As this is the first one without a film in the title I feel I need to mention the name very soon after starting the review. This is a movie that has nothing to do with Christmas but for us gets an outing in the build up to Christmas. We end up singing along with the songs of the Muppets Treasure Island. This was released in 1996 with the idea and concept beginning back in 1993, it stars four humans in the form of Tim Curry, Billy Connolly, Jennifer Saunders and a debut for the very young Kevin Bishop along with the usual Muppet Characters playing the main characters of the story of Treasure Island. The production budget was $31m and apparently they made $34.1m at the box office which doesn’t sound like much of a success. Which is wasn’t. The critics were a bit iffy with this one as IMDb gave it 7 out of 10 while Rotten Tomatoes gave it a smidge more with 73%. Onto the plot
This may well be a story that you already know. Jim Hawkins is a young orphan working in an inn in England along with his friends Gonzo and Rizzo and the owner of the inn. A regular visitor and living at the inn is Billy Bones boasts of his trips and voyages with the pirate Captain Flint who buried his treasure trove on a remote island and he apparently has the map. One of the old crew arrives called Blind Pew who gives Bones the black spot which is the pirates death sentence. Bones gives Hawkins the map and tells him to go find the treasure. The pirates arrive on mass to kill bones and destroy the inn. Jim, Gonzo and Rizzo convince a dim-wit Squire Trelawney to fund the voyage to get the treasure. The boys enlist along with a crew primarily selected by the ships cook Long John Silver. The senior members of the crew are instantly nervous of the crew but already at sea they sail on. With two different ‘teams’ on a boat both trying to get to the treasure and cut the other group out. When they arrive on the island a third team arrives to confuse things but I will let you figure that one out for yourself.
This movie has Tim Curry in it so it simply has to be good. He has a singing part and one leg so this should be fantastic role for him. The whole movie is a light hearted take of the classic story and the muppets are funny for me. They may have sold their soul to Disney but I still find them sunny and this movie is great. They tell the same story told many times but they do it in a kid friendly adult enjoying way. With jokes throughout and the rats coming along as a cruise with Rizzo selling tickets. The songs are funny and entertaining the jokes still work and this is just a pleasant fund entertainment that the whole family can watch and enjoy together. Which for us works perfectly at Christmas and its one they we all enjoy so that why it scores highly with me and why it has crept into the last of 50 of my list.
Next on the list is a familiar name concludes their journey on screen and on my list…
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