Muppets - Treasure Island

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Movie
German title Muppets - Treasure Island
Original title Muppet Treasure Island
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1996
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK without age restriction
Rod
Director Brian Henson
script Jerry Juhl ,
Kirk R. Thatcher ,
James V. Hart ,
Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
production Frank Oz ,
Brian Henson ,
Martin G. Baker
music Hans Zimmer
camera John Fenner
cut Michael Jablow
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
Muppets from space

Muppets - The Treasure Island is a genre mix of adventure film , comedy and musical , filmed in the USA in 1996 , in which the world-famous puppet ensemble of the Muppet Show plays the leading roles. The film is based on the well-known (and already filmed several times) novel " Treasure Island " by Robert Louis Stevenson .

action

The film tells the story of the novel to a large extent: In 18th century England the poor kitchen boy Jim Hawkins lives with his friends Gonzo and Rizzo near the port city of Bristol . He is orphaned, poor, and toil with his cronies in Mrs. Blueberidge's den. One of the few returning guests is the always drunk seaman Billy Bones, who has the reputation of a pirate. The three are also the only ones who listen to him and his seaman's thread.

But one evening his alleged rumors seem to be confirmed: Bones shows Jim a map that supposedly leads to the treasure of the notorious pirate Flint. Because he has this valuable card, he also feels scared and pursued by a one-legged man who is also supposed to try to kill Bones. Jim takes the card and when Bones actually dies a little later and several pirates attack the tavern, he believes the protests and flees with Gonzo and Rizzo.

The three set off for London to charter a ship there for the crossing. With the help of the good-natured Doctor Livesey and the somewhat quirky shipbuilder Squire Trelawney (he communicates with his partner Mr. Bimble, who lives in his index finger), a new ship called the "Hispaniola" is being constructed, with which Jim and his friends will begin their voyage. But the associated crew (almost exclusively Muppets) turns out to be relatively bizarre, seedy and bizarre. First and foremost, the one-legged ship's cook Long John Silver, who reminds Jim of Billy Bones' feared opponent. Only the ship's captain Abraham Smollet (Kermit), who was announced as charismatic and thorough, appears to inspire confidence in the trio, as he once knew Jim's father well.

The long voyage is very exhausting for everyone on board during the film that follows. Smollet, who portrays himself as principled but also intimidated, does his best to move forward with the crew, which is more like pirates. Besides, he has to put his first officer Mr. Arrows, who always and constantly portrays Smollet in front of the crew as an intimidating despot, in his place more than once. In addition, the alleged death of Arrows, a long lull and the resulting cabin fever make the crew friable and slowly insane. But despite all the stresses and strains, the journey continues, with Silver and Jim becoming more and more friendly despite his concerns. But the obscure Long John seems to be playing a double game, as the familiar crew tortures Gonzo and Rizzo for further treasure details. Finally the Treasure Island is reached. Jim realizes Long John's dishonesty and informs Smollet, who wants to outsmart the renegades with an alibi contract. But Silver gets ahead of him because he takes control of the map and Jim too.

Hawkins is forced to have no choice but to support Silver and help his crew in the treasure hunt. But when they arrive at the alleged hiding place, the treasure chests are empty, which almost leads to a revolt among Silver's men. Meanwhile, Smollet, Gonzo and Rizzo set out to rescue Jim on their own, but are captured by a tribe of wild pigs and brought to their queen, "Boom Shakalaka". This turns out to be Smollet's former love, Benjamina Gunn. Jim has now escaped the pirates and free Gonzo and Rizzo. Finally, Mr. Arrows joins the three of them (he was tricked into disembarking by Silver and dumped in a boat).

Smollet and Benjamina are now discussing their previous relationship, and it turns out that Gunn started a relationship with Captain Flint and also hid his treasure in another location. In this situation, Silver and the pirates arrive, who both capture and torture. When Benjamina finally reveals where the treasure is out of love for Smollet, Smollet leaves them both hanging over an abyss in a death trap.

At the same time, Jim, Gonzo, Rizzo and Arrows manage to free the crew and chase the pirates who have since taken over the ship off board. Together they manage to steer the "Hispaniola" to the island, to save Smollet and Gunn from a fatal fall at the last moment and to drive the pirates into a corner. In a turbulent final battle, the crew ultimately succeeds in defeating Silver and his men and taking them prisoner.

But during the return trip, Silver breaks out of his cell once more. When he wants to leave the ship with the treasures in a lifeboat, he is discovered by Jim. But because of the friendship that has grown, he cannot warn the crew, while Silver cannot kill him for the same reasons. So Jim lets him go, with Arrows informing him and Smollet that Silver's boat is leaking. So it sinks in the end and Long John saves himself by swimming on Treasure Island. In the last scene you can see that Smollet and Gunn get married, Jim commands the ship - and the rats on board are secretly recovering the treasure using diving equipment ...

Cinematic implementation

The film takes up the same successful concept as four years earlier in The Muppets Christmas Story : In addition to human actors in the important roles, almost all other significant supporting characters are represented by the puppets.

With the plot known from the novel, the film forms a framework in which the anarchic humor known from the series “Muppet Show” has been appropriately embedded in various places. For example, the episodic gags about the on-board rats, who organize the ship trip like a cruise, run like a red thread through the film. There are also a number of other possibilities to incorporate a large part of the Muppet Show character circle into the plot. For example, the house band "Electric Mayhem" around Floyd , Janice and Dr. Goldzahn as well as Sweetums , Lew Zealand , Robin and Clueless Morgan. Even the Danish cook got a part: dressed up with a pig nose as a cook of the wild boar tribe.

In addition to the plot, many songs were composed again to round off the film as a musical. And as with the Christmas story, for the German release, in addition to the dialogues, the songs were dubbed accordingly.

Reviews

“Stevenson's classic story about an adventurous treasure hunt, with few human actors, but with all the more well-known puppet figures from the Muppet Show. There is no longer any trace of the originally dark character of the story, but a firework of gags and show effects is offered. Unlike earlier Muppet films, this one is only of interest in relation to the TV show. "

Trivia

  • The company " Activision " released a computer game of the same name at the start of the film, which is largely based on the film.
  • In addition to Tim Curry, David Bowie and Mick Jagger were also in discussion for the role of Long John Silver . Curry was finally awarded the contract - and as a big “Muppet Show” fan, a long-cherished wish came true.
  • The piano-playing dog Rowlf returned after years of absenteeism for a brief guest appearance at the beginning of the film in the Spelunke. Out of respect for Jim Henson, the part was no longer cast after his death (Henson played and spoke Rowlf himself and based his character on his own), or Rowlf always remained silent in subsequent scenes. So also in "The Treasure Island".
  • Curry initially tried to play his silver role with a wooden leg. Since he had problems with that, however, the whole thing was changed again and he stepped on with a crutch (and bent leg).
  • Polly Lobster, the lobster sitting on Long John's shoulder and who is also part of the pirate crew, went through various changes in the pre-production phase. Originally, the role was planned as an eccentric female parrot who was supposed to flirt with Silver. The whole thing was based on a sketch of a Muppet Show episode with John Cleese , in which he played a pirate with a hot-blooded bird. The whole thing was eventually changed to a male bird named Stevenson, who should babble the differences to the novel in the form of comments. Ultimately, however, the version with the lobster was used for the film. The Parrot Stevenson idea was eventually used in the PC game of the same name.
  • There is a short scene during the final credits. In this one you see Long John Silver sitting on the beach of Treasure Island, how he eats a banana and has to be annoyed by a talking statue telling jokes.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Muppets - Treasure Island in the Lexicon of International Films.Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used Accessed November 20, 2011

Web links