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= Treasure_Island =
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Introduction
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'Treasure Island' (originally titled 'The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys')
is an adventure and historical novel by Scottish novelist Robert Louis
Stevenson. It was published as a book in 1883, but is set in the 18th
century, and tells a story of "buccaneers and buried gold". It is
considered a coming-of-age story, and is noted for its atmosphere,
characters, and action.
The novel was originally serialised from 1881 to 1882 in the
children's magazine 'Young Folks' under the title 'Treasure Island or
the Mutiny of the Hispaniola', credited to the pseudonym "Captain
George North". It was first published as a book on 14 November 1883 by
Cassell & Co. It has since become one of the most-often dramatised
and adapted novels.
Since its publication 'Treasure Island' has significantly influenced
depictions of pirates in popular culture, including elements such as
deserted tropical islands, treasure maps marked with an "X", and
one-legged seamen with parrots perched on their shoulders.
Plot summary
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In the mid-18th century, an old sailor referred to only as "The
Captain" lodges at the rural Admiral Benbow Inn near Bristol and
spends much of his time drunk, staring out the window with a spyglass,
singing, and regaling the few other guests with colorful stories. He
tells the innkeeper's son, Jim Hawkins, to beware of "the one-legged
man".
A rogue calling himself Black Dog confronts "The Captain", a former
shipmate. They argue about the disposition of a mysterious chart, and
"The Captain", proper name Billy Bones, runs Black Dog off in a
cutlass fight before collapsing. That night, Jim's father dies from
poor health. Days later, Pew, a blind beggar, delivers a summons to
Bones which he calls "the black spot". Shortly thereafter, Bones dies
of a stroke.
Pew and his accomplices attack the inn but are attacked and routed by
mounted excise officers, and Pew is trampled to death by one of their
horses. Jim and his mother escape with a packet from Bones' sea chest,
which is found to contain a map of the island on which the infamous
pirate Captain Flint hid his treasure. Jim shows the map to physician
Dr. Livesey and the local magistrate, Squire Trelawney, and they
decide to make an expedition to the island, with Jim serving as a
cabin boy.
They set sail from Bristol on a schooner chartered by Trelawney, the
'Hispaniola', under Captain Alexander Smollett. Jim forms a strong
bond with the ship's one-legged cook, Long John Silver. The crew
suffers a tragedy when first mate Mr. Arrow, a drunkard, is washed
overboard during a storm. Late one night, Jim hides when he overhears
several crewmen, led by Silver, discussing their pasts as pirates on
Flint’s crew. They plan to mutiny after the salvage of the treasure,
and to murder the captain and the few remaining loyal crew. Jim
secretly informs Captain Smollett, Trelawney, and Livesey.
Arriving at the island and going ashore, Jim flees into the jungle
after witnessing Silver murder a sailor for resisting an order. He
meets a marooned pirate named Ben Gunn, who is also a former member of
Flint's crew. The mutineers arm themselves and take the ship, while
Jim and Smollett's loyal band take refuge in an abandoned stockade on
the island. After a brief truce, the mutineers attack the stockade,
with casualties on both sides of the battle. Jim makes his way to the
'Hispaniola' and cuts the ship from its anchor, drifting it along the
ebb tide. He boards the ship and encounters the pirate Israel Hands,
who had been injured in a drunken dispute with one of his companions.
Hands helps Jim beach the schooner in the northern bay, then attempts
to kill Jim with a dagger, but Jim shoots him dead with two pistols.
Jim goes ashore and returns to the stockade, where he is horrified to
find only Silver and the pirates. Silver tells Jim that when everyone
found the ship was gone, Captain Smollett's party had agreed to a
truce whereby the pirates take the map and allow the besieged party to
leave. In the morning, Livesey arrives to treat the wounded and sick
pirates, and tells Silver to look out for trouble once he's found the
site of the treasure. After a dispute over leadership, Silver and the
others set out with the map, taking Jim along as a hostage. They find
a skeleton with its arms oriented toward the treasure, unnerving the
party. Ben Gunn shouts Captain Flint's last words from the forest,
making the superstitious pirates believe that Flint's ghost is
haunting the island. They eventually find a treasure cache, but it is
empty. The pirates prepare to kill Silver and Jim, but they are driven
off by the doctor's party, including Gunn. Livesey explains that Gunn
had already found the bulk of the treasure and taken it to his cave,
long ago. The expedition members load this portion of the treasure
onto the 'Hispaniola' and depart the island, with Silver as their only
prisoner. At their first port, in Spanish America, Silver steals a bag
of money and escapes. The remaining crew sail back to Bristol and
divide up the treasure. Some treasure was never found, but Jim refuses
to return to the "accursed" island to look for it.
Inspiration
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'Treasure Island' was written by Stevenson after returning from his
first trip to America, where he was married. Still a relatively
unknown author, inspiration came to him in summer of 1881 in Braemar,
Scotland, when bad weather kept the family inside. To amuse his
12-year old stepson Lloyd Osbourne, he used the idea of a secret map
as the basis of a story about hidden treasure.
He had clearly started work by 25 August, writing to a friend, "If
this don't fetch the kids, why, they have gone rotten since my day.
