I did see Treasure Planet today in a pre-screening..

[megaelch]

I received a mail yesterday with an invitation for a test screening of Disney`s latest movie to be released at thanksgiving day in the US and at december here in germany.
So we went to Arri cinema today and could enjoy the film.
It is a brilliant animation with very good characters based on the book treaure island but takes place in space.
Very many action elements only one song and definetely not a child`s movie, i would say it is very nice for children 8 - 14 , especially for boys and makes a good entertainment for adults as well.
Main characters are :
Jim Hawkins
his mother Sarah
John Silver ( cook)
Captain Amelia ( female ship`s captain and in germany she has the voice of Voyager`s Captain Janeway )
Dr. Doppler ( scientist )
B.E.N. the robot
Morph ( looks like flubber in pink and does morph )
Scroop ( Spider and crew member )
Arrow ( first monster officer)

and many many more...

i will not spoil the story.. if you like you can ask and i will answer questions !!!

Am i lucky or what ??????
Had a great Disney day !!!!
Stephan

 

[Peter Pirate]

Stephan, thanks for the first report we've had & yes, you were lucky!!!

The drawings at WDW make it look so much like 'Atlantis' that it worried me - in fact the main character looked like Milo to me. Does it resemble Atlantis (hope not, hope not)?

 

[megaelch]

I think the mix of CGI (3D ) and classic animation is great and blends together perfectly !!! It is much better than atlantis but definetely not for little kids like L&S !!! The characters on the starship are mainly monsters and the overall look is very dark ( it is space and a action story !!! ) But with some brilliant scenes in the spacedock and when travelling through space ... just beautiful and some funny elements as well ( you know morph and the robot are great )
I think boys ages 8 and up will really anjoy the movie, but no princess-like character for the little girls :-(
Stephan

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I am hoping that Treasure Planet does not turn into another Atlantis. So far everything I have seen for TP looks great but the fact remains that TP does not have a very broad demographic. Whatever happened to Disney Classics with the superb animation, show stopping musical numbers, and the something for everyone. I thought those did very well in theaters and especially in the video/DVD sales. I know I am chomping at the bits to get a hold of my copy of Beauty and the Beast.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Thanks Stephan! Sounds great!
They took a chance by using Michael J Fox for the main character's voice, esp when the animation is similar to Atlantis. But I really liked Atlantis too!

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Honestly the sometimes the fairytale ones are boring for boys. In most of the older ones, the prince is usually one dementional & pedestrian. If you're a little boy, which are you going to be more interested in, Snow White or Pinnochio? Cinderella or Peter Pan?

Look at other past successes - Zorro & Davy Crockett. While Zorro did have a little of the casanova appeal, they were both pretty testosterone driven & extremely popular.

While I do like the musicals & all, I think a lot of people freak when they aren't making a princess movie. Quite frankly I enjoy some of the adventure stories over a lot of the fluff ones sometimes. Mulan, Ichabod & Mr. Toad & The Great Mouse Detective are among some of my favorites.

I do think it's good that Disney is pushing their boundries instead of confining themselves to a formula, that while it's successful, with film after film following the formula, becomes trite & less interesting each time. If they always stuck with fairytales, we wouldn't have gotten masterpieces like Fantasia. Do I think they should stop making musicals? Absolutely not. Do I think it's great that they're trying to try new areas? Yes!

 

[Testtrack321]

I loved Atlantis, and thought it would do better. Also, TP hopefully dosn't look as dark as Atlantis did, so that's good. Also...

GO B.E.N.!!!!!

 

[Dom13]

I agree with Jeff. It is importtant for Disney to continue to explore new stories and new ideas. Artists need to grow, challenge and expand other wise they will lose that edge.

Is Disney going to make a Lion King every time? Nope. But I feel films like the Rescurer's Down under ( my #2) and Tarzan are good films also, not as good a B & B or LK but they are not far behind.

 

[wdhatter]

Michael J. Fox is not the main characters voice. It is Joseph Gordon Levitt (Tommy from Third Rock From the Sun).

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm not saying Disney should not wade into new territory but how long has it been since we have seen something like Aladdin or TLK? I think the last feature animated movie to even tread on those grounds was Hunchback, maybe Mulan. Fairytales are not what I am referring to, more along the lines of what was mentioned ealier in this thread, adventures. Adventures like Hercules which is an all-time favorite of mine and its what I wish Disney were doing more of. Admittedly I haven't seen Atlantis so all I can go by are the figures released but Treasure Planet does peak my interests, as I hope it does many others. The visuals are incredible and I plan on seeing it in theaters. I just see CGI/2D movies like Final Fantasy and Titan A.E. fail at the BO which are in a general category as Atlantis was. Did Disney really think their name alone would bring people in droves? Why repeat someone else's mistake? Why not say, "well this and this didn't work for that movie so lets switch it around add this, and scrap that... ." Maybe the old Disney could pull it off but not the micro-managed Disney. Try something new instead which is why I have high hopes for TP, maybe this go around Disney did the above and we are going to see something incredible! HOO-RAH!

I like a little variety too and I think Lilo and Stitch could have done better at the BO had there been a song or two thrown in. Not every Disney movie has to be a about the circle of life, tales as old as time, or diamonds in the rough, but every once in awhile it would be nice.