In 2002, a Disney film was released that its director had been waiting for a long time. He wanted to shoot it 15 years earlier. However, this was prevented by Star Trek – and a film that was never released.
Which Disney film is it about? Do you remember the animated film “Treasure Planet”? It was released in 2002 and was essentially a loose adaptation of the novel Treasure Island by Robert L. Stevenson.
The film moved the book’s action into the future. The protagonist, 15-year-old Jim, goes in search of the treasure planet.
The film’s director, Ron Clements, would have liked to have shot this passion project a full 15 years earlier. However, his ideas were rejected at Disney in 1986 and were not implemented in the following years. What was happening?
The action-packed trailer for the Disney film “Treasure Planet”
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Star Trek thwarted the filmmaker’s plans
What was the problem? Disney liked Ron Clements’ idea of remaking the classic novel as a science fiction story. However, the bosses at Disney at the time, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, saw a big problem.
Just a short time before, the two had worked on Star Trek at Paramount. So they knew the plans for the popular series about Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. One of the next films was supposed to be a futuristic version of Treasure Island, just like Clement’s animated film.
So a “treasure island in space,” as Clements himself described it. Disney rejected the project and the director’s dream seemed to be dashed.
If you pause a Disney film in the right place, you’ll discover a hidden message.
Was the Star Trek movie released? If you are fans of the Trekkie universe and are now justifiably wondering which of the films has a plot like “Treasure Island”, you are of course right.
Because a Star Trek film like this has never been released. Apparently Paramount considered adapting the novel, but then dropped the idea.
Ron Clement’s Treasure Planet was rejected several more times by Disney before the film was finally made.
Good for the director, but unfortunately the animated film was quite a flop at the box office. It cost around $140 million and only grossed $109 million (via boxofficemojo.com).
Why did the film flop? One reason for this could be the timing of its release. The Disney film was released at a time when classic 2D animation was dying out. 3D films were suddenly popular, “Shrek” was released in 2001 and the first “Toy Story” in 1995.
It is questionable whether the film would have been better received by audiences 15 years earlier. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, Disney’s 2D films experienced a renewed heyday. Disney produced classics such as “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Lion King”, “Aladdin” and “Ariel”.
The last two mentioned even came from Ron Clements himself. And Moana also comes from him. However, he is no longer directing the upcoming second part.
The director certainly has a good knack for lovingly made animated films. By the way, he released another 2D animated film on Disney in 2009, “Kiss the Frog”. Overall, the mouse company also seems to be concentrating on 3D animated films and live-action adaptations of old classics. Steven Spielberg recommended an anime that he says is better than any Disney film.