Treasure Island (Russian: Остров Сокровищ, Ostrov Sokrovishch Ukrainian: Острів Скарбів, Ostriv Skarbiv, Belarusian: Востраў Скарбаў) is a Ukrainian animated film in two parts based on the 1883 novel with the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was created by order of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company by the studio Kyivnaukfilm. The film is mostly traditional animation with some live action sequences, which are largely but not entirely separate.

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Treasure Island
DVD cover
Russian: Ostrov sokrovishch
Directed by	David Cherkassky
Written by	Yuri Alikov David Cherkassky
Based on	Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Starring	Armen Dzhigarkhanyan Yury Yakovlev
Music by	Vladimir Bystryakov
Animation by	Radna Sakhaltuev
Production company	Kievnaukfilm
Distributed by	Kievnaukfilm
Release date	1988 (1988)
Running time	107 minutes 72 minutes (U.S.)
Country	Ukraine
Language	Russian

The first part of the film was released in 1986 and the second in 1988, after which the two parts were always displayed together. The film attained a cult classic status almost immediately after release, even though it went directly to TV and never had a theatrical release.

The film won the following awards: Grand Prize in Minsk, 1987; Grand Prize in Kyiv, 1989; 1st Prize on International Cinema Festival of Television films in Czechoslovakia.

A recut American version called The Return to Treasure Island was released direct-to-video in 1992. This version of the film is 34 minutes shorter (episodes with living actors were completely removed) than the Ukrainian version.[1]

Voice cast

• Valery Bessarab as Jim Hawkins
• Armen Dzhigarkhanyan as Long John Silver
• Viktor Andriyenko as Captain Smollett and Billy Bones, one reply of John Silver
• Yevhen Paperny as Dr. Livesey and "dossier" storyteller
• Boris Vozniuk as Squire Trelawney
• Yury Yakovlev as Ben Gunn
• Grigory Tolchinsky as Black Dog
• Georgy Kishko as Blind Pew
• Vladimir Bystryakov as the Blind Pew's dog
• Vladimir Zadneprovsky as the "cowardish pirate"

Cast

• Instrumental ensemble VIA (ВИА) and theatre company "Grotesque":
  • Valery Chiglyayev as Leading Pirate/Captain Flint
  • Yuri Nevganonny as Captain Flint in Ben Gunn's story
  • Viktor Andriyenko
  • Anatoly Dyachenko
  • Vyacheslav Dubinin
  • Mikhail Tserishenko
  • Alexander Levit
  • Vitali Vasilkov
  • Semyon Grigoriev
  • David Cherkassky
  • Vladimir Chiglyayev
  • Oleg Sheremenko

Background

Treasure Island was a product of collaboration of two very well known people in Ukraine: David Cherkassky, a director, who, at the time of inception, produced a number of very popular cartoons, and Radna Sakhaltuev, a cartoonist, who had a long and fruitful history of collaboration with Cherkassky, as well as a history of being a cartoonist for a number of satirical magazines in Kyiv, where he became well known for his distinctive style. Their previous collaborations yielded fruitful results, including the cartoons about the Adventures of Captain Wrongel (from a "tall tales of the sea" kind of book) and Doctor Aybolit (a more children-centric cartoon). This built the duo a positive reputation that allowed for more creative freedom while working on their Treasure Island adaptation than was typically allowed during the Soviet occupation.

A distinctive feature of the cartoon was the inclusion of live action "musical pauses" - songs performed by live actors that explained, for example, why it is a bad idea to drink alcohol or smoke, or why Jim Hawkins defeats all the pirates he meets (because he does exercises every morning).

While the subject matter was taken almost literally at times (the cartoon often quotes the original novel line-by-line), the approach towards screen adaptation was very lighthearted. The pirates play obviously goofy roles, with a cartoonish approach to violence. The movie drew controversy in Russia in 2012 as the Russian government implemented a new law prohibiting showing movies that have scenes of alcohol consumption and smoking to minors. The film uses scenes of rum drinking and smoking among pirates excessively; but, at the same time, it stressed that because the villains had bad habits of drinking and smoking, while the heroes didn't, the heroes always won against all odds, as they were healthier. A public outcry over the fate of such beloved childhood classics as Treasure Island resulted in an adoption of a special exception that allowed the screening of "movies that have significant historical and cultural value", including Treasure Island, to be exempt from the law. The cartoon parodied a number of pre-1970's US cartoons, as well as a few movies from Russia and other nations formerly occupied by Russia.

The animation studio behind the film is based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and featured many famous Ukrainian theater actors. Despite being a Ukrainian film, it has been incorrectly credited in the past as being of Russian origin.

On DVD

On 16 March 2006 the Russian version of the DVD by Krupny Plan (Region 0) contains the original edit of the film with restored images and a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix (as well as with the original mono sound). This version contains no bonus material, no subtitles and is in Russian only.

In 2005 an export version of the film by RUSCICO (Region 0) is available under the title Treasure Island. This version contains Russian (5.1 and 1.0), English and French (5.1 with one voice voiceover translation) soundtracks as well as several subtitle languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish). The picture was not restored for this edition. As a bonus feature, there is text info about David Cherkassky.

The US direct-to-video cut from 1992 was published in USA under the title Return to Treasure Island on DVD (Region 1). The picture was not restored. However, the English audio has been remastered in 5.1. This edit of the film does not contain any Russian audio. The VHS edition was distributed by Video Treasures.

Legacy

In 2005, Ukrainian game development studio Action Forms made the official quest PC game "Treasure Island". Director of the film David Cherkassky, as well as the original voice cast members Yevhen Paperny and Viktor Andriyenko and the animators and artists of former Kievnauchfilm, participated in development of the game.[2]

In August 2022, the character Dr. Livesey became the subject of an international internet meme, in which his confident gait is set to the phonk track "Why Not" by Ghostface Playa.[3]

See also

• Lists of animated feature films

References

External links

• Treasure Island at IMDb
• Treasure Island at Animator.ru

На других языках

[de] Die Rückkehr zur Schatzinsel (1988)

[es] La isla del tesoro (película de 1988)

[ru] Остров сокровищ (мультфильм, 1988)