Treasure Planet
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: November 5, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
7
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Disney's updated, animated version respects its source material while aiming at kids who grew up with extreme sports and edgy music. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Take a while to get their vehicle to sail and soar. But when it does, this Planet is a treasure. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Surrender and enjoy the spectacle. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Boasts the purest of Disney raptures: It unites the generations, rather than driving them apart. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderBill Stamets
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island becomes a rousing SF adventure in this animated Disney feature. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
The overall tone of this rocket-paced updating is exhilaratingly giddy, making it by far Disney’s best animated film since "Mulan." Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
If Treasure Planet falls short of "Lion King's" classic status, it still proves there is plenty of room in animation for movies that aren't geared exclusively to 8-year-olds. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
As literary desecrations go, this makes for perfectly acceptable, occasionally very enjoyable children's entertainment. You'll forget about it by Monday, though, and if they're old enough to have developed some taste, so will your kids. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
After a moment's adjustment, it works amazingly well, because the emotions that drive teenagers like Jim to seek their places in the firmament transcend eras, fashion, even animation styles. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
With its polished mix of traditional and computer-generated cartooning, Treasure Planet doesn't exude the same suspense as the Disney original. You could say it's lighter on its feet -- but then there's less gravity in outer space, anyway. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The Disney cartoon feature Treasure Planet is shot through with ingenuity. It outlandishly, cleverly moves Robert Louis Stevenson's seminal swashbuckler Treasure Island to outer space. The movie's affection for its source may be enough to get youngsters to crack open the original. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleC.W. Nevius
The Disney cartoon roots are in there somewhere, but this is an oil painting come to life. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
This concoction, so bizarre to the adult mind, is actually a charming triumph where its intended under-12 audience is concerned. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
As family films go, this one offers an engaging and exciting 90 minutes. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Co-directors and writers John Musker and Ron Clements doll it up so marvelously you're sucked into the screen and forced to confront the fact that at their best, these filmmakers can make the two-dimensional astonishingly warm and full-bodied. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
There's no mistaking the fact that this hybrid misses the impact of the Disney classic, and even that of the excellent 1934 MGM version. Both of these films are surprisingly hard-edged and every bit as thrilling -- and scary -- as Stevenson's 1883 novel. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Combining cutting-edge computer animation with traditional two-dimensional characters, Treasure Planet pops off the screen, reviving Stevenson's adventure with surprising accuracy. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Has zest and humor and some lovable supporting characters, but do we really need this zapped-up version of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic? Eighteenth century galleons and pirate ships go sailing through the stars, and it somehow just doesn't look right. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
An innovative -- if only moderately entertaining -- spin on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
The animation is also a hybrid: almost quaint-looking, traditionally animated characters plopped into elaborate, sometimes quite stunning computer-animated backgrounds. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
With much more success than last summer's formula-bound "Atlantis," Treasure Planet finds the common ground between classic Disney animation and newfangled action-adventure films. Read full review
60
VarietyAndy Klein
The film's total appeal may be undercut by a script that rarely feels inspired. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A handsome picture, with lots of nifty borrowings from the "Star Wars" galaxy, but it's never particularly compelling as a story or as a vehicle for emotions, and when it's over you have a feeling of still waiting for it to get started. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
The oddest thing about this movie isn't that the familiar characters have been transformed into aliens, or that dogs and cats possess human traits: It's the odd sight of futuristic fantasy in 18th-century dress. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyJon Strickland
Give writer-director team John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules) credit for trying to update the formula and grow with the kids weaned on their earlier hits, though it's doubtful the "tweens" they’re aiming at here still embrace Disney, and little kids don't care about back story. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Quite honestly, you could nap for an hour and not miss a thing, but when the crew finally makes it to the glowing piles of booty at Treasure Planet's core, the film unleashes some pleasing visual fireworks. That's where it should have started, not ended. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The genre's recent past has set the bar quite high, and Treasure Planet doesn't quite make it over. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Comes briefly to life, after many longeurs -- many large longeurs in IMAX -- with the discombobulated entrance of B.E.N., a dysfunctional, hyperverbal robot voiced by Martin Short.
20
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Despite more betrayal and loyalty than a Chris Carabba box set, there's no real good or evil here. Read full review
20
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The delicate magic of, for instance, Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away," which Disney released earlier this fall, is absent from this brainless, mechanical picture. Read full review
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