Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Treasure Planet arrived from Walt Disney Feature Animation in 2002, a big-budget swing that reimagined Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure as science fiction, blending traditional hand-drawn animation with early digital effects. Released during a transitional period for the studio, between the fading hand-drawn era and the rise of computer animation, it stands as one of Disney's more ambitious and underappreciated experiments, prized today by collectors who admire its craftsmanship and its place at the crossroads of animation history.
This cell pairs Long John Silver with Billy Bones, placing the film's central figure alongside the man whose fate sets the entire story in motion. Silver remains one of Disney's most morally complex characters, a cyborg pirate whose loyalties shift and blur, which is exactly why collectors seek him out over more straightforward heroes or villains. Sharing frame space with Billy Bones ties this piece to the story's opening, the moment that plants the treasure map and the mystery that drives everything after it.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Treasure Planet (2002).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both visible edges, evenly spaced, with cleanly punched rounded-rectangular apertures showing no torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; a narrow blue-tinted stripe consistent with a Dolby SR or digital hybrid track is also present adjacent to it.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image shows rich, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with an animated feature matching Treasure Planet (2002).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical track with apparent digital hybrid stripe is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2002 release date of the film on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062827
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
