Theatrical release poster
Treasure Planet is a 2002 American animated science fiction action adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 27, 2002. It is the 43rd Disney animated feature film. The film is a science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island and was the first film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters. It is at least the second retelling of the story in an outer space setting, following the 1987 Italian miniseries Treasure Island in Outer Space. It employs a novel technique of hand-drawn 2D traditional animation set atop 3D computer animation. With a budget of $140 million, it is the most expensive traditionally animated film ever made.
The film was co-written, co-produced and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who had pitched the concept for the film at the same time that they pitched another Disney animated feature, The Little Mermaid (1989). Treasure Planet features the voices of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brian Murray, David Hyde Pierce, Martin Short, Roscoe Lee Browne, Emma Thompson, Michael Wincott, Laurie Metcalf, and Patrick McGoohan (in his final film role). The musical score was composed by James Newton Howard, while a couple of songs were written and performed by John Rzeznik. Despite generally positive critical reception from most critics and audiences praising the imaginative sci-fi visuals, animation, storyline, action scenes, voice performances, and music score, the film underperformed at the box office, costing $140 million to create while earning $38 million in the United States and Canada and just shy of $110 million worldwide. It was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
