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RON CLEMENTS:
“The intriguing thing about Treasure Planet is that it contains elements that make you think of a cultural phenomenon like Star Wars is today. Stevenson didn’t create a lot of the elements that appear in the story, but he took things that were archetypal and that people really liked and put them all together in this adventure story. These elements had never really been combined in this way before and it really resonated with readers. It is the ultimate adventure story.”
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT (Voice – Jim Hawkins):
“I think the reason Jim is the hero of the story is, anybody can identify with him. He’s got some extraordinary talents that he can’t figure out what to do with at first, and so he’s poorly treated and misunderstood, like we’ve all been. And then he goes off on a ship with aliens and battles pirates and finds treasure, like we’ve all done! And then he figures out how to put that which is extraordinary about him to use. It’s as universal as it comes.”
DAVID HYDE PIERCE (Voice – Dr Doppler):
“I’m not a voice-over person in the sense that I don’t have a million voices at my beck and call. The character changes, only it’s me talking. I put myself in the situation, like this one. I’m a dog-like creature who’s an astrophysicist with a lot of money, who wants to go on an adventure.”
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT on how his character was fashioned after James Dean:
“He’s definitely an American classic example of a brooding male heartthrob, and Jim definitely falls in that tradition. They take video of you when you’re recording the voices, just for the artists to look at for ideas for facial expressions and gestures. I went to visit John Ripa’s office [Supervising Animator for Jim] and he had pictures from that videotape of me in varies expressions and poses, and then he had pictures of James Dean up right next to me, which I found terribly appropriate” [he laughs]
GLEN KEANE (Supervising Animator of Long John Silver) on Brian Murray’s performance in the role:
“I did some caricatures of Brian the first day I met him. I had them up at my desk throughout the whole film. He had a kind of Irish way of talking where he exposed his top teeth. And so the teeth became a very important part of Silver. We put a gap in his teeth to make it seem less perfect.”
RON CLEMENTS:
“It’s important to point out that this movie takes place in a fantasy universe. It’s not the Past; it’s not the Future. It’s a time and place unto itself. Esthetically, everything has a very 18th Century feel to it. But the technology is pretty advanced. They have interstellar galleons, intelligent robots and they do amazing things with solar power and artificial gravity.”
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THE CONCEPT:
