Return to Treasure Island (1988)

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Movie
German title The return to Treasure Island
Original title Остров сокровищ
Country of production Soviet Union
original language Russian
Publishing year 1988
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK o. A.
Rod
Director David Cherkassky
script Yuri Alikow
David Cherkassky
music Vladimir Bystryakov (Russian version)
David Siebels (US version)
cut Juna Srebnitskaya
occupation

speaker

The return to Treasure Island ( Russian Остров сокровищ , literal translation: Treasure Island ) is a Soviet cartoon / real film in two parts based on the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson .

An American version was released in 1992 as a direct-to-video release under the title Return to Treasure Island . This version is about 34 minutes shorter than the Russian original version, has different music and the real scenes are missing. The German version, which was released on video under the title The Return to Treasure Island in 1996, is based on the American version. The country and time of origin of the film are therefore often incorrectly stated as “USA, 1992”.

action

Part 1: Captain Flint's Map

The plot adheres closely to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, but satirizes and parodies it heavily. In a real-life animation intro, the narrator introduces the story of Flint's card. Then the narrator is shot by Billy Bones and takes the card.

One stormy night, Billy Bones comes to the Admiral Benbow inn, which is run by the boy Jim Hawkins. Soon after, Billy is visited by two street musicians; first of all from the “black dog” who wants a card from him; then a warning from the blind Pew who left him a black mark. Bones, who had a stroke from over-consuming rum , shares his secret with Jim - the map would lead to Flint's hidden treasure. After one last sip of rum, Bones dies. Admiral Benbow is searched by Pew and other pirates. When they find nothing, they leave Pew, who falls blind into an abyss.

Jim brings the card to Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney, who soon set up a treasure hunt expedition. At the “Fernrohr” inn, Trelawney instructs the landlord, John Silver, to set up a ship and a crew. Captain Smollett is not enthusiastic about the plan; As it soon turns out at sea, for good reason: Hidden in the apple barrel, Jim overhears the conversation between Silver, who has hired as the ship's cook, and the sailors he has chosen: as soon as the treasure is found, everyone should be killed.

Part 2: Captain Flint's Treasures

Jim reports the betrayal to the Doctor, Squire Trelawney, and the Captain. The captain suggests not to show anything. He sends the pirates to shore. Silver leaves four men to watch over the doctor and the others. However, Jim already escapes and meets Ben Gunn, a former pirate who was abandoned here by his friends. The Doctor and Co. occupy an old pirate fort on the mountain where Jim joins them. Silver comes to negotiate the release of the card; then there is a battle with the pirates. After the doctor has won, he goes to a meeting place with Ben Gunn that night. Jim decides to retake the ship on his own, which he succeeds. Doctor Livesey discovers that Ben Gunn has already found the treasure and hidden it in a cave, and leaves the fort and the map to the pirates. Jim returns to the fort and is captured by the pirates; however, Silver, who is suspicious, holds him hostage. When the pirates then search for the treasure, they find out that the treasure has disappeared. When Livesey, Trelawney, Smollett and Ben Gunn attack them, they are so rushed that they run out of breath because of their constant smoking. Silver is then placed in chains and the adventurers set off on their journey home.

production

The first part of the two-part series was produced in 1986, the second part in 1988. Both parts were usually performed together. The original Russian version of the comedy cartoon contains several vocal parts filmed in real life, most of which were shot in black and white and often combine real-life recordings with trick technology. In addition, the film was provided with faded-in dossiers of various characters in the style of Seventeen Moments of Spring . Likewise, onomatopoeic comic-style inscriptions were parodied in the original version by drawing them into the picture, e.g. B. “Boom!” Or “Bang!”.

Awards

  • Grand Film Prize in Minsk (1987)
  • Kiev Grand Prix (1989)
  • First prize at the International Film Festival for Television Films in Czechoslovakia .

The music numbers

Except for point 2 (because it is animated) the songs are missing in the international version.

  1. Intro ("All the heroes of this drama, from Flibustieur to Magister ...")
  2. The tragic and instructive story of Bobby, a boy who loved money
  3. On the death of Billy Bones ("Fifteen men and a bottle of rum", the song about drinking)
  4. Song about the usefulness of sport ("Keeping his daily regime - Jim ...")
  5. chance
  6. Intro No. 2 ("It's about midnight ...")
  7. Ben Gunn's story
  8. Song about greed ("A pirate was Greed'ger Billy ...") - 02:19
  9. "We're all in a regatta"
  10. The song of the harmfulness of smoking
  11. The Fortuna lottery (“In life as in the cinema”) - 1:11
  12. Of loneliness (Finale; "It's better to have a leg ...")

The music was played by the “Festival” ensemble.

Characters, cast and crew

Dossiers of the characters

When a new character appears, a dossier is displayed in the original version:

  • Jimmy Hawkins - A very, very good boy. Polite, honest, humble, good-natured. Always listen to his mother. Every morning he does morning exercises. Character: very gentle.
  • Doctor Livesey - a very good and happy person. Character: sociable. Not married.
  • Squire Trelawney - stupid, greedy, voracious, lazy, cowardly, arrogant. Character: absent. Not married.
  • Captain Smollett - old sailor and soldier. Always tell the truth to your face and suffer from it. Character: bad. Not married.
  • Billy Bones - aka "the captain". Owner of the Treasure Island map. Drinks a lot and always has a cold. Character: bad. Not married.
  • John Silver - aka "Barbecue". Alias ​​"the one-legged". The most terrifying pirate of them all, but successfully disguises himself as well. Character: mysterious. Not married.
  • Black dog - friend of Flint , hunts for the map to Treasure Island, character: mysterious, not married.
  • Blind Pew - old pirate. Friend of Flint . Greedy. Ready for anything for money. Character: hideous. Not married.
  • Ben Gunn - A well mannered boy in childhood, he started gambling, hooked up with pirates, and crashed. Character: gentle. Not married.

All characters are not married.

speaker

actor

crew

On DVD

The Russian DVD by Krupny Plan (Region 0) contains the Russian version of the film with a restored picture and a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix (the original mono track is also available). This version contains no bonus material, no subtitles and only Russian language.

Also available is the export version of RUSCICO (also Region 0) with the Russian version of the film. This edition contains a. also German subtitles. This version also has a 5.1 mix and a 1.0 mono track, but the picture has not been restored. As bonus material there is text information about David Tscherkassky .

The American abridged version was also released on DVD in the USA (Region 1). The picture was not restored, but the sound was mixed in 5.1. Russian original sound is not available in this cut.

Interesting facts and mistakes

Differences from the novel

  • At the beginning, Billy Bones gets the card by shooting the narrator (Valeri Tschigljajew). In the book, he gets the card from Flint personally when he dies in his own bed.
  • In the film, Blind Pew dies rolling down a cliff in a barrel; in the book he is trampled to death by horses.
  • In the book, Jim recognizes "Black Dog" in the inn "Fernrohr" and sounds the alarm. In the film, Schwarzer Hund drinks calmly with other pirates, and later he even hires on the "Hispaniola".
  • Although it is noted in Silver's dossier that he is not married, the book mentions that he is married to a negress .
  • When the protagonists on the ship learn of the pirates' plot, Smollett replies to Trelawney's question how many devoted people there are on the ship: "We are seven, together with Jim", which corresponds to the book. After the battle for the fort, however, he says: "We were four against nineteen", which corresponds to the film. The pirates cannot be counted in the film, but the protagonists are only four (as well as Ben Gunn, who joins later).
  • Jim promises Ben Gunn “such a big piece of cheese”, even though, unlike the book, he doesn't ask for cheese at all.
  • When Jim returns to the fort after it has been left to the pirates, he says: "I killed Israel Hands! .." Nevertheless, at the end the Hispaniola is shown with the lively Israel Hands still hanging between the masts. The mistake comes from the fact that the dialogues often quote the book true to the original, while something different can be seen in the picture. In the book, Jim actually kills Israel Hands.

various

  • Billy Bones says that Flint gave him the card himself before he died. In the (real-life) prologue, however, he has to shoot the narrator to take the card from him. Even if one would assume that the narrator in the prologue was Flint, this would speak against the fact that Flint was portrayed by another actor in Benn Gunn's (real film) narration.
  • At the end of the song about the boy Bobby, the handle of the organ organ is on the left, although it was on the right the whole time before.
  • In the fight between Billy Bones and the Black Dog, the door that Billy pushes around leads sometimes to the street and sometimes to the other room.
  • When blind Pew handed the black mark over to Billy Bones, he only wore a glove on one hand, but otherwise on both hands.
  • In the Russian version, the rum that the pirates drink is called “Rome” (written in Latin), which is an English transcription for the Russian “Ром” (= rum). First, the English word "rum" was not very common in the Soviet Union in the 1980s; Second, it can be assumed that it is a joke made by the makers, analogous to the Latin transcriptions of Russian words: “Protokol” (= protocol) and “Prigovor” (= Prigovor) in the animated film “An African Fairy Tale” by Leonid Aristow , “Ograblenie po ... "(=" Raid the ... way "), the cartoon by Jefim Gamburg and" Podvodnaya Lodca "(= submarine) in the cartoon" The Adventures of Captain Wrungel "by Tscherkassky himself.
  • Billy Bones has the bandage sometimes on his left arm and sometimes on his right arm.
  • In the "Fernrohr" inn, Squire Trelawney and John Silver are not spoken by their standard speakers Boris Vosnyuk and Armen Dschigarchanjan in the scene in which Trelawney hires Silver .
  • When Jim overhears the pirates, Silver says to a pirate in a fez with a mustache and a long beard: "Hands, your head is not worth much because there was never a brain there." If it is Israel Hands who is tasked with guarding the ship, then it looks very different. The pirate with the beard appears several times throughout the film, even after being killed at least once.
  • Although the book is set in the 18th century, the Union Jack is hoisted over the fort , although it was not introduced as a British flag until 1801.
  • Livesey says when the Hispaniola shoots the flag that the log cabin cannot be seen from the ship. He had seen it himself through the telescope and had the idea of ​​occupying it.
  • In the (real filmed) story of Ben Gunn, a bird house can be seen on one of the trees in the scene in which the pirates are looking for the treasure.
  • In most scenes, Silver is missing his right leg - but not in all of them.
  • Many animated sequences are used multiple times, for example the pirate attack on Admiral Benbow / the attack on the fort.
  • Doctor Livesey is reminiscent of characters from David Tscherkassky's other films, both in terms of design and appearance. B. to the citizen Pachomov from the film "Kakogo roschna hotschetsja" and to the one-eyed pirate from the film "Doctor Ajbolit". All of these characters were voiced by Yevgeny Paperny.

Web links