A Look at Disney Sets Sail For Adventure: Three Different Takes On Jim Hawkins

Argh,  welcome back aboard the SS Fluttershy and today, we are going to take a look at the three different Disney portrayals of Jim Hawkins, fitting as I've now reviewed Treasure Island, Muppet Treasure Island, and Treasure Planet.  Now originally, this was going to be a Vs. but I wasn't liking how that one was turning out. With that out of the way, let's begin.





Bobby  Driscoll   -  Treasure Island (1950)

Now  as I mentioned in my review, yesterday,  Bobby  Driscoll's  portrayal of  Jim Hawkins is very childlike  and innocent  but that does not make him a bad character,  you can tell that he very much looks up to and respects Long John Silver but as I mentioned in my review,  I never got the same feeling from Silver and that bugs me a little bit.   Driscoll  does a fine job in the role but  I think that he gets overshadowed by the other actors in the film. I do find it interesting that his parents are never seen but  I do believe are mentioned.  Still, this is a fine take on the role.



Kevin  Bishop  - Muppet Treasure  Island

Now our next Jim Hawkins is Kevin Bishop and again, he's very good but at times, he feels a bit flat at times but  I guess that is understandable, when compared to the Muppets and Tim Curry and I do think that we get an idea of who he is and what he wants throughout the film and  the song, "Something Better"  is  a good I Want song and gives him a lot of layers.   Don't  get me wrong, Bishop's   Hawkins  is very likable and  someone that you want to see good things happen to and I do buy the relationship with Long John Silver in this version.   I feel as though, more effort was put into this relationship.


Joesph Gordon-Levitt  - Treasure Planet

Now Treasure Planet's take on Jim Hawkins is radically different from the previous two.  He is a good teen that is going through a rough period in his life, in part because he never had a father figure in his life and he gets that with Silver, who is easily, my favorite take on Silver.  I  like how this take on Jim didn't have an easy life and we see how that effected him and you truly get to experience how he goes through the voyage and it truly does make him a better person.  He comes back  better for having gone on this voyage and it shows that he has truly grown up and I already went over, why his relationship with Silver is so great earlier this week as I covered Silver's Speech.  That is just a great moment in a fantastic film, that has a lot of great characters.


There you have it, my  look at the three looks  on the various takes of Jim Hawkins. Each version brings something different to each portrayal to the character and all three of these are wonderful and really neat takes on the characters.  Join me tomorrow  as we leave  Treasure Island   and head to the Caribbean.   As we sing Yo-Ho.