Treasure Island is a 1950 adventure film directed by Byron Haskin and produced by Walt Disney. The film stars Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton and it is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel Treasure Island.
Director: Byron Haskin
Production Company: RKO-Walt Disney British Productions Limited
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Cast: Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney, Walter Fitzgerald, Denis O’Dea
US Box Office: $5,250,000 ($100,500,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Adventure, Family
Release Date: June 22, 1950 (London premiere); July 12, 1950 (UK); July 19, 1950 (US)
Plot Summary: In 1765 in England, young Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) is given treasure map by dying former pirate Captain Billy Bones (Finlay Curie). Jim and his friends Squire Trelawney (Walter Fitzgerald) and Dr. Livesey (Denis O’Dea) hire British Captain Smollett (Basil Sydney) to take them on a voyage to the island to find the treasure. One of the shipmen hired by Trelawney is chef Long John Silver (Robert Newton), who Jim quickly befriends. However, Silver is actually the treacherous one-legged pirate that Bones warned Jim about. Silver and his pirate henchmen plot to steal the treasure for themselves!
Production: Producer and animator Walt Disney had been interested in making a film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island (1883) since the late 1930s. At the time, Disney had planned to make the film animated, however MGM owned the rights to Stevenson’s novel, so Disney was forced to wait and work on other projects. In 1949, Disney was finally able to acquire the rights to Treasure Island, by trading the rights to another property with MGM in exchange for Treasure Island. By this point Disney had made several films that were mostly live action (with a few animated sequences), so he decided to adapt Treasure Island into a live action film. Treasure Island was the first completely live-action film produced by Walt Disney Productions.
At the time, Walt Disney was partnered with RKO Radio Pictures, which distributed most of his films. Disney’s Production Company and RKO decided to produce the film together in England under the name “RKO-Walt Disney British Productions Limited.” Disney chose to film Treasure Island in England because most of the money that Disney’s films had earned in the United Kingdom was “frozen” by the British government and could only be spent on film productions within that country. This way, Disney could finally use the money that his films had earned in the UK. Byron Haskin was chosen to direct the project.
English child actor John Howard Davies, who played the lead role in David Lean’s Oliver Twist (1948), was originally considered for the role of Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island. However, Disney decided to go with American child actor Bobby Driscoll instead. Driscoll had starred in Disney’s two prior partially live action films Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1949). Robert Newton was cast in the role of the main antagonist Long John Silver. Newton was most well known for his supporting role in Henry V (1944) at the time. Driscoll was the only American cast member in the film.
Much of Treasure Island was shot on location and on set in England. Carrick Roads, River Fal, Falmouth, Gull Rick, and the Hedford River in Cornwall were all used as filming locations. On location filming was also done in Bristol (for the wharf scenes) and Devon (at the sea cliffs). The scenes set aboard the Hispaniola were shot on the Ryelands, a real life 19th century English schooner that RKO had purchased in 1948 for film use. Interior scenes were shot at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Walt Disney ran into some trouble during filming, due to the complicated English laws surrounding foreign work and child labor. In September of 1949, a Beaconsfield, England court ruled that it was illegal for twelve year old Bobby Driscoll to work in England because he did not have a Labour Ministry permit to work in the country and, since he was under fourteen, a permit could not be issued. Driscoll, his father, and the production company were each fined 100 pounds and Driscoll was barred from doing further filming in England. Disney sent Driscoll back to Hollywood, where he shot his remaining close up scenes for Treasure Island, and a body double in England was used to complete his remaining scenes with the English cast members.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Robert Newton’s portrayal of Long John Silver has since become a prototype for many modern depictions of pirates in pop culture. Newton’s depiction of the character is shabby, devious, and unkept; but also charming, friendly, and affable (much like Disney’s later Jack Sparrow character). In Stevenson’s novel, Silver is from England’s’ West Country (where Newton was also born) so Newton used the dialect and word pronunciation that he had grown up hearing. As a result, Newton’s accent (and in particular his frequent pronunciation of “A” as “Arrrr”) has been frequently copied by other pirate movies and since has become the stereotypical “pirate voice.”
Actor Patrick Troughton, who played Roach in the film, was best known for playing the Second Doctor in the Doctor Who television series. Troughton later appeared in the 1977 television version of Treasure Island playing a different character. Treasure Island is Walt Disney’s first fully live-action film, however Disney considered adding an animated scene to the film. Long John Silver was originally going to tell Jim the story of “Reynard the Fox,” which would have been presented as an animated segment, but Disney decided to scrap the sequence before it could be filmed.
Reception: Treasure Island received wide release in the United States in July of 1950. The film was a box office hit for Disney and RKO in the United States. Treasure Island‘s large advertising campaign likely contributed to its success. Part of the film’s promotional campaign included a nationwide “treasure hunt” in where local newspapers contained pasteboard “keys” that could be used to open “treasure chests” at select stores containing merchandise from the film. The film was also a success in the United Kingdom, where it was the sixth highest grossing film of the year. Bobby Driscoll reprised his role as Hawkins in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Treasure Island on January 29, 1951, with James Mason replacing Robert Newton as Long John Silver. Robert Newton reprised his role as Long John Silver in two non-Disney productions. He played the character in the American-Australian film Long John Silver (1954) [which was also directed by Byron Haskin] and in the Australian television series The Adventures of Long John Silver (1954-1955).
Treasure Island received generally positive reviews when it was first released. Thomas M. Pryor of The New York Times called Treasure Island “a grand and glorious entertainment,” and thought that it properly captured the spirit of Stevenson’s novel. Variety strongly praised the film’s production values and Robert Newton’s performance as Long John Silver, calling it a “a virtual tour de force.” Sonia Stein of The Washington Post thought that the film featured some of the most beautiful Technicolor filmography ever shot. However, the critics at The Monthly Film Bulletin, a British magazine, were less impressed. They thought that Treasure Island‘s production values were only average and were strongly critical of Bobby Driscoll’s performance as Jim Hawkins, believing that a British actor should have gotten the part instead.
More recent reviews for Treasure Island have been largely positive as well. For example, John Beifuss of the Tennessee magazine Commercial Appeal, gave the film a positive review, where he praised Newton’s performance. John Puccio of Movie Metropolis also gave the film a positive review. He noted that although Treasure Island left out many of Stevenson’s details, its “cheerful sense of excitement” made the film enjoyable.
Why You Should See It: Treasure Island is a great classic adventure film, and one of Walt Disney’s best live-action films. Byron Haskins does a good job directing the film, he made the film very exciting and charming. Treasure Island has excellent production values, and its technicolor cinematography is gorgeous. Robert Newton gives an excellent performance as Long John Silver. Newton has the perfect mannerism, personality, and accent for the part. His performance is iconic for a reason, and its no wonder why his version of Silver has become the prototype for so many pirates characters in films that have come since then. The film itself has the right combination of wonder and darkness so it avoids becoming too childish. Treasure Island features genuine suspense and tension, but it has plenty of fun moments as well. The film serves as a reminder that Walt himself was a great filmmaker, not just of animation but of live-action films as well.