Will you be surprised to learn that it is about Buccaneers, that it
begins in the Admiral Benbow public house on the Devon coast, that
it's all about a map and a treasure and a mutiny and a derelict
ship... It's quite silly and horrid fun - and what I want is the
'best' book about Buccaneers that can be had."
Stevenson originally gave the book the title 'The Sea Cook'. One month
after conceiving of the book, chapters began to appear in the pages of
the 'Young Folks' magazine. After completing several chapters rapidly,
Stevenson was interrupted by illness. He left Scotland and continued
working on the first draft near London, where he and his father
discussed points of the tale, and his father suggested elements that
he included. The novel eventually ran in seventeen weekly instalments
from 1 October 1881 to 28 January 1882. The book was later republished
as the novel 'Treasure Island' and proved to be Stevenson's first
financial and critical success.
The growth of the desert island genre can be traced back to 1719 when
Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe' was published. A century later,
novels such as S. H. Burney's 'The Shipwreck' (1816), and Sir Walter
Scott's 'The Pirate' (1822) continued to expand upon Defoe's classic.
Other authors in the mid-19th century continued this trend, with works
including James Fenimore Cooper's 'The Pilot' (1823). During the same
period, Edgar Allan Poe wrote "MS Found in a Bottle" (1833) and "The
Gold-Bug" (1843). All of these works influenced Stevenson's end
product.
Stevenson also consciously borrowed material from previous authors. In
a letter from July 1884 to Sidney Colvin, he wrote that, "'Treasure
Island' came out of Kingsley's 'At Last', where I got the Dead Man's
Chest -- and that was the seed -- and out of the great Captain
Johnson's 'History of the Notorious Pirates'." Stevenson also admits
that he took the idea of Captain Flint's pointing skeleton from Poe's
'The Gold-Bug' and he constructed Billy Bones's history from the
"Money-Diggers" section ("Golden Dreams" in particular) of 'Tales of a
Traveller' by Washington Irving, one of his favourite writers.
Characters
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* Squire Trelawney may have been named after Edward Trelawney,
Governor of Jamaica 1738-52.
* Dr. Livesey may have been named for Joseph Livesey (1794-1884), a
famous 19th-century temperance advocate, founder of the tee-total
"Preston Pledge". In the novel, Dr. Livesey warns the drunkard Billy
Bones that "the name of rum for you is death."
Main
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* Jim Hawkins: The narrator of most of the novel. Jim is the son of an
innkeeper on the north Devon coast of England and appears to be in his
mid-teens. He is eager to go to sea and hunt for treasure. Jim
consistently displays courage and heroism, but is also sometimes
impulsive and impetuous. He exhibits increasing sensitivity and wisdom
as the journey progresses.
* Long John Silver: The one-legged cook aboard the 'Hispaniola'.
Silver is the secret leader of the pirates. He is deceitful, mean, and
greedy, but also charismatic, and his physical and mental strength are
impressive. He is kind toward Jim and appears genuinely fond of him.
Silver was based in part on Stevenson's friend and mentor William
Ernest Henley.
* Dr. David Livesey: A doctor and magistrate; he narrates a few
chapters of the novel. He exhibits common sense and rationality, and
is fair-minded, treating wounded pirates just as he does his own
comrades. But he does not hesitate to express his opinions and
dislikes openly towards the pirates. Some years prior to the events of
the novel, he had participated in the Battle of Fontenoy, during which
he was wounded in action.
* Captain Alexander Smollett: The captain of the 'Hispaniola'. He is
savvy and is rightly suspicious of the crew that Trelawney hires.
Smollett is a real professional, taking his job seriously and
displaying skill as a negotiator. Smollett believes in rules and does
not like Jim's disobedience, but later in the novel states that he and
Jim shouldn't go to sea together again as Jim was too much of the born
favourite for him.
* Squire John Trelawney: A wealthy landowner who arranges the voyage
to the island. He is too trusting and is duped by Silver into hiring
pirates as the ship's crew.
* Billy Bones: An old seaman who resides at the Admiral Benbow Inn. He
used to be Flint's first mate, and is surly and rude. He exhorts Jim
to be on the lookout for a one-legged man. A treasure map in his
possession sets the events of the novel in motion.
* Ben Gunn: A former member of Captain Flint's crew who was found on
Treasure Island, having been marooned there by another ship's crew
three years earlier when they couldn't find Flint's treasure. He is
described as being "insane", at least partially, and has a craving for
cheese. He helps Silver escape and in England receives £1,000 (1000)
which he spends or loses in 20 days. He becomes a Lodge gamekeeper and
also sings in a church choir.
** In the semi-official prequel story 'Porto Bello Gold' by Arthur D.
Howden Smith, Ben Gunn was the servant of captain Andrew "Rip-Rap"
Murray, Flint's associate and the mastermind behind the capture of the
treasure ship 'Santissima Trinidad', whence the buried treasure was
taken. Murray described Ben Gunn as a "half-wit" whom he kept as
servant specifically because he considered him intellectually
incapable of treachery. After Flint's crew killed Murray and
overpowered his crew, Ben Gunn went to serve Flint and fled the
'Walrus' in Savannah after Flint's death.
** According to 'The Adventures of Ben Gunn', he was Nic Allardyce's
servant and friend from back home.
