Been a while, but we are back with another Animated Reflections. So while I was going deeper into the Dreamstone, I decided to go looking to see if there was any fan art (as I always do for shows I like) and oddly enough, it lead to this animated show that I remembered liking too (please note that I have never read the original Treasure Island book, but have seen a few film/television adaptations based on or inspired by it and so that's where most of my knowledge of the themes comes from). Going back to watch it again was something I enjoyed doing, so lets get right into it.
Very loosely based on the original Treasure Island characters and plot, this one takes place in a world of anthropomorphic animals and ran for two series, which did have a conclusion. It has the standard line with Jim Hawkins getting the map, heading to the Island to find the treasure with Silver and pirates there to cause trouble along the way and the show runs with them trying to find the treasure through clues and leads. However, beyond these basics there are several changes that twist is away from what it was based on. As usual, lets start with characters.
I'm going to start this one off a little differently and is in regards to the two main characters. James 'Jim' Hawkins is our main hero, but unlike the usual tales, this time it is his father who was part of Capt. Flint's crew and has the map, which Blind Pew and the other Pirates come for. He tends to be smart, courageous and cunning, but still slips up from time to time. His curiosity and courage tends to get the better of him and his desire to keep one step ahead of Silver and the Pirates tends to get him (or others) into trouble, such is the folly of youth. Still, he is always up for the adventure and tends to show his heroic moments when they are needed.
Long John Silver on the other hand is just a straight up villain. Unlike other versions of him, this one is straight up evil through & through, tending to save someone only if it has some benefit to him. Despite being smarter then the rest of the dim-witted Pirates, his greed and ego tends to get the better of him. That's not to say he doesn't come up with some brilliant plans of cunning and deception, but in the end he tends to fail due to either being outsmarted or because of his own bad luck. This doesn't improve in series two, as his motivations for his actions become even more selfish (if one could be any more selfish. I mean, is that even possible?), but it is also the kind of thing you would expect from him by that point. Though he appears to lead the Pirates, it's clear Pew is the one in command, which can lead to the two butting heads from time to time.
Back to the side of good, we have Dr. Livesey who is a friend of the Hawkins family, Captain Smollett who finds Jim after just escaping the Pirates with the map and when he hears his story offers to help and Squire Trelawney, who is a rich friend of Smollett's and agrees to fund it, though only after learning of the valuable treasure (as a rich, money loving character would). They tend to play their roles well enough in the show, the Doctor thinks things from a more scientific point of view, the Captain is a little absent minded at times and the Squire is just the 'rich person stuck in the jungle with no luxuries' type. That said, they tend to sometimes come off as a little incompetent at times (which is really only used to help enforce the importance of the younger characters).
We soon meet an original character to this show soon after, a girl around Jim's age called Jane. Jane was the daughter of a rich couple who Silver kidnapped to ransom for her return, but because she was a head-strong brat of a kid, her parents refused to pay the ransom and so Silver was stuck with her. She isn't as scared of Silver as much as the adults are, but she was also quick to join Jim and the others at first chance. She tends to have her moments (mostly cause she seems to be more competent and smarter then the adults) and does risk her own life to help save the others too, but also ends up getting into trouble here and there as well, sometimes due to her taking action by herself. She is also drawn to Jim, both as a friend and romantically too. They tend to have good moments of playing and talking, though the romantic parts are shown in a few episodes, with the more prominent moment in the episode 'Dragon' (it's brief, but it gets the point across).
Finally we have Ben Gunn, a hermit on the island who comes off as being quite crazy, but he is actually very wise to the island and its secrets, though tends to speak in riddles and rhymes which the other characters have difficulty understanding at times. Over time (mostly series two) he calms down on this and begins to act more normal, most likely due to the friendly social interaction around him, though his abilities are also toned down as well.
The Pirates for the most part come off as being the generic goons with no real individual personality to make them stand out. The only exception is a small Rat called....ummm......Rat, who seems rather loyal to Silver (even when he is treating him badly), but he too gets downgraded in series two. Then of course is Blind Pew. Pew is another character who is another strange character. Early on he comes off as being the one in charge, but later on Silver is more then happy to confront him head on. Pew, despite being blind, seems to act as if he can see later on as well. He is also quite adept at the arcane arts as he has used magic on more then a few occasions and his yellow eyes also seem to have something to do with this connection. While it is never explained why or how, it does have an explanation as to why he is so desperate to get hold of Flint's treasure in the final episode.
