Why Treasure Planet is Such an Amazing Movie

My mother asked me recently why I like Treasure Planet so much. It's the sort of movie that I turn on every time it's on TV, and watch multiple times when we rent it. But I finally bought it recently, and I've been loving it! But then she asked me why I liked it so much, and I had to really think about it, because I wasn't sure.

It took me a while, but I think I've got it.

My favorite part of the movie is the beginning, going all the way up to the section with the song 'I'm Still Here.' I've always loved that song, and the part of the movie while it's playing is amazing.

The movie starts with Jim getting in trouble, and his mother talking to a family friend about the issues he's having with his life. In the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the movie, we find out that Jim's father left, and after that Jim was never the same.

Skip ahead to when they're on the ship, and Jim promptly gets into more trouble, picking a fight with someone bigger and stronger than him. The ship's cook, Mr. Silver, rescues Jim, and immediately scolds him for not doing the job he was supposed to be doing when he got involved in the fight. Later on that night, Silver asks if Jim's father taught him to choose his battles more carefully. Jim replies that his father was more the taking off and never coming back sort.

At that point, the audience already knows that Silver is planning on a mutiny against the captain, and, therefore, Jim and Doctor Doppler.

Since Jim is Silver's cabin boy, Silver is responsible for him, and makes that abundantly clear by telling him exactly what to expect. And Jim doesn't like what he hears.

At this point, the song 'I'm Still Here' starts playing. And this is where I really love this movie.

You get to watch a sped-up version of a transformation for both Jim and Silver.

Jim's already been portrayed as a troubled teen. You see him with his mother as a teenager the first time when he's been escorted home by two police officers. This image is only increased by his attitude toward Silver, Captain Amelia, and the rest of the crew.

Silver's transformation is a little less obvious, but if you've seen the movie before, you know that he's a selfish man, and obsessed with the treasure. He's lied to get what he wants, and he's constantly trying to 'get in good' with the captain and her first officer with oily flattery.

Jim doesn't trust Silver, doesn't believe in himself, and has been hurt very deeply by the fact that his father left him and his mother. The scene goes from current events to flashbacks. Flashbacks of his father ignoring him, not noticing something he accomplished and was proud of. But, for me, the most heart-wrenching moment was toward the end of the song, when Jim and Silver are at the small boat, and Jim has started to trust Silver. They untie the boat, and Silver gets in. You can see the look of expectation on Jim's face; he's started to trust Silver, to look at him as a father figure. Then Silver leaves Jim behind.

There's another flashback. Younger Jim runs down the stairs, sees his mother crying, and then runs outside. His father is leaving. Jim tries to catch him, but his father either doesn't notice or doesn't care, and leaves him hanging on the pier. We already know that his father never comes back.

Then it cuts back to the present, and Silver is there, waving for Jim to jump in.

Like Jim's father, Silver left. But unlike Jim's father, he came back.

Silver's transformation is a little less obvious. He's desperate for the treasure they're hunting, and he's willing to stab his captain in the back for it. After the song finishes, you find out that Silver became a cyborg, and gave up limbs and other things chasing a dream. I think it's safe to say that that dream was the treasure.

By getting close to Jim, Silver has jeopardized his position with his crew. In order to still go after his dream, he lies to his own crew about why he got close to Jim. He tells them he did it to distract Jim so he wouldn't find out about their plan.

But at the end of the movie, Silver is faced with a choice. He's been balancing his affection for Jim with his obsession for the treasure, and managing it, for the most part, until the very end.

The planet is going to explode, and he has a choice. He can save Jim, or he can go after the treasure. At first, he tries to do both. But when he discovers that's not going to work, he has a moment of indecision. And then he gives up his lifelong obsession to save Jim.

At the very end of the movie, Silver gives up what little of the treasure he managed to grab to Jim, to rebuild the inn he burned to the ground when he was after the treasure map.

They rebuild the inn, and Jim finds a future he didn't think he had.

That's why I love this movie. Two broken people learn to care for each other and that helps them learn to be better people. Jim needed a father figure to teach him to believe in himself, and Silver needed someone like Jim to teach him to love people rather than things. Because Jim trusted him, and loved him as a father, Silver learned to love him as a son, and to put more important things first.

I think they both learned valuable things, but I think Silver's lesson was the most powerful. Jim learned to believe in himself, but Silver learned about what love is, and that sometimes a lifelong dream isn't as wonderful as you've been telling yourself. That, maybe, once it's in your grasp, it won't turn out to be the most important thing after all. He learned that saving Jim was more important than the dream he'd had for years, had given up limbs for.

And that's why Treasure Planet is one of my favorite movies.