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From the Page to the Screen – Treasure Island

Treasure Island is a classic 1883 adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is considered to be one of the most influential adventure stories, especially in regards to pirates. As a result, it received countless movie adaptations.

THE FILM ADAPTATION

The most famous film adaptation of this novel was released in 1950. This was the very first live-action feature from Disney and it was a huge hit back when it was released, but nowadays it’s rather underrated and it is in desperate need of rediscovery.

PLOT

I would actually say that the script here was fantastic. Yes, the movie was too short and thus a bit rushed, but at least most of the plot points from the novel were faithfully recreated here and the sense of discovery and adventure are very much intact.

WINNER – BOOK

CHARACTERIZATION

The characterization is one of the strongest aspects of this particular movie. Most of the praise in this category should be directed toward the actors themselves as Bobby Driscoll literally is Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton is just perfect as Long John Silver. Others are also solid, but the friendship that develops between these two is just as strong as it was in the source material.

WINNER – TIE

EMOTION

The sense of melancholy and doom was absent from the movie version, but otherwise I would say that the film trumps the book in this regard as it’s much sweeter, more endearing and more moving, especially in that beautiful third act.

WINNER – FILM

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THEMES

The film is thematically rather empty unfortunately. This is where the novel is miles above the movie as we do not get to see any themes explored in the cinematic adaptation while the novel strongly deals with the pirate versus civilized world and the futility of treasure seeking.

WINNER – BOOK

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Stevenson’s writing was phenomenal and very detailed while the Disney film looked beautiful due to amazing production design and strong cinematography. The directing, editing and score were also quite good in this audio-visual spectacle from the studio.

WINNER – TIE

BOOK 4: FILM 3

Overall, while this film version is more emotional than the novel, the book remains better crafted in its storyline and especially in its themes. The movie is more endearing, but the book is much more complex and sophisticated.