Ah yes, magic. The place called Treasure Island in this show is one of danger and mystery. Honestly, for a children's cartoon, it does focus on a number of rather disturbing and haunting themes. In the episode The Cave of Babel, the introduction starts off happy enough with a traveler exploring the cave, but then things take a turn for the strange to almost terrifying for young kids and the fate of the traveler is rather horrifying. The main cast tend to have a less traumatic experience, but that tends to be a running theme, particularly for the first series. They tend to have episodes focus on either a strange location on the island, a strange creature on or near the island or simply Ghosts (who are the usual types of things for a haunting Pirate story). I was surprised just how far they went in some episodes and can only assume that the reason they put a more upbeat theme song in the second series was to make the show seem less scary to little kids.
As said before, this is a show of two series and as such, the second takes a shift in direction from the first. Apart from some animation and art style changes and voice cast changes (I honestly didn't realize that Dawn French voiced Jim Hawkins in Series 1 or that Hugh Laurie voiced the Squire, so these things are always a great discovery for me), the status quo also shifts. In the first series we had our heroes either exploring or affected by a new location or following the map clues to seek the treasure, both with Silver and the Pirates getting involved somehow. That changed in the final episode of that series, with Silver gone, the Pirates washed overboard, the heroes on the ship and the island in flames. Series two has the flames dying out, the Squire trying to recover the map, Jim trying to rescue him and Ben falling into the sea as the flames from the island reach the ship. At this point the Squire is by himself, Jim and Ben go off and eventually Jane goes after them, leaving the Doctor and the Captain on the ship as it drifts off, only returning for the final episode of the show.
While the Pirates survive, they only make a few appearances. Pew survives and tends to show up here and there in the shadows before making a bigger impact in the final few episodes. So at this point, the main focus is on Silver, who is in the underworld and makes a deal to exchange his soul for that of Jim Hawkins and for that he gets a group of stereotypical cartoon devils to help him. Yes, it does feel off in some stories, but it does pick up in others. Series one does feel like it was slightly better written then series two, but since I don't know any of the details of why certain things were changed the way they were, I don't want to go into too much into why I feel that the second series feels like it was somewhat off track. I can't criticize it too much as it does still have some great episodes in it. I just feel a that parts feel off for some reason or that characters seem a little out of character somewhat (this is particularly true for Ben Gunn, who has had the crazy personality part of him simply vanish without any real explanation. Even the one I gave above still doesn't seem to add up).
I like the character designs and clothing suites the character quite well. While it is easier to know what base animal each character is, both the characters of Jane and Blind Pew seem to be harder to pin-point. Some point to Jane being a Cat or some kind of Vixen, while others point to Pew being a rather large Rat. While I can't speak for Jane's animal type, Pew does come off rather Rat-like, but things like his tail look a little out of place as a Rat, particularly when you already have a Rat character and his tail is more in the style of one. Plus, without revealing parts like his ears, it is hard to state that he is a Rat. It could be possible that there are hybrids, but since the show never states that, it is pure speculation on my part.
Art design and visual effects look great at times, but in others feels rather dull. Then again, some places on the island are meant to feel more vibrant or mystical then others, so I guess it works well in this situation. I also enjoy the music and sound design as well (though I can't tell if one part that was out of sync was from the episode itself or just from the recorded video quality). Most of it feels suitably creepy or action filled, depending on what emotion in the scene they are trying to convey. Speaking of emotion, sorrow/sadness isn't one that they are good at however. Even though there are moments when it should be more impactful, it instead falls a bit flat, so they could have put a bit more emphasis on that aspect. Then again, I'm trying to find insightful moments of emotion in a cartoon from the 90's, so that's my own fault there. It's not a bad thing, but I feel it could achieve so much more, that's all.
I don't recall many animation errors, but then again it can go so fast at times that you would have to slow it down if you were trying to seek that sort of thing (The Fountain of Truth episode does have some that were obvious though). On the other hand, story issues are more easily recognized, like how did they build a defensive village in such a small amount of time (and where did they get the tools from to do it)? or how does Jim Hawkins hold his own against the Pirates when he wields a wooded sword and they have metal ones? There are a couple of these things here and there, some you can ignore but others prove harder to look past. Personally, just have fun watching it and leave the questions until after you've finished.
Overall, a very enjoyable show for me. Things like the locations and and art style really helps, though those sounds in the more disturbing moments really help add to the feel of the scene. It's hard to explain some of my more favourite moments without going in-depth into episodes and that is something I would not be able to do very well (or do it any justice). Instead, I suggest you check them out (they are online if you look for them) and see what you think.
