ROBERT
LOUIS STEVENSON:
CREATING A CLASSIC
Many literary scholars believe that Treasure Island ranks among
the greatest adventure stories ever written and generations of
readers seem to agree with this assessment. Robert Louis Stevenson's
classic tale of pirates, hidden loot, seagoing adventure and a
young boy's coming of age had all the right ingredients to capture
the imaginations of readers of all ages. And with "Treasure
Planet," the filmmakers kept true to that spirit and tradition
of storytelling greatness.
Born
in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1850, Stevenson studied to be a lawyer,
but launched a writing career instead. He wrote a short historical
tale by age 16 and, within a few years, he began contributing
texts to various magazines. Short stories followed and his first
published volume, An Inland Voyage (1878), an account of a journey
he made by canoe from Antwerp to northern France, showed a knack
for colorful storytelling. While traveling on an "inland
voyage,"
Stevenson
met his future wife, Fanny, an American who was 11 years his senior.
His travels to California became the subject of another large-scale
work, The Amateur Emigrant (1879-80). While on holiday in Scotland
in 1881, Stevenson entertained his twelve-year-old stepson, Lloyd,
by drawing a map of an imaginary place called "Treasure Island."
The map stimulated the author's imagination and he began to spin
a tale to go along with it. Stevenson is said to have written
a chapter a day and amused the family by reading it aloud. He
drew on real-life occurrences (he had once overheard a conspiracy
against his father while hiding in an apple barrel; the John Silver
character was based on his close friend, W. E. Henley, an enthusiastic
and exuberant man despite his handicap; etc.) in creating his
tale.
He
was also inspired by his childhood readings (including such favorites
as Robinson Crusoe and Tales of a Traveller), his father's lighthouse
experiences and his impressions of visiting the California coast.
Stevenson originally referred to his story as The Sea Cook but
it took on the new title of Treasure Island when it was serialized
in the boy's magazine Young Folks between October 1881 and January
1882.
Treasure Island became Stevenson's first novel to appear in book
form when it was published in 1883. The book became a huge success
and helped to establish the author's reputation for novels of
adventure that often involved psychological depth, moral ambiguity
and supernatural elements.
His
other great novels include Kidnapped (1886), The Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and The Master of Ballantrae
(1889).
Stevenson was plagued with ill health throughout much of his life,
beginning with a bout of tuberculosis as a child that kept him
largely bedridden in his early years. Despite his frailty and
infirmities, he continued to travel and live life to the fullest.
He also remained incredibly prolific, although much of that writing
was done from his sickbed. Stevenson made his first South Seas
voyage in 1888 and the following year moved with his family to
Samoa. It was here that he died in 1894, at the age of 44, after
suffering a brain hemorrhage.
ORIGINS
OF THE PROJECT
The idea for "Treasure Planet" was conceived by Ron
Clements nearly 17 years ago. Following their assignment on "Aladdin,"
that film's co-screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio took
Clements' and Musker's ideas and wrote a treatment and script
for "Treasure Planet" in 1993. At that point, "Hercules"
was on the fast track with Musker and Clements set to write and
direct but "Treasure Planet" was set to be their next
project.
Clements
recalls, "The intriguing thing about Treasure Island 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." "One of the rules on this movie," adds
Clements, "was NO magic. This was somehow a universe where
there wasn't any magic. Everything that exists has some technological
or scientific explanation regardless of how different it might
seem from our world. There is a logic to everything that happens."
Musker
adds, "In creating our version o the story, Jim was the hardest
character to flesh out. We wanted him to be sort of introverted
and have the typical problems of a teenage boy but not have that
be off-putting in any way. We always pictured him as being
at a crossroads in his life. He's a kid who has the potential
to do great things with his life. But the potential also exists
that he could go in the wrong direction and end up in a lot of
trouble. Like all the characters in the film, Jim has a missing
piece. He's incomplete in a sense because he is missing a relationship
with his father."
One
ship drives east and another west,
with the self-same winds that blow;
’tis the set of the sails
and not the gales that determines where they go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,
as we voyage along through life;
’tis the set of a soul that decides its goal
—and not the calm or the strife.
--ELLA
WHEELER WILCOX (1850–1919)
What
is important is not where you come from but where you are going.
--BERNIE RHODES