* Black Dog: Formerly a member of Flint's pirate crew, later one of
Pew's companions who visits the Admiral Benbow to confront Billy
Bones. He is spotted by Jim in Silver's tavern and slips out to be
chased by two of Silver's men (in order to maintain the ruse that
Silver and his men are not associated with him). Two fingers are
missing from his left hand, and from his first appearance at the
Admiral Benbow Inn, it appears Billy Bones may have previously
attacked him and caused the injury.
Minor
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* Alan: An honest sailor who is killed by the mutineers during the
landing on the island and whose death scream is heard across the isle.
The incident occurs just before Long John murders Tom.
* Allardyce: One of the six members of Flint's Crew who, after burying
the treasure and silver and building the blockhouse on Treasure
Island, are all killed by Flint, who returns to his ship alone.
Allardyce's body is lined up by Flint as a compass marker to the
cache.
** In 'Porto Bello Gold', one sailor on Flint's ship is named "Tom
Allardyce". A lanky fellow with rather long, yellow hair, he is an
antagonistic ringleader of sailors opposing Flint in at least two
"fo'c'sle councils". Flint thinks they may present him with the Black
Spot; he eventually challenges Allardyce to bring six friends and bury
the treasure together.
** According to 'The Adventures of Ben Gunn', his first name was
"Nic", he was surgeon on Flint's crew, and Ben Gunn was his servant
and friend from back home.
* Job Anderson: The ship's boatswain and one of the leaders of the
mutiny. He participates in the storming of the blockhouse and is
killed by Gray while attacking Jim. He is probably one of Flint's old
pirate hands, though this is never stated. Along with Hands and Merry,
he tipped a Black Spot on Silver and forced Silver to start the mutiny
before the treasure was found.
* Mr. Arrow: The first mate of the 'Hispaniola'. He is an alcoholic
and is useless as a first mate. He disappears before they get to the
island and his position is filled by Job Anderson. Silver had secretly
given Mr. Arrow alcohol and he fell drunkenly overboard on a stormy
night. In his BBC adaptation of 1977, John Lucarotti gives him the
first name "Joshua". His first name was not stated in the novel.
* Pew: A vicious, deadly, and sinister blind beggar who served as a
member of Flint's crew. Despite his blindness, he proves to be a
dangerous adversary and can even be considered a ringleader amongst
his fellow crewmen. He is the second messenger to approach Billy Bones
and the one to deliver the Black Spot. He is trampled to death by the
horses of revenue officers riding to assist Jim and his mother after
the raid on their inn. Silver claims Pew spent his share of Flint's
treasure at a rate of £1,200 (1200) per year, and that for two years
until his accident at the "Admiral Benbow", he begged, stole, and
murdered. Stevenson avoided predictability by making the two most
fearsome characters a blind man and an amputee. In the play 'Admiral
Guinea' (1892), Stevenson gives him the full name "David Pew".
Stevenson's novel 'Kidnapped' (1886) also features a dangerous blind
man.
** In 'Porto Bello Gold' by Arthur D. Howden Smith, Pew fatally stabs
Captain Murray, working in concert with Long John Silver. From the
context, it seems that Silver means Pew when he addresses one man as
"Ezra" just previously.
* Mr. Dance: Chief revenue officer (titled Supervisor) who ascends
with his men upon the Admiral Benbow, driving out the pirates, and
saving Jim Hawkins and his mother. He then takes Hawkins to see the
squire and the doctor.
* Dogger: One of Mr. Dance's associates, who doubles Hawkins on his
horse to the squire's house.
* Captain J. Flint: A pirate who was captain of a ship called the
'Walrus', and who is dead before the events of the novel begin. In
life he was the leader of the pirates and they refer to him often. He
was the original possessor of the treasure, and buried it on the
island. Long John Silver's parrot is named after him.
* Abraham Gray: A ship's carpenter's mate on the 'Hispaniola'. He is
almost incited to mutiny but remains loyal to the Squire's side when
asked to do so by Captain Smollett. He saves Hawkins' life by killing
Job Anderson during an attack on the stockade, and he helps shoot the
mutineers at the rifled treasure cache. He later escapes the island
together with Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, Captain
Smollett, Long John Silver, and Ben Gunn. He spends his part of the
treasure on his education, marries, and becomes part owner of a
full-rigged ship.
* Israel Hands: The ship's coxswain and Flint's old gunner. He tries
to murder Jim Hawkins, who shoots him in self-defence.
* Harry: He is probably one of Flint's old pirate hands; one of those
who "ran after Black Dog" at the Spyglass Inn.
* Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins: The parents of Jim Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins dies
early in the story.
* John Hunter: A manservant of Squire Trelawney. Dr. Livesey considers
him to be the most steady and capable of Livesey's servants to have in
a fight. He accompanies Trelawney to the island but is later knocked
unconscious in an attack on the stockade. He dies of his injuries
while unconscious.
* John: A mutineer who is injured while trying to storm the
blockhouse. Throughout the latter narrative he is primarily referred
to by Hawkins as 'the man with the bandaged head' and ends up being
killed at the rifled treasure cache. He is probably one of Flint's old
pirate hands, as his name is called by Blind Pew before Pew was killed
at the Inn.
