Treasure Planet II (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated sequel film; 2002)

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Academy-Jim1.jpg

Concept art of Jim Hawkins in his Space Academy uniform.

Status: Lost

Treasure Planet II is a cancelled 2002 Disney animated sequel film to Treasure Planet that was planned to be directed by Jun Falkenstein, who had previously worked as a director for the 2000 animated film The Tigger Movie for Disney. The film was in development for eight to nine months before being cancelled due to the first film of the planned franchise bombing at the box office, though it has developed a cult following since its release.

Had the film not been cancelled, it would have been followed by a TV animated series set to take place after the sequel.[1]

Plot

According to an article by Animated Views,[2] it would have involved Jim Hawkins going to the Royal Interstellar Academy where he is described as being a bit of a "hot-shot", in contrast to his smart classmate and eventual love interest, Kate. Captain Amelia is the dean of the academy and has a brand new vessel designed by Doctor Delbert: The Centurion. The new vessel is designed to be the fastest ship in the galaxy and has B.E.N. as the pilot of the ship.

Soon, Jim and Kate face their new enemy, Ironbeard, who has a desire to take control of the ship. Ironbeard and his gang of pirates then hijack the ship, forcing Jim and Kate to escape the ship and find help from a pirate who can stop Ironbeard. Jim then finds help from his old friend Long John Silver at the Lagoon Nebula as they plan to sneak on board of the ship and gain back control of the Centurion. However, Silver also has desires of controlling the ship himself and wants Jim to join him, which horrifies Kate and the three find out that Ironbeard is using the Centurion for his own villainous gains, which includes disabling Botany Bay Prison Asteroid's security system to allow alerted prisoners to join the ship. Ironbeard also damages Silver's ship to prevent the three from catching up to him.

Jim, Kate, and Silver soon reconcile with one another and Silver reveals that he has smuggled a ton of weapons that can help destroy the Centurion. With the three now working together and fixing Silver's ship, Silver is soon forced to destroy the Centurion and kill all of Ironbeard's crew on the ship. The film would then end with Silver parting ways again with Jim and Kate, and the two graduating from the Royal Interstellar Academy a few years later with honors, while Silver's shadow is secretly smiling at their accomplishments.

Development and Cancellation

The project's art team consisted of Yarrow Cheney, Emil Mitiev, and Mike Inman to work on the film's visual development and Mike Cedano, who animated Jim Hawkins in the original film, returned to animate the film's new villain, Ironbeard. According to director Jun Falkenstein, the film did not go far enough in development to find a composer for the project, though the team was considering Tommy Walter from the alternative rock bands Eels and Abandoned Pools to produce music for the project, similar to The Goo Goo Dolls' frontman John Rezeznik's contributions to the original film's soundtrack.[2]

Most of the original film's cast including Joseph Gorden-Levitt, Emma Thompson, and Brian Murray was expected to return for the sequel and Willem Dafoe had signed on to voice the film's villain Ironbeard.[2]

On a Monday after the original film's release near Thanksgiving, Falkenstein and the project's producers were at a recording studio in New York, expecting for Dafoe to arrive in 30 seconds to record lines for the project. Instead, they received a call (whom Falkenstein refused to name) saying the project had been cancelled in light of the first film's failure at the box office.[2]

Availability

Though numerous concept art of the film has been made available on the aforementioned Animated Views article, no footage of the film has been released to the public and the film's script hasn't been leaked online.

Gallery

References