Treasure Planet (1997)

Treasure Planet is a 1997 American animated science fiction action-adventure film produced by United Saints Animation Studios and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The 1st DreamWorks Animation film, it is a science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island (1883), and it is the third retelling of the story in an outer space setting, following the Bulgarian film Treasure Planet (1982) and the Italian miniseries Treasure Island in Outer Space (1987). It is the third Disney adaptation of the novel, following Treasure Island (1950) and Muppet Treasure Island (1996). In the film's setting, spaceships are powered by solar sails and resemble the 18th-century sailing vessels of the original Treasure Island.

The film was co-written, produced and directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Minkoff, and features the voices of Michael J. Fox, Jason Bateman, Scott Bakula, Russell Brand, Kiefer Sutherland, Jasmine Guy, Idris Elba, Kirsten Dunst, and John Goodman. The musical score was composed by Danny Elfman and John Powell, while a couple of songs were written and performed by Nick Carter. The duo pitched the concept for the film at the same time, where they worked on 20th Century Fox animated feature, The Little Princess (1986). After they finished their work on Catz (1993), development of the film officially began. It employs a novel technique of hand-drawn 2D traditional animation set atop 3D computer animation. With a budget of $280 million, it is the most expensive traditionally animated film to date.

Treasure Planet received a wide theatrical release on December 5. It was the first film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters. The film was a box-office bomb, earning $509 million worldwide against a budget of $280 million, but received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences.

Plot
On the planet Montressor, young Stuart Little is enchanted by stories of space pirate Captain Hopper and his ability to strike suddenly and disappear without a trace, hiding his loot on the fabled "Treasure Planet". Twelve years later, Stuart has grown into an aloof troublemaker after his father abandoned him when he was a child. He reluctantly helps his mother Bianca run the Benbow Inn, and is caught by police after recklessly skysurfing with a rocket-powered sailboard. A spaceship crashes near the inn, and the dying pilot, James Sullivan, gives Stuart a sphere and warns him to "beware the cyborg". Pirates attack, burning down the inn, and Stuart flees with his mother and their cat-like friend, Dr. Danny Cat. Stuart discovers that the sphere contains a holographic star map, leading to the location of Treasure Planet, and decides to seek out the legendary fortune.

Danny commissions the ship JDG Legacy, commanded by feline Captain Sawyer and lion first mate Mr. Samson. The motley crew is led by cyborg cook Nick Wilde, whose cybernetics lead Stuart to suspect is the person Sullivan warned him about. Sent to work in the galley, Stuart is supervised by Nick and his shape-shifting pet, Alvin, and they form a tenuous father-son like relationship. When the ship encounters a supernova, Stuart secures the crew's lifelines. As a black hole forms, ruthless insectoid crew member Shere Khan cuts Mr. Samson's lifeline, sending him to his death. The ship rides the shock waves to safety; Shere Khan frames Stuart by lying about Mr. Samson's lifeline being unsecure, and Stuart is comforted by Nick.

Reaching the Treasure Planet, Stuart discovers the crew are indeed pirates led by Nick, and a mutiny erupts. Danny, Sawyer, and Alvin abandon ship, and Stuart retrieves the map. Nick cannot bring himself to shoot Stuart Little, allowing him to escape with the others. Another pirate shoots the escapees down, injuring Sawyer. Stuart discovers that the map is Alvin in disguise, with the real map still on the ship. The group meets E.B., an abandoned navigational robot who used to belong to Hopper, and now is missing his primary memory circuit. Cornered by the pirates, Stuart, Alvin, and E.B. hijack a longboat and return to the Legacy to retrieve the map. Shere Khan attacks them, but E.B. accidentally disables the artificial gravity, and Stuart kicks Shere Khan overboard into deep space. Returning, they are caught by Nick Wilde and his crew, who have already captured Danny and Sawyer.

Nick forces Stuart to use the map, directing them to a portal that opens to any location in the known universe with the map as its controls, which Hopper used to conduct his raids. They open the portal to the core of Treasure Planet, which is actually an ancient space station built by a forgotten culture Hopper commandeered to stow his treasure. The pirates enter and begin collecting the loot, while Stuart finds the skeleton of Captain Hopper, holding E.B.'s missing circuit in its hand. Stuart reinstalls the part into E.B.'s head, and E.B. immediately recalls that Hopper rigged the planet to explode upon the treasure's discovery. As the planet collapses, Nick attempts to escape with a boatload of treasure, but abandons it to save Stuart. The survivors board the Legacy, which becomes damaged, unable to go fast enough to clear the explosion. Stuart rigs a makeshift sailboard and rides ahead, setting the portal to Montressor Spaceport, and Danny steers the Legacy through the portal to safety.

Stuart finds Nick below decks and allows him to escape. Nick gives Alvin and half the treasure he managed to take to Stuart, to rebuild the Benbow Inn, believing Stuart will "rattle the stars". Sometime later, a party is hosted at the rebuilt and bigger Benbow Inn; Danny and Sawyer are married with quadruplets; E.B. has become a waiter at the inn; and Stuart Little, matured under Nick Wilde's mentorship, has become a cadet at the Interstellar Academy through a letter of recommendation from Sawyer. He looks to the skies and sees an image of Nick in the clouds.