* Dick Johnson: The youngest of the mutineers, who has a Bible. The
pirates use one of its pages to make a Black Spot for Silver, only to
have him predict bad luck on Dick for sacrilege. Soon becoming
mortally ill with malaria, Dick ends up being marooned on the island
after the deaths of George Merry and John.
* Dirk: One of Flint's old pirate hands, he was a lookout for the
ex-pirates in Pew's attack on the Inn
* Richard Joyce: One of the manservants of Squire Trelawney who
accompany the squire to the island, a mild-mannered valet
inexperienced in firearms. He is shot through the head and killed by a
mutineer during an attack on the stockade.
* George Merry: A mutinous and hostile member of Silver's crew, who
disobeys orders and occasionally challenges Silver's authority. With
Anderson and Hands he launches the mutiny prematurely; he forces
Silver to attack the blockhouse instead of waiting for the treasure to
be found. He almost overthrew Silver's rule and forced Long John to
take Jim as a hostage. Later killed at the empty cache just as he is
about to kill both Silver and Hawkins.
* Tom Morgan: An ex-pirate from Flint's old crew. He ends up marooned
on the island with Dick and one other mutineer.
* O'Brien: A mutineer who survives the attack on the blockhouse and
escapes. He is later killed by Israel Hands in a drunken fight on the
'Hispaniola'. He is referred to by Hawkins as the pirate 'with the red
nightcap' throughout most of the narrative, until Hands reveals to
Hawkins that the fellow was an Irishman named O'Brien.
* Tom Redruth: The gamekeeper of Squire Trelawney. He accompanies the
Squire to the island but is shot and mortally wounded by the mutineers
as the captain's party are relocating from the ship to the stockade.
* Tom: An honest sailor who is killed by Silver for refusing to join
the mutiny.
Among other minor characters whose names are not revealed are the four
pirates who were killed in an attack on the stockade along with Job
Anderson; the pirate killed by the honest men minus Jim Hawkins the
day before the attack on the stockade; the pirate killed by Ben Gunn
the night before the attack; the pirate shot by Squire Trelawney when
aiming at Israel Hands, who later died of his injuries; and the pirate
marooned on the island along with Tom Morgan and Dick Johnson.
Real pirates and piracy
=========================
The historian Luis Junco suggests that 'Treasure Island' is a
combination of the story of the murder of Captain George Glas aboard
the 'Earl of Sandwich' in 1765 and the taking of the ship 'Walrus' off
the island of La Graciosa near Tenerife. The pirates of La Graciosa
buried their treasure there, and were subsequently all killed in a
bloody battle with the Royal Navy; the treasure was never recovered.
In his book 'Pirates of the Carraigin', David Kelly deals with the
piracy and murder of Captain Glas and others by the ship's cook and
his gang aboard a ship travelling from Tenerife to London. The
perpetrators of this crime also buried the considerable treasure they
had stolen but most of it was later recovered. They were all executed
in Dublin in 1766. In his research, Kelly showed that Stevenson was a
neighbour of the named victim in Edinburgh, and so was aware from an
early age of these events, which had been a scandal at the time.
Stevenson and his family were members of a church congregation set up
by the victim's father. Although he never visited Ireland, Stevenson
based at least two other books, 'Kidnapped' and 'Catriona' on real
crimes that were perpetrated in Dublin; these crimes were all reported
in detail in 'The Gentleman's Magazine', published in Dublin and
Edinburgh.
Other allusions to real piracy include:
* Five real-life pirates mentioned are William Kidd (active
1696-1699), Blackbeard (1716-1718), Edward England (1717-1720), Howell
Davis (1718-1719), and Bartholomew Roberts (1719-1722). Kidd buried
treasure on Gardiners Island, though the booty was recovered by
authorities soon afterwards.
* The name "Israel Hands" was taken from that of a real pirate in
Blackbeard's crew, whom Blackbeard maimed (by shooting him in the
knee) simply to ensure that his crew remained in terror of him.
Allegedly, Hands was taken ashore to be treated for his injury and was
not at Blackbeard's last fight (the incident is depicted in Tim
Powers' novel 'On Stranger Tides'), and this alone saved him from the
gallows. Supposedly, he later became a beggar in England.
* Silver refers to "three hundred and fifty thousand" pieces of eight
at the "fishing up of the wrecked plate ships". This remark conflates
two related events: first, the salvage of treasure from the 1715
Treasure Fleet which was wrecked off the coast of Florida in a
hurricane; second, the seizure of 350,000 salvaged pieces of eight the
following year (out of several million) by privateer Henry Jennings.
This event is mentioned in the introduction to Johnson's 'General
History of the Pyrates'.
* Silver refers to a ship's surgeon from Roberts' crew who amputated
his leg and was later hanged at Cape Coast Castle, a British
fortification on the Gold Coast of Africa. The records of the trial of
Roberts' men list Peter Scudamore as the chief surgeon of Roberts'
ship 'Royal Fortune'. Scudamore was found guilty of willingly serving
with Roberts' pirates and various related criminal acts, as well as
attempting to lead a rebellion to escape once he had been apprehended.
He was, as Silver relates, hanged, in 1722.
