| Muppet Treasure Island | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Brian Henson |
| Produced by | Brian Henson Frank Oz |
| Written by | Robert Louis Stevenson Jerry Juhl |
| Starring | Tim Curry Kevin Bishop Jennifer Saunders Billy Connolly |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
| Cinematography | John Fenner |
| Editing by | Michael Jablow |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 16, 1996 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Gross revenue | $33.609 million |
| Preceded by | The Muppet Christmas Carol |
| Followed by | Muppets from Space |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Muppet Treasure Island, the fifth feature film to star The Muppets, and the third produced after the death of Muppets creator Jim Henson was released in 1996 and directed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson. It was one of many film adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Like the earlier Muppet Christmas Carol, the key roles were played by human stars, with the Muppets in supporting roles. Tim Curry played Long John Silver and Kevin Bishop played Jim Hawkins. Muppet Kermit the Frog played Captain Abraham Smollett, Fozzie Bear was Squire Trelawney, Sam the Eagle was Mr. Samuel Arrow and Miss Piggy was Benjamina Gunn. Following their success as the narrators of The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat appeared in specially-created roles as Jim Hawkins' best friends. While the movie never said what ocean they cross, they do refer to it as the "Big Blue Wet Thing." Silver (using the stars) determined they are heading southwest, with the map showing them crossing the Atlantic Ocean as they set off from England.
Contents |
Plot
The movie begins as Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop), the Great Gonzo, and Rizzo the Rat as slop boys at an inn, listen to Billy Bones (Billy Connolly) telling stories of his days as a pirate and Captain Flint's treasure. When a pirate, Blind Pew, arrives at the inn and gives Bones the Black Spot (after blundering into walls, mistaking a mounted moose head for Bones, and assuming Jim to be a 'little girl' based on his long hair), they realize his stories are true. Before Bones dies of a heart attack (according to Billy Connolly, the only death in a Muppet film), he gives Jim a treasure map. The other pirates then break into the inn and tear it apart in their search for the map. The innkeeper, Mrs. Bluberidge (Jennifer Saunders) holds them off, giving Jim and co. a chance to escape with the treasure map. Gaining a ship from young Squire Trelawney (Fozzie Bear) (and the man who lives in his finger, Mr. Bimble), they set out, but Captain Abraham Smollett (Kermit the Frog) is concerned that the crew (consisting largely of Muppet monsters) cannot be trusted. It transpires that most of them were hired on the advice of the ship's cook, Long John Silver, who had befriended Jim. Three of the pirates, Mad Monty, Clueless Morgan, and Polly (Silver's lobster), capture and attempt to torture Gonzo and Rizzo to make them reveal the location of the treasure map. They are rescued in time, with the only lasting result being the stretching of Gonzo's limbs to great and rather bendy proportions. Silver takes the brig keys from the first mate, Mr. Samuel Arrow (Sam the Eagle) and convinces him to take out one of the longboats to test it and see if it is leaky or not. He then releases and scolds the three captive pirates. After the disappearance and presumed death of the first mate, Jim and his friends learn that the crew are pirates, and Silver is their captain. They warn Smollett, who asks the pirate crew to go ashore for provisions, planning to sail away and return when the fight has gone out of the pirates. This plan is abandoned when the pirates take Jim with them. Through song (Tim Curry's 'only number' in the film), they attempt to convince Jim to join their cause and come with them willingly. He refuses. Arriving on the island to rescue Jim, Smollett, Gonzo and Rizzo are captured by wild boars, and are to be sacrificed to their Queen, who turns out to be Benjamina Gunn (Miss Piggy), still furious that Smollett left her at the altar. Simultaneously, the pirates use Jim's compass to locate where the treasure should be buried, but it is gone. The other pirates mutiny against Silver, who they believe has put them through all that trouble for nothing. Silver holds them off while Jim escapes. Jim returns to the ship to rescue Smollett and his friends. They disguise Mr. Arrow (who has returned to the ship unaware that he had been tricked) as his own ghost, scaring the pirates and allowing them to retake the ship. In the meantime, the captive Silver reprimands the pirates for delivering him the Black Spot on a page of the Bible and convinces them to follow him again. The three cabin boys head back to the ship, while Smollett stays to talk to Benjamina. They are interrupted by Silver, who has realized that Benjamina must have the treasure. She tells him it is back at her place after they hang Smollett over the edge of a cliff, and they hang her over the cliff as well with a fire slowly burning through both of their ropes. Jim and his friends retake the ship with the help of Mr. Arrow. They then rescue Benjamina and Smollett by driving the ship near the cliff where the ship figureheads (played by Statler & Waldorf) catch them while commenting that while they saved them (and that this made them heroes), it was too late to save the movie. With the good guys reunited, they take on the pirates. Smollett has a swordfight with Silver which goes well "for an amphibian", until his sword suddenly slips out of his hand - as a frog, he has slippery skin. However, Jim stands to protect the captain, and the rest of the crew stand to protect Jim. When Silver tries to escape, he finds himself faced with Benjamina and the wild boars. Everyone returns to the ship with the treasure. In the ship's brig, Silver realizes he still has the keys from when he stranded Arrow. Jim, who is on watch, allows him to escape with one of the treasure chests, but says he never wants to see him again. Arrow notifies Smollett that he tested the longboats and found them leaky and unsafe. The movie ends as the longboat Silver is rowing springs a leak and sinks, and he winds up stranded on the island with only a joke-telling Easter Island Head for company. During the credits, the rats on the ship are seen scuba-diving and hauling up the sunken treasure.
Cast
- Tim Curry as Long John Silver
- Kevin Bishop as Jim Hawkins
- Jennifer Saunders as Mrs. Bluveridge
- Billy Connolly as Billy Bones
- Frank Oz as:
- Miss Piggy as Benjamina Gunn
- Fozzie Bear as Squire Trelawney
- Sam the Eagle as Mr. Samuel Arrow
- Dave Goelz as:
- The Great Gonzo as Himself
- Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as Himself
- Waldorf as Ship Head
- Steve Whitmire as:
- Kermit the Frog as Capt. Abraham Smollett
- Rizzo the Rat as Himself
- Beaker as Himself
- Jerry Nelson as:
- Statler as Ship Head
- Lew Zealand as Himself
Soundtrack
Track listing
- "Treasure Island"
- "Shiver My Timbers" (Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Brian Henson, Frank Oz, Kevin Clash, Bill Barretta and John Henson)
- "Something Better" (Kevin Bishop, Goelz and Whitmire)
- "Sailing for Adventure" (Curry, Bishop, Nelson, Goelz, Whitmire, Brian Henson, Oz, Clash, Barretta and John Henson)
- "Cabin Fever" (Nelson, Goelz, Whitmire, Brian Henson, Oz, Clash, Barretta and John Henson)
- "Professional Pirate" (Curry, Nelson, Goelz, Whitmire, Brian Henson, Oz, Clash, Barretta and John Henson)
- "Boom Shakalaka" (Nelson, Goelz, Whitmire, Brian Henson, Oz, Clash, Barretta and John Henson)
- "Love Led Us Here" (Oz, Whitmire)
- "Map"
- "Captain Smollett"
- "Land Ho"
- "Compass"
- "Long John"
- "Rescue"
- "Honest Brave and True"
- "Love Power [As Used in the Film Muppet Treasure Island]" (Ziggy Marley, Melody Makers)
- "Love Led Us Here" (John Berry, Helen Darling)
Scores not on soundtrack
- Isn’t That a Story Worth the Hearin’
- Lighting the Lamp (Seuges into "Something Better")
- Blind Pew
- The Hispaniola
- Many a Dark-Hearted Scoundrel/One-Legged Man
- This Voyage Has Begun (Seuges into "Sailing For Adventure")
- Moonlit Dance (Played by Electric Mayhem Band)
- Waiting to Pounce
- Give Me the Map/No Wind
- Mutiny
- Never Get Involved in Politics (Electric Mayhem Band)
- "A Professional Pirate" (Full version, with instrumental interlude)
- Benjamina Gunn
- Treasure Hunting
- You Dare to Give ME the Black Spot?
- Return of Mr. Arrow
- The Pirates Attack/Sneaking Aboard/Where’s the Bloody Treasure?!
- Long John Escapes
- Sailing for Adventure (Finale)
Trivia
- During the end credits, a stone head is telling Long John Silver a Joke.
- After complaints about the cinema version, the BBFC removed all occurrences of the word "bloody" to retain the U-certificate on video.
- Tim Curry tried a peg leg, but the discomfort forced him to change to using a crutch.
- David Bowie and Mick Jagger were both seriously considered for the role of Long John Silver before Tim Curry was cast.
- Brian Henson was nervous that the whole cast and crew would get motion sick as the ship rolled on the gimbals. He gave everyone seasickness pills for the first day of the shoot, and not only did the cast and crew not get seasick but they almost fell asleep on the job.
- Tim Curry had been a huge fan of Muppets for years before doing this movie. And has stated in many interviews he regards this role as one of his favorite roles.
Goofs
- Continuity: As Kermit's stagecoach arrives at the dock, the two horses switch places between shots.
- Continuity: When Jim Hawkins is forced to flee Mrs. Bluberidge's because of the invading pirates, he leaves her room without the treasure map in his hand. However, in the next shot, he inexplicably has it.
- Revealing mistakes: When the "Cabin Boys" first meet Long John, he tells them the story of how he lost his leg. We then see it tied behind his back.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Captain Smollett, (Kermit), arrives at the dock to board the ship at the start of the movie, he is Piped "The Side" by Sam the Eagle. The Side would not be used for a Captain's rank. It is only used for the King or Queen, members of the Royal Family (when in uniform), foreign naval officers and Royal Naval Officers of Flag Rank (Rear-Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral, or Admiral of the Fleet).
- Crew or equipment visible: Angel Marie's puppeteer's head and arms are visible in the scene toward the end where he is fighting Fozzie and Mr. Bimbow
- Factual errors: There's an Asian elephant on a North American island.
Changes from the novel
While the film is mostly true to the novel, there are changes, mostly to make the characters fit the Muppet personalities, or to tighten up the plot. Amongst them are:
- The Admiral Benbow is no longer run by Jim's family. Instead, Jim is an orphan, and the inn's owner is Mrs. Bluveridge, who appears only at the beginning, as a fat, drunken Madame Thénardier-like landlady (played by Jennifer Saunders). She has an uncanny knack for hearing and replying to other people's conversations, even when they are a long distance away to which they reply "How does she do that?", or in Bones' case "How does she bloody do that?".
- Jim Hawkins is given two companions: Gonzo and Rizzo
- In the book, although Blind Pew appears in only two chapters of the story, he is an extremely intimidating and even sadistic character, whereas in this depiction he is shown as bumbling, mistaking Jim for a "little girl" and is oblivious even to the inn blowing up all around him.
- In the novel, Captain Smollett initially appears as a stern and forbidding figure, overly concerned with regulations, although he later proves to simply be appropriately cautious. In the film he is sympathetic from the first, with a strictness only, it seems, for the consumption of alcohol.
- By contrast, Mr. Arrow is shown as obsessed with regulations and the correct way of doing things (though he meekly follows Smollett's orders), as suits a character played by Sam the Eagle. In the book, he is a drunkard, and overly-familiar with the men. He is also killed by being thrown overboard, whereas in the film he is merely tricked into taking one of the boats for a test run (and presumed dead) but later returns saying "that Silver fellow may not be trustworthy." (In the DVD commentary, Brian Henson says he shifted many of the characteristics of the novel's captain to Mr. Arrow in order to make the role of Captain Smollett fit Kermit better. The very conservative Sam seemed the best choice for this change.)
- Ben Gunn is female, and renamed Benjamina. She has had former relationships with Smollett, Flint, and Silver.
- Squire Trelawney is the "rich half-wit son" of the real Squire Trelawney (who is vacationing and will not return "until the Feast of Saint Lulu"), who takes advice from a man he believes to live in his finger (Mr. Bimbo).
- Dr. Livesey (played by Bunsen Honeydew) is an inventor with an assistant (Beaker). And are still the same manner as the show. Beaker flies through the air into a wall with Dr. Livesly (Bunsen Honeydew) saying "Now we know, Beaker, we used too much gunpowder."
- Captain Flint (the parrot) is replaced by Polly, a lobster whom Silver "raised from a fingerling". When Gonzo asks why he doesn't have a parrot instead, both seem astonished and bemused by the concept of someone actually having a pet parrot, and Polly responds "What an imagination! First pirates? Now talking parrots? What's next? A singing, dancing mouse with his own amusement park?" A direct reference to Mickey Mouse.
- An attack on Gonzo and Rizzo by three of the pirates is added; this leads both to the stranding of Mr. Arrow (so Silver can let them out of the brig), and from there to the scene in the book when Jim hears Silver conspiring while in an apple barrel.
- Much of Parts Four and Five, "The Stockade" and "My Sea Adventure" is omitted.
- A running subplot, which has very little effect on the main course of the film, involves the ship's rats, who believe they have signed onto a modern-day Caribbean cruise. They are not treated like other characters; for example, while the ship's crew, pirate or not, are greeted with hostility by the boars, the rats are met with indifference, if acknowledged at all. Amusingly, the treasure island is introduced as being the set of the movie itself by rat tour-guide accompanied by miniature camera flashes, another example of the oblivious anachronistic nature of the rats as comic relief.
- As in most Muppet movies, the presence of talking animals and bizarre creatures such as Gonzo is treated as normal. One of the only indications of fourth-wall-breaking is the comprehension of the songs (as the film is a musical), when Clueless Morgan ask, "Hey guys, what was that song that just happened there?". No one else seems to understand what he's talking about. Another takes place after the death of Billy Bones. Rizzo stares straight at the camera and says, "He died? And this is supposed to be a kid movie!" Also, the headpieces (Statler and Waldorf) said "Take a cruise, you said, see the world, now here we are, stuck on this stupid ship." "Well, it could be worse, we could be stuck out there in the audience."
Lawsuit
Hormel Foods Corporation, makers of Spam, sued the film production company for using the name "Spa'am" for one of the film's characters.[1] Their suit was defeated on September 22, 1995. The judge dismissed it on the grounds that "The American public can tell the difference between a puppet and a lunchmeat."
References
External links
- Official site
- Muppet Treasure Island at the Internet Movie Database
- Muppet Treasure Island at All Movie Guide
- Muppet Wiki: Muppet Treasure Island
