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 fused hand-drawn character work with digital effects to reimagine Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island as interstellar adventure. Released during a period when traditional animation was losing ground to computer-generated features, it stood out for its ambition, blending painterly backgrounds with sweeping space visuals. Though it underperformed at the box office, it has since earned a devoted following for its craftsmanship and design, making it a distinctive entry in Disney's animated catalog and a point of interest for collectors tracing the studio's more experimental period.
This cell places Jim Hawkins aboard the RLS Legacy, the vessel that carries him from restless youth into the story's central voyage. Jim is the film's emotional anchor, a boy searching for purpose, and scenes set on the ship mark his early steps toward that transformation. Long John Silver's presence alongside him points to the bond forming between mentor and mentee, a relationship collectors often seek out given its importance to the narrative. A cell like this captures a foundational moment of the journey itself, valued for tying two central figures to the ship that defines much of the film's world.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Treasure Planet (2002)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes
Soundtrack
Variable-area optical track visible on one edge; a Dolby Digital data block pattern is visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge; a DTS timecode line appears as a fine dashed line adjacent to the optical track
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Base carries a slight warm tint; dye image is dense and well-saturated with no apparent fading
Projection history
Fine longitudinal lines consistent with a projected print are present; no splices or cue marks observed
Picture
Positive colour image; frames are consecutive frames of one shot; animated content matches Treasure Planet (2002)
Era check
The combination of variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and DTS timecode line is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2002 release of Treasure Planet
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 000062835
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size