* Stevenson refers to the 'Viceroy of the Indies', a ship sailing from
Goa, India (then a Portuguese colony), which was taken by Edward
England off Malabar while John Silver was serving aboard England's
ship the 'Cassandra'. No such exploit of England's is known, nor any
ship by the name of the 'Viceroy of the Indies'. However, in April
1721, the captain of the 'Cassandra', John Taylor (originally
England's second in command who had marooned him for being
insufficiently ruthless), together with his pirate partner, Olivier
Levasseur, captured the vessel 'Nostra Senhora do Cabo' near Réunion
island in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese galleon was returning from
Goa to Lisbon with the Conde da Ericeira, the recently retired Viceroy
of Portuguese India, aboard. The viceroy had much of his treasure with
him, making this capture one of the richest pirate hauls ever. This is
possibly the event that Stevenson referred to, though his (or
Silver's) memory of the event seems to be slightly confused. The
'Cassandra' was last heard of in 1723 at Portobelo, Panama, a place
that also briefly figures in 'Treasure Island' as "Portobello".
* The preceding two references are inconsistent, as the 'Cassandra'
(and presumably Silver) was in the Indian Ocean during the time that
Scudamore was surgeon aboard the 'Royal Fortune', in the Gulf of
Guinea.
* A real life 1800s smuggling gang, the '"Benbow Brandy Men"',
operated out of the Benbow pub in Penzance, smuggling gin, brandy, and
tobacco to avoid paying the massive import taxes imposed by the Crown
to fund its foreign wars.
Other allusions
=================
* 1689: A pirate whistles "Lillibullero".
* 1702: The Admiral Benbow Inn on the Devon coast, where Jim and his
mother live, is named after the real life Admiral John Benbow
(1653-1702).
* 1733: Foundation of Savannah, Georgia, where Captain Flint died in
1754.
* 1745: Doctor Livesey was at the Battle of Fontenoy (1745).
* 1747: Squire Trelawney and Long John Silver both mention "Admiral
Hawke", i.e. Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke (1705-81), promoted to rear
admiral in 1747.
* 1749: The novel refers to the Bow Street Runners (1749).
* 'Treasure Island' was in part inspired by R. M. Ballantyne's 'The
Coral Island', which Stevenson admired for its "better qualities."
Stevenson alludes to Ballantyne in the epigraph at the beginning of
'Treasure Island', "To the Hesitating Purchaser", "... If studious
youth no longer crave, His ancient appetites forgot, Kingston, or
Ballantyne the brave, Or Cooper of the wood and wave ..."
Treasure Island
=================
Stevenson himself never said he based on the island on a real place.
He did say Dead Chest Island, a barren rock in the British Virgin
Islands, which Stevenson found mentioned in Charles Kingsley's 'At
Last: A Christmas in the West Indies', which he said "was the seed"
for the phrase "Dead Man's Chest". Beyond this there is no evidence,
by Stevenson, that the island was anything other than an imaginative
piece of fiction. Nevertheless this has not stopped many places from
capitalizing on the name attempting to lay claim as the "real" island.
These claimants include:
* Isla de Pinos near Cuba, which served as a supply base for pirates
for about 300 years, is believed to have inspired Treasure Island.
* Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands was supposedly mentioned
to Stevenson by a sailor uncle, and also possesses a "Spyglass Hill"
like the fictional Treasure Island.
* Small pond in Queen Street Gardens in Edinburgh, said to have been
visible from Stevenson's bedroom window in Heriot Row.
* Osborn Island (now Nienstedt Island) in the Manasquan River in
Brielle, New Jersey. Stevenson supposedly visited there in May 1888
(five years after writing 'Treasure Island') and christened it
"Treasure Island"
* Fidra in the Firth of Forth, visible from North Berwick where
Stevenson had spent many childhood holidays.
* Unst, one of the Shetland Islands, to which the map of Treasure
Island bears a very vague resemblance.
* R. F. Delderfield, in 'The Adventures of Ben Gunn', suggests that
its real name is Kidd's Island, and identifies it as an outlying
island of the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands, south-south-west
of Tobago (pp. 119-120).
In August 2022 Mick Whitley, then the member of Parliament for
Birkenhead, supported the findings of a local historian named John
Lamb that Stevenson had set his classic novel 'Treasure Island' in the
towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula lying
opposite Liverpool. This followed a previous announcement by Alan
Evans of Wirral Borough Council that the French science fiction writer
Jules Verne had also set his 1874 novel 'The Mysterious Island' in
Birkenhead. Their letters of support for Mr Lamb's claims were posted
on the 'Jules Verne and the Heroes of Birkenhead' website in August
2022.
As a child, Stevenson repeatedly summered in the spa town of Bridge of
Allan. "Stevenson's cave" in Bridge of Allan was reportedly the
inspiration for Ben Gunn's dwelling on Treasure Island.
Both the Llandoger Trow in Bristol, and the Admiral Benbow in
Penzance, have claimed to be an inspiration for the Admiral Benbow
Inn. Stevenson visited Cornwall and Penzance in August 1877, and as
the inn is described in the book as being in a rural area and it was
necessary to travel to Bristol, Penzance's '"Benbow Brandy Men"' may
have inspired him to feature the Penzance Benbow in Treasure Island.
