John Silver's betrayal doesn't seem to have a lot of emotional effect on the characters. I also mentioned how the author didn't seem sure of how he was trying to portray Silver/build up the betrayal. Of course, both of these things were done fairly well, and I think in the context of the longer book they worked out. However, these creative decisions wouldn't have worked for a simplified, faster-paced version of the story, and I think the screenwriters knew this. Thus, I really like how it worked out in Treasure Planet.
You see, in the movie, the first mention of Silver we hear is Billy Bones telling Jim to "beware the cyborg" just before he croaks. Shortly afterward, we see a mysterious cyborg-looking shadow lead a group of pirates in burning the Benbow Inn. Thus, when we first meet John Silver, he's already been established as a very shady, if not outright villainous, character. That makes it all the more touching/suspenseful to watch him and Jim form a father-son bond, and that, in turn, makes his subsequent betrayal all the more terrible.
As a side note, in the movie, I feel like Mr. Arrow's death was tied into the greater plot in a way that made more sense. In the book, as I've said, Arrow is a drunk loser who falls overboard during a rainstorm and nobody cares. In the movie, Mr. Arrow is an upstanding first mate--a good friend and confidant of the captain--who is killed by Scroop, who then makes it look like it was indirectly Jim's fault. This ties into Jim's arc and his relationship with Silver, but it also establishes just how far Scroop is willing to go as a villain, and it's a genuinely tragic moment, since Arrow was such a great guy.
And of course--spoiler warning here--the ending of the movie is vastly different from the book. Flint's trap is a big difference (that wasn't present in the book), as is the treasure being destroyed and the last-second escape from the treasure horde place.
Silver still gets away from the good guys and escapes justice in the book, though.
(There you go. I just told you the whole ending. Now you don't have to watch the movie.)
Next up: Characters.
The characters in Treasure Planet are mostly similar to those in the book. However, there are some differences here worth talking about, so here we go.
First up: Jim Hawkins. Jim Hawkins, in the movie, is older than his book counterpart. (He's fifteen in the movie, if I'm remembering correctly.) He's very smart, but he's also reckless and sullen, feeling he has no future worth considering.
The main difference with this character is probably his recklessness. As I said in my first Treasure Island post, I feel like Jim's impetuousness wasn't a very consistent character trait. This isn't the case in the movie; Jim is very reckless and while it sometime helps him or works out in his favor, other times it's purely self-destructive. It's also part of his character arc: over the course of the movie he learns to harness his impulsiveness and think through his actions more.
Next is Dr. Delbert Doppler, who as far as I can tell is a composite character, a cross between Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey from the book. He's got Trelawney's naivete about the workings of the world, but he's also got Livesey's intelligence and doctorate. (He's not a medical doctor in the movie. So that's different.) He occasionally functions as comic relief, but he's also a character in his own right. (He's also, in the movie, an alien that kinda looks like a dog. It's a little weird.)
I already talked about Captain Amelia, who's different enough from her book counterpart that she counts as her own character. I don't want to repeat myself, so all I'll say is: I really like Captain Amelia and I'm glad she's in the movie. She's a great character.
The other female character in the movie is Jim's mother, Sarah Hawkins, the sole proprietor of the Benbow Inn. Yes, that's right: the movie removed the character of Jim's father, and they did it for a few good reasons. A) Jim's dad doesn't do much in the book other than get sick and die in the beginning. B) Jim's abandonment issues concerning his father tie into his emotional arc and the relationship he has with Silver. C) It's just all around a more economical use of a character. In my opinion, anyway.
And then, of course, there's Silver, the villain.
Silver is... well, he's actually pretty similar to his book incarnation. He's smart, fast-talking, eloquent, ambitious, murderous, and he hides it all under an exterior that's kind, friendly, and respectful of authority. However, in the movie, his relationship with Jim is a lot more pronounced, and a lot more integral to the story. Also, as far as I can tell, he never knew Captain Flint personally in the movie.
And... I think that actually wraps it up for the Characters section. I'm running short on space here, so let's move along to Setting.
The settings... well, whether you're in the book or the movie, the settings are beautifully imagined and communicated to the audience. The scale is much larger in the movie (they're travelling between planets, through space), but that comes with the territory in a sci-fi film. Obviously the movie is inherently more visual, but if you've read the book you know that Robert Louis Stevenson held nothing back in his descriptions of his settings. (Especially the island itself.) So I actually think the book and movie are pretty similar in that respect. And I think it's somewhat indicative of the overall spirit of the adaptation: there are several changes in terms of aesthetic and scale, but the overarching plot and characters are pretty similar to those in the book.
***
So that's The Comparison! I have to say, I'm glad this series is over, but I haven't regretting writing it. (Remember, folks, this was originally all supposed to be one post.) Actually, I'm largely glad this is over so that I can get to posting about other things. I've got some good things in the works, including a book review and a particularly relevant history post. So stay tuned for that stuff... and feel free to come bug me over at my newly minted Facebook and Twitter pages! And as always, feel free to leave any thoughts, questions, or critiques in the comments section.
Until next time: adiós!
