1

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: PRESTON LIEW RU PING

STUDENT ID NO: 0313822

FILMS SELECTED: TREASURE PLANET (2002) & MEET THE ROBINSONS (2007)

WORD COUNT: 1000

ENGLISH 2 (ENGL 0205)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 5TH

DECEMBER 2013

2

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor

do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long

run than exposure.” – Helen Keller

Adventure, it’s exciting, it’s risky and to be honest it’s definitely worth it. I have

seen adventure-themed animations such as Treasure Planet, Meet the Robinsons,

Chicken Little etc. and these animations definitely blew my mind away. But today, I’ll be

comparing the similarities of both Treasure Planet and Meet the Robinsons. According

to iMDB (Internet Movie Database), both of these movies possess the adventure and

animation genre. Treasure Planet is a story about a rebellious teenager named Jim

Hawkins who dreamed about sailing across the universe but his dream came true one

night after a dying passerby gave him a map to a planet filled with treasure. While Meet

the Robinsons is a story about Lewis, a smart boy who invented a machine that could

reveal the past then someone from the future came and warned him about a mysterious

person stealing his machine, after that they travel into the future to stop the mysterious

person. After some careful evaluation, I’ve concluded three similarities of both

animations – the contribution of inspiring messages, the presence of a sidekick, and

parental influence.

One of the following conversations from Treasure Planet actually inspires me,

and I bet it inspires other people as well: “John Silver: Now, you listen to me, James

(Jim) Hawkins. You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm

and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes

you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you're made of!

3

Well, I hope I'm there, catching some of the light coming off you that day.” That was how

John Silver comforts Jim Hawkins after the whole catastrophic chaos whereby Jim was

blamed for the death of one of his allies. Those influential words are normally what

parents say to their children when the children have an ambition. To see this in the

movie gives a nostalgic chill to my bones because my parents told me that before and

it’s like being reminded that my parents has high hopes on me once again.

For Meet the Robinsons, their tittle stating: “Around here, however, we don’t look

backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing

new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

People are always being reminded of their past no matter what depth the happening

affected them, but they need to be constantly reminded that they need to keep moving

forward because what’s in the past stays in the past, the future is a present that we

build ourselves.

Next, I’ve noticed that each of the character has their own sidekick. For Jim

Hawkins from Treasure Planet, his trusty sidekick is a rust-covered eccentric robot

named B.E.N., short for Bio-Electronic Navigator whose memory is all hazed up

because of his missing “brain”. But he was still able to have a few helpful glimpses of

some paths and details to aid Jim in his journey to Treasure Planet. As for Lewis, his

sidekick is someone who is strange yet cheerful and turns out to be his own son from

the future in the end – Wilbur. Since Wilbur is from the future, he understands what will

happen if things go wrong or what will happen. That was a big plus for Lewis because

4

he could access to the future’s technology AND a time machine. I mean, who doesn’t

want a time machine right?

Next, Jim’s father is one of a bunch of people who could travel across the

universe. It was because of that Jim was very interested about stories of space pirates

and he understands what happens in the universe. But sadly his father acted

indifferently towards him as a child and then sets off, leaving him without saying

anything during his pre-teens. After that day, he became a rebellious teenager despite.

During the starting of the movie, his mother confides to another character that despite

being smart, Jim fails in school and is being very distant from her. Regarding Lewis, for

some unknown reason, his mother abandoned him at an orphanage while he was still

an infant. Because of his love for inventing, he actually invented a machine that could

reveal the past through your brain my keying in the exact time and date of the moment,

and it could actually project a video of your memory through its screen. The reason he

invented the machine was because he wanted to know what his mother looked like. He

wants to know why his mother abandoned him when he was a mere infant. But in the

end with the help of his sidekick, Wilbur, he managed to travel back in time to the exact

place where his mother left him. But he chose not to approach his mother because he

did not want to ruin what is already planned in the future.

Those two animation movies are inside the top 10’s of my favourite movies list.

The reason being the message it portrays through the movie and soundtrack. Disney’s

movies are very influential as they try to bring out the good in each person. With

touching endings and characters with good moral ethics and ambitions, it gives us the

“feels” every time. When it comes to good adventures and inspiring messages, Disney’s

5

movies gives the most bona fide feelings. I’ve always aspired to go on a meaningful

adventure. After watching Treasure Planet or Meet the Robinsons, it gave me a little bit

of the adventure ecstasy and made me want to fulfil my dreams as fast as I can before I

grow old. So pack your bags and go out of the house, because every day is a new

adventure for yourself.

6

References:

1. (). Lewis (Meet the Robinsons). [ONLINE] Available at:

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Lewis_(Meet_the_Robinsons). [Last Accessed 5

December 13].

2. (). Treasure Planet. [ONLINE] Available at:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133240/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. [Last Accessed 5

December 13].

3. (). Meet The Robinsons. [ONLINE] Available at:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396555/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt. [Last Accessed 5 December

13].