Music and the fictive dream

Treasure Planet

Disney most underrated movie.

Treasure Planet is written as an adaptation of treasure island the novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1883. The original story told story’s of fierce pirates and unknown treasure. Disney decided to keep with the adventure of pirates and the exiting prospect of finding treasure. The thing that mostly changed was instead of boats sailing the oceans the characters would sail massive space cruisers.

Overall the movie was a big flop at the box office due to poor advertisement. But many believe it to be one of the most underrated Disney movies. I remember watching it as a kid and it being one of my most favorite movies and probably is my most favorite Disney movie to this day.

Background and story-line.

The plot of the story follows a young boy named Jim Hawkins who grew up on the planet Montressor he is a trouble maker and isolates himself from anyone. His mother tries to get him to straighten up but finds it difficult to even have him help at there family business. This all changes when a spacecraft crashes near there home and Jim finds an old man on the cusp of death that in his last wishes gives him a map. Jim soon realizes that this is a map to treasure the infamous treasure planet he had heard of since he was a small boy. From this point on Jim is determined to find the treasure and change the course of his life. Through the story Jim finds himself in one trial after the next after getting on a ship to go to the secretive planet he ends up under the control of the cook on board. He doesn’t have much respect for anyone and the cook named Silver is determined to keep him busy and get some respect knocked into him. From this Jim starts to like Silver and they form a friendship. Later it is discovered that Silver is the leader of a group of pirate mutineers on board. Soon Jim and Silver are on opposite sides with there friendship hanging in the balance over the loot. In the end, Silver chooses Jim’s friendship over the treasure by saving his life. In the end, Jim found much more than gold but a friend and even more that will be explained later in the post through the song I’m still here. 

Context

I’m still here

The context of the scene during the song I’m still here by John Rzeznik is really powerful and a great form of character development. Once aboard the ship, Jim is taken below deck and shown the person in command above him and he is introduced to Silver. Neither have much interest in the other and both would rather do their duties alone but after Jim is a little disobedient to the captain Silver ensures he will keep him busy. In the beginning, Jim is portrayed as being frustrated and angry about this but in the end, learns a lot from silver. Silver is also shown taking the liking to Jim because of the hard work he’s putting in and not giving up. Through this time you can see Jim’s persona changes around Silver and he starts opening up about his past. In the scene, it shows Jim’s memory’s as a small boy his father coming home and his father not recognizing what he built or what he had done to impress him. You can see on his face he is used to being not listened to and just wants his father to notice. The climax of the video shows him as a boy and his father leaving him and him running after him with tears in his eyes. Although Silver made him do hard work he was a teacher and a father figure he never had. In the end, Silver treats him like his own and both have something much more valuable than gold.

Musical Analysis

Lyrics

The lyrics of I’m still here play an important roll in the movie and development of the plot and really put emotion into this special scene.

In these lines, the author John Rzeznik portrays the emotions of Jim an example would be “Not and answer to be heard” referencing his father’s neglect to listen. The next line talks about how dear he held the memory of his father and remembers him leave. I can imagine the next part of the song is talking to his father if he came back because he is bitter. “And what do you think you’d ever say? I won’t listen anyway…You don’t know me, And I’ll never be what you want me to be.”

His next line shows how Jim is unsure of himself and never had anyone encourage him for who he was and mentor him to be a man. “I’m a boy, no, I’m a man.. You can’t take me and throw me away. And how can you learn what’s never shown? Yeah, you stand here on your own. They don’t know me ’cause I’m not here.” John also shows perfectly how Jim feels alone and nobody knows him.

The way John sings the next lines emphasize the difference in the meaning from the kinda sad lyrics to upbeat. How he wants things to be different and sings it in a way that makes you think you can carry on or fix whatever the problem is. “And I want a moment to be real, Wanna touch things I don’t feel, Wanna hold on and feel I belong. And how can the world want me to change? They’re the ones that stay the same. They don’t know me, ‘Cause I’m not here. ” This, in my opinion, hits the nail on the head describing Jim’s character he wants to be realistic and look at the world with his own eyes everyone around him wants him to change but don’t know who he is in the first place. There are pages more that could be written about how the song plays into the story but the last thing I’ll touch is his determination. Jim seems to get hit every turn in the movie but never gives up and his determination is exemplified in these lines. “They can’t break me As long as I know who I am. I’m the one, ‘Cause I’m still here. I’m still here. I’m still here. I’m still here.” The message of the last lines being I’ve been knocked down but I’m still here you can’t break me I’ll keep on. These lines are some of the most powerful and show Jim’s character and perseverance through it all.

Dynamics

To be honest I love everything about the song and the movie so when I see either I am filled with memories. Despite this bias, the dynamics I do believe helps the story progress. It starts very slow and mellow with flashbacks of his memory’s in the background but eventually picks up on the verse “And I want a moment to be real”. This I thought was interesting because when this line is playing the beat is up and shows only the present things going on in his life the things he feels he can control. The dynamics once again slow when he has a flashback of his father leaving setting an even stronger emotional connection with the character.

Silvers speech to Jim

I thought I would include a video of another part in the film where its apparent that Silver realy cares for Jim and treats him as his own son.

The Larger meaning

The meaning of the scene and arguably the whole movie was to show a story of how the neglect of a father can be damaging to a child. Over and over in the story, Jim thinks of himself as not good enough and always thinks of the past. He is a loner and doesn’t talk with many people and looks like this takes a toll on him at times. When he meets Silver he finds someone who is just as stubborn as him and someone he can talk to a first good friend. The larger meaning of this I also think is that no-one is perfect don’t isolate yourself from the world let people in. Make friends and let people know your hurts community can help bare the weight of the past and send you soaring to new heights for your future.

My opinion

I have loved this story ever since I first saw it as a kid there is something special in the storyline and character of Jim that ties with my emotions. I was a loner for the majority of my life and can relate in that way and also with his sense of adventure. I think that the portrayal of how valuable friendship and a father is really powerful. The song is also one of my favorites ever due to the emotions of my childhood watching this movie as well the connection of being determined to not ever give up. The song had such an impact on me it was my senior slideshow song. Thanks for reading my blog if you liked it leave a comment below.

Citations

Panas, Roxanne. “Opinion: ‘Treasure Planet’ Is a Forgotten Movie with Relevant Lessons.” The Daily Northwestern, 18 June 2019, dailynorthwestern.com/2019/05/24/opinion/panas-treasure-planet-is-a-forgotten-movie-with-relevant-lessons/.

“Goo Goo Dolls – I’m Still Here Lyrics Meaning.” Lyric Interpretations, http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/goo-goo-dolls/im-still-here.

https://www.lyricinterpretations.com/goo-goo-dolls/im-still-here