Muppet Treasure Island Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Muppet Treasure Island
Year: 1996
Director: Brian Henson
Country: US
Language: English

Originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881 and 1882,  Robert Louise Stevenson's novel Treasure Island is a coming of age story featuring characters of moral ambiguity, unusual for literature directed at youth. Its influence on the popular perceptions of pirates is rather staggering. Over 50 film adaptations of this work have been made, even Orson Welles and Charlton Heston had to dip their toes in the material. The particular version being focused on today is Brian Henson's Muppet Treasure Island.

An orphan named Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop) is given a treasure map. He must keep it away from Long John Silver and his band of pirate thugs. Kermit the Frog and the rest of the Muppets go on a warfare against these pirates in order to restore justice to the sea.

Using the Muppets is a perfect way to bring the original source material to a new generation. After the success of  A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) the Henson family must have had confidence that audiences really wanted Muppet-izations of classic literature. Not to discredit Robert Louise Stevenson, but his novel does not translate well to an audience that's more than a century younger than it. 

From the opening number "Shiver My Timbers" we certainly get a sense that Muppet Treasure Island isn't trying to fit in with every other adaptation. It's far more theatrical and over-the-top. Every actor chews the hell out of the scenery; even Billy Connolly, whose character has less than 10 minutes of screen time, is made quite memorable just by his exaggerations "THE BLACK SPOT!!!" Two decades after Rocky Horror Picture Show Tim Curry can still belt out a fantastic song. (ps. you might not want to take your kids to Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Maybe the dreadful Pirates of the Caribbean movies cast every other pirate film in a good light, maybe a sense of nostalgia is clouding my judgement, but Muppet Treasure Island is not a bad film in any sense. At worst it's an entertaining escapist picture that drags in the middle and picks up toward the end. I enjoyed it as a child and still find many scenes quite captivating. You can have Johnny Depp, I'll keep Tim Curry. 3/5