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Oct. 11th, 2022 11:00 pmI am truly not sure if I've just read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island for the first time, or if I read it for the first time as a child and have just reread it for the first time with the capability of retaining facts about it in my memory.
In either case, it is a little bit unfortunate for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island that I very definitely saw Muppet Treasure Island as a child, and also as an adolescent, and also as an adult, and many times since ... actually the reason that I decided (two years ago) that it was time to read (or reread) Treasure Island was due to the experience of watching the recent National Theatre Treasure Island and Muppet Treasure Island in relatively quick succession, and feeling slightly disappointed by the portrayal of the main characters' relationships in the NT Treasure Island -- it's a fun production! enjoyable to watch! but there's just so much more interesting depth and complexity in the dynamic between Muppet Treasure Island's Long John and Jim, which is really impressive given that Muppet Treasure Island's Jim is a pretty generic boy soprano who mostly exists to give various Muppets a figure to bounce against.
Anyway, it turns out, unsurprisingly, that the National Theatre production in which Silver is a facile villain for whom Jim has reluctant admiration but zero to no emotional attachment is significantly more accurate to the original than the Muppet version in which Silver is a messy and Machiavellian mentor who has an arguably genuine mutual affection with Jim that persists throughout the film even as Jim's sense of betrayal and disgust rises in proportion to it ... people talk about lovers-to-enemies but parental-figure-to-enemy! that's the stuff!
Although, speaking of lovers-to-enemies, I also think having Ben Gunn be Silver's ex is a genius move even aside from how funny it is to put Miss Piggy in that role. Heightens that narrative tension! Gives all those island dynamics a fun little kick! I did not expect book Ben Gunn to be Silver's ex but I did expect some kind of personal beef between them, and I regret to inform that once again Muppet Treasure Island raised my expectations here where it should not have been raised.
On the other hand, it is very funny when Ben Gunn attempts to fake being Flint's ghost and everyone is briefly frightened and then realizes it's Ben Gunn and decide they don't care:
“It don’t make much odds, do it, now?” asked Dick. “Ben Gunn’s not here in the body any more’n Flint.”
But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn.
“Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn,” cried Merry; “dead or alive, nobody minds him.”
Embarrassing to be the ghost that nobody's worried about! Stevenson is in fact very funny. He has jokes. I also enjoyed very much when Captain Smollett complains that "a secret has been told to the parrot" and Squire Trelawney, bless his heart, is like "....Silver's parrot?" and Captain Smollett has to wearily explain that he was using a turn of phrase and not in fact speaking about a real parrot. Smollett is a real MVP, he really won my heart when he marched into his boss' room on the first day of the voyage and told him everything that he did not like about the voyage in an attempt to get fired because he doesn't like treasure hunting and is annoyed that nobody told him that's what they were doing. I find him very relatable. Jim, on the other hand, I do not find relatable and I don't understand why he does half the things he does, but perhaps that is because I'm no longer of the age to be a cabin boy.
Anyway. Despite my complaints I did enjoy my Treasure Island experience but it really raised Muppet Treasure Island even higher in my esteem than previously. Simply a great film! Turned solid silver into solid gold!
In either case, it is a little bit unfortunate for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island that I very definitely saw Muppet Treasure Island as a child, and also as an adolescent, and also as an adult, and many times since ... actually the reason that I decided (two years ago) that it was time to read (or reread) Treasure Island was due to the experience of watching the recent National Theatre Treasure Island and Muppet Treasure Island in relatively quick succession, and feeling slightly disappointed by the portrayal of the main characters' relationships in the NT Treasure Island -- it's a fun production! enjoyable to watch! but there's just so much more interesting depth and complexity in the dynamic between Muppet Treasure Island's Long John and Jim, which is really impressive given that Muppet Treasure Island's Jim is a pretty generic boy soprano who mostly exists to give various Muppets a figure to bounce against.
Anyway, it turns out, unsurprisingly, that the National Theatre production in which Silver is a facile villain for whom Jim has reluctant admiration but zero to no emotional attachment is significantly more accurate to the original than the Muppet version in which Silver is a messy and Machiavellian mentor who has an arguably genuine mutual affection with Jim that persists throughout the film even as Jim's sense of betrayal and disgust rises in proportion to it ... people talk about lovers-to-enemies but parental-figure-to-enemy! that's the stuff!
Although, speaking of lovers-to-enemies, I also think having Ben Gunn be Silver's ex is a genius move even aside from how funny it is to put Miss Piggy in that role. Heightens that narrative tension! Gives all those island dynamics a fun little kick! I did not expect book Ben Gunn to be Silver's ex but I did expect some kind of personal beef between them, and I regret to inform that once again Muppet Treasure Island raised my expectations here where it should not have been raised.
On the other hand, it is very funny when Ben Gunn attempts to fake being Flint's ghost and everyone is briefly frightened and then realizes it's Ben Gunn and decide they don't care:
“It don’t make much odds, do it, now?” asked Dick. “Ben Gunn’s not here in the body any more’n Flint.”
But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn.
“Why, nobody minds Ben Gunn,” cried Merry; “dead or alive, nobody minds him.”
Embarrassing to be the ghost that nobody's worried about! Stevenson is in fact very funny. He has jokes. I also enjoyed very much when Captain Smollett complains that "a secret has been told to the parrot" and Squire Trelawney, bless his heart, is like "....Silver's parrot?" and Captain Smollett has to wearily explain that he was using a turn of phrase and not in fact speaking about a real parrot. Smollett is a real MVP, he really won my heart when he marched into his boss' room on the first day of the voyage and told him everything that he did not like about the voyage in an attempt to get fired because he doesn't like treasure hunting and is annoyed that nobody told him that's what they were doing. I find him very relatable. Jim, on the other hand, I do not find relatable and I don't understand why he does half the things he does, but perhaps that is because I'm no longer of the age to be a cabin boy.
Anyway. Despite my complaints I did enjoy my Treasure Island experience but it really raised Muppet Treasure Island even higher in my esteem than previously. Simply a great film! Turned solid silver into solid gold!