The Hole in the Wall, in Bristol, is claimed to be the Spyglass
Tavern. Pirate's House in Savannah is where Captain Flint is claimed
to have spent his last days, and his ghost is claimed to haunt the
property.
Literature
============
Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' has spawned an enormous amount of
literature based upon the original novel:
* 'Porto Bello Gold' (1924), a prequel by A. D. Howden Smith that was
written with explicit permission from Stevenson's executor, tells the
origin of the buried treasure and recasts many of Stevenson's pirates
in their younger years, giving the hidden treasure some Jacobite
antecedents not mentioned in the original.
* 'Back to Treasure Island' (1935) is a sequel by H. A. Calahan, the
introduction of which argues that Robert Louis Stevenson wanted to
write a continuation of the story.
* 'The Return of Long John Silver' (1949), a sequel written by John
Connell with illustrations by Ley Kenyon.
* 'The Adventures of Ben Gunn' (1956), by R. F. Delderfield, follows
Ben Gunn from parson's son to pirate and is narrated by Jim Hawkins in
Gunn's words.
* 'Flint's Island' (1972), a sequel by Leonard Wibberley, who notes in
the introduction that it had long been a dream of his to do so.
* 'Long John Silver - Den äventyrliga och sannfärdiga berättelsen om
mitt liv och leverne som lyckoriddare och mänsklighetens fiende'
(1998) is a prequel by the Swedish author Björn Larsson, who tells the
fictional story of the pirate Long John Silver, told in first person
by Silver himself in a manuscript in his last days of life.
* 'Jim Hawkins and the Curse of Treasure Island' (2001) is a sequel by
Frank Delaney under the pseudonym "Francis Bryan".
* 'Before' (2001) is a prequel by Michael Kernan, published in the
Netherlands as 'Vóór Schateiland'.
* 'Sept Pirates' (2007) is a comic-book sequel by Pascal Bertho and
artist Tom McBurnie.
* 'Long John Silver' (2007) is a four-volume French graphic novel by
Xavier Dorison and artist Mathieu Lauffray.
* 'Flint & Silver' (2008) is a prequel by John Drake, who followed
with two additional books: 'Pieces of Eight' (2009) and 'Skull and
Bones' (2010).
* 'Return to Treasure Island' (2010) is a sequel by John O'Melveny
Woodswrote.
* 'Treasure Island: The Untold Story' (2011) is a true-life prequel by
John Amrhein Jr.
* 'Silver: Return to Treasure Island' (2012) is a sequel by former
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Andrew Motion.
* 'Treasure Island!!!' (2012) is a novel by Sara Levine about an
American woman who becomes obsessed with 'Treasure Island' (Europa
Editions, 2012).
* 'Tread Carefully on the Sea' (2014), by David K. Bryant, merges all
the references to Captain Flint into a prequel covering the burial of
the treasure.
* 'Skulduggery' (1991/2014), a prequel written by Tony Robinson which
features Ben Gunn attending a school for pirates and meeting junior
counterparts of Blind Pew and Long John Silver. Originally published
as part of the Silvery Jackanory compilation in 1991. ()
* 'Treasure Island Comprehension Guide' (2009) is a guide for
understanding this book from Veritas Press. This is written by Ned
Bustard.
Film and television
=====================
Several sequels have also been produced in film and television,
including:
* 'Return to Treasure Island' (1954), a film by E. A. Dupont
* 'Long John Silver' (1954)
* 'Return to Treasure Island' (1986), written by Ivor Dean, Robert S.
Baker and John Goldsmith, is a HTV television series that features
Silver, Hawkins and Gunn.
* 'Black Sails' (2014-2017), a prequel drama series by Robert Levine
and Jonathan E. Steinberg, tells the story of Captain Flint and John
Silver leading up to the 'Treasure Island' story. The series is said
to take place 20 years before the events of the book, in 1715; however
this is actually 40 years before the dates given by Stevenson. The
series consists of four seasons.
Film
======
Film adaptations include:
English-language
==================
* 'Treasure Island' (1918) -- a silent film released by Fox Film
Corporation and directed by Sidney Franklin and Chester Franklin.
* 'Treasure Island' (1920) -- a silent film notably starring a woman,
Shirley Mason, as Jim Hawkins, along with Charles Ogle, who had played
Frankenstein's monster a decade earlier in the Edison version of
'Frankenstein', as Long John Silver. Said to be a lost film,Leggett,
Steve. 29 December 2016. "
[
https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Lost%20silent.updated_122916.pdf
List of 7200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films 1912-29]." 'National Film
Preservation Board'. US: Library of Congress. it was directed by
Maurice Tourneur and released by Paramount Pictures.
* 'Treasure Island' (1934) -- the first sound film version starring
Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper and Lionel Barrymore.
* 'Treasure Island' (1950) -- starring Bobby Driscoll and Robert
Newton, notable for being the first version in colour and the Walt
Disney Studios' first completely live-action film. A sequel to this
version was made (but not by Disney) in 1954, entitled 'Long John
Silver', which also starred Newton in the titular role.
* 'Treasure Island' (1972) -- starring Orson Welles, was produced by
National General Pictures, and directed by John Hough, Andrew White,
and John Salway.
* 'Treasure Island' (1973) -- a Filmation animated film released by
Warner Bros. directed by Hal Sutherland, written by Ben Starr,
starring Richard Dawson as Long John Silver, Davy Jones as Jim
Hawkins, and Dal McKennon as Captain Flint & Ben Gunn.
* 'Treasure Island' (1987) -- another animated adaptation, this film
produced by Burbank Films Australia and directed by Warwick Gilbert.
* 'Muppet Treasure Island' (1996) -- a film produced by The Jim Henson
Company and released by Walt Disney Pictures, starring the Muppets.
The human performers include Tim Curry as Long John Silver, Billy
Connolly as Billy Bones, Jennifer Saunders as Mrs. Bluberidge, and
newcomer Kevin Bishop as Jim Hawkins.
* 'Treasure Island' (1999) -- starring Jack Palance as Long John
Silver, Patrick Bergin as Billy Bones, Christopher Benjamin as Squire
Trelawney and Kevin Zegers as Jim Hawkins.
* 'Treasure Planet' (2002) -- a reimagined adaptation from Walt Disney
Animation Studios set in space, with Long John Silver as a cyborg and
many of the original characters re-imagined as aliens and robots,
except for Jim, his mother and his father, who are human.
* 'Pirates of Treasure Island' (2006) -- a direct-to-DVD mockbuster by
The Asylum to cash in on 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'.
* 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' (2012) - a Blue Sky Studios film,
loosley adaptation imagined and inspiration, except set as Arctic
Animals.
Foreign-language
==================
* 'Treasure Island' (1937) -- a loose Soviet adaptation starring Osip
Abdulov and Nikolai Cherkasov, with a score by Nikita Bogoslovsky.
* 'Between God, the Devil and a Winchester' (1968), a spaghetti
western version starring Richard Harrison and Gilbert Roland.
* 'Treasure Island' (1971) -- a Soviet (Lithuanian) film starring
Boris Andreyev as Long John Silver, with a score by Alexei Rybnikov.
* 'Animal Treasure Island' (1971) -- an anime film directed by Hiroshi
Ikeda, written by Takeshi Iijima and Hiroshi Ikeda, with story
consultation by famous animator Hayao Miyazaki. This version replaces
several of the human characters with animal counterparts.
* 'Treasure Planet' (1982), a Bulgarian animated science fiction
adaptation directed by Rumen Petkov. Petkov's idea of moving the
action of the novel into space influenced Antonio Margherit, who in
1987 directed the television series Treasure Island in Space. In the
English dub, Philip (Jimmy Hawkins in the original) is voiced by Bryan
Cranston.
* 'Treasure Island' (1982) -- a Soviet film in three parts; almost
entirely faithful to the text of the novel. Featuring Oleg Borisov as
Long John Silver.
* 'L'Île au trésor' (1985) -- a Chilean-French adaptation starring Vic
Tayback as Long John Silver.
* 'Il Pianeta del Tesoro - Treasure Planet' (1987; aka 'Treasure
Island in Outer Space') -- Italian/German science-fiction adaptation
starring Anthony Quinn as Long John Silver.
* 'Treasure Island' (1988) -- a critically acclaimed Soviet animation
film in two parts, released in the United States (1992) as 'Return to
Treasure Island'.
* 'L'Île aux trésors' (2007) -- a French-British-Hungarian film
directed by Alain Berbérian, starring Gérard Jugnot, Alice Taglioni,
Vincent Rottiers and Jean-Paul Rouve.
TV films
==========
* 'Shin Takarajima' (1965) -- a 52-minute anime TV special directed by
Osamu Tezuka and animated by Mushi Productions with the characters
replaced as animals. Originally planned as a 26-episode TV series for
a bi-weekly program, only one episode was produced before the idea was
scrapped and it was aired as a one-off special. It is not an
adaptation of Tezuka's manga of the same name.
* 'Treasure Island' (1990) -- a made-for-TV film for TNT, starring
Charlton Heston, Christian Bale, Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee and Pete
Postlethwaite; written, produced and directed by Heston's son, Fraser
C. Heston.
* 'Treasure Island Pirate' (1991)
* 'Treasure Island' (1995) -- a made-for-TV movie directed by Ken
Russell and starring Hetty Baynes as Long Jane Silver.
Television
============
* 'Treasure Island' (1951) -- a seven-part BBC series starring Bernard
Miles as Long John Silver.
* 'The Adventures of Long John Silver' (1955) -- 26 episodes shot at
Pagewood Studios, Sydney, Australia filmed in full colour and starring
Robert Newton.
* 'L'isola del tesoro' (1959 Italian television miniseries) produced
by RAI with Alvaro Piccardi, Ivo Garrani and Arnoldo Foà.
* "Mr. Magoo's Treasure Island" (1964) -- a two-part episode of the
cartoon series 'The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo', was based on the
novel, with Mr. Magoo in the role of Long John Silver.
* 'Treasure Island' (1966) -- a German-French co-production for German
television station ZDF.
* 'Treasure Island' (1968) -- a BBC series of nine 25-minute episodes
starring Peter Vaughan.
* 'Treasure Island' (1977) -- a BBC adaptation Starring Ashley Knight
and Alfred Burke.
* 'Treasure Island' ('Takarajima'; 1978) -- a Japanese animated series
adapted from the novel.
* "Treasure Island" (1988) -- an episode of 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'
starring Alvin as Jim Hawkins, Dave as Long John Silver, Simon as Dr.
Livesey, Theodore as Squire Trelawney, and Brittany as Mrs. Hawkins.
*'Treasure Island' (1990), starring Christian Bale, Charlton Heston,
Oliver Reed and Christopher Lee
* 'The Legends of Treasure Island' (1993-1995) -- an animated series
loosely based on the novel, with the characters as animals.
* "Salty Dog" -- an episode of 'Wishbone' in which the eponymous
character explores the story in a children's adapted version.
* 'Treasure Island: The Adventure Begins' (1994) -- a TV movie special
promoting the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
* 'Treasure Island' (2012) -- two-part serial starring Eddie Izzard,
shown on Sky1 (United Kingdom) from 1-2 January.
* 'Black Sails' - a 2014 television drama that serves as a prequel to
the story, detailing the origins of Captain Flint, Billy Bones, and
John Silver during the Golden Age of Piracy.
* 'Treasure Island' ('L'isola del tesoro'; 2015) -- an Italian CGI
animated series by Rai Fiction and Mondo TV. It mixes the original
work with new characters and mythical elements such as voodoo.
* 'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew' (2024) - a Disney+ streaming show is a
loose adaptation of Treasure Island set in the 'Star Wars' universe.
Theatre
=========
There have been over 24 major stage adaptations made, though the
number of minor adaptations remains countless. The story is also a
popular plot and setting for a traditional pantomime wherein Mrs.
Hawkins, Jim's mother is the dame.
* In 1915 Jules Eckert Goodman's play 'Treasure Island' was staged on
Broadway.
* In 1947, a production was mounted at the St. James's Theatre in
London, starring Harry Welchman as Long John Silver and John Clark as
Jim Hawkins.
* For a time, in London, there was an annual production of the musical
Treasure Island, based on a book by Bernard Miles and Josephine
Wilson. The music was composed by Cyril Ornadel and the lyrics by Hal
Shaper. The musical was performed at the Mermaid Theatre, originally
under the direction of Bernard Miles, who played Long John Silver, a
part he also played in a television version. Comedian Spike Milligan
would often play Ben Gunn in these productions, and in 1981, Tom Baker
played Long John Silver.
* 'Pieces of Eight' (1985), premiered in Edmonton, Alberta, is a
musical adaptation by Jule Styne.
* In 1986, a Danish language musical adaptation of 'Treasure Island'
named 'Skatteøen' premiered at Folketeatret, Copenhagen with a book by
Preben Harris and music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Sebastian.
Since its premiere, it has been put on stage frequently by several
Danish theatre companies.
* In 2007, an adaptation of 'Treasure Island' by Ken Ludwig premiered
at the Alley Theatre, Houston; played at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket
on London's West End in 2008; and won the AATE Distinguished Play
Award for Best Adaptation of the Year.
* An adaptation in August 2009 was run by the Henegar Center for the
Arts in downtown historic Melbourne, Florida.
* 'Treasure Island: the Curse of the Pearl Necklace' (2014-15), by Jon
Bradfield and Martin Hooper, is an alternative pantomime that included
gay, lesbian, and trans characters, and played a sold-out run at
London's Above The Stag Theatre.
* In 2011, Tom Hewitt starred in B.H. Barry and Vernon Morris's stage
adaptation of the novel, which officially opened 5 March at the
Irondale Center in Brooklyn.
* In July 2011, Bristol Old Vic staged a large-scale outdoor
production of 'Treasure Island' outside the theatre on King Street,
Bristol directed by Sally Cookson, with music by Benji Bower.
* From October 2013 to 2014, Mind the Gap Theatre Company, a leading
UK theatre company in working with actors with learning disabilities,
embarked on a national tour of 'Treasure Island', retold with a twist
by Olivier award-winning writer Mike Kenny.
* In 2013, YouthPlays published 'Long Joan Silver' by Arthur M. Jolly,
an adaptation in which all of the pirates are women.
* A version by Bryony Lavery and directed by Polly Findlay was
produced at London's Royal National Theatre from December 2014 to
April 2015. In this version of the play, Jim is a girl. This
production starred rising actor Patsy Ferran as Jim and Arthur Darvill
as Silver.
* As part of their 2017 Season, the Stratford Festival of Canada
premiered an adaptation of 'Treasure Island' by Canadian playwright
Nicolas Billon.
* In 2018 the newly reopened Leicester Haymarket Theatre staged a new
version of 'Treasure Island', adapted by Sandi Toksvig, as their first
Christmas show in 10 years.
Radio
=======
* Orson Welles broadcast a radio adaptation via 'The Mercury Theatre
on the Air' in July 1938, with its setting being half in England and
half on the Island. The broadcast, which omits "My Sea Adventure",
included music by Bernard Herrmann.
* William Redfield played Silver on the May 14, 1948 'Your Playhouse
of Favorites' adaptation.
* Ronald Colman hosted an adaptation of the novel on the April 27,
1948, broadcast of 'Favorite Story'.
* James Mason played Silver opposite Bobby Driscoll's "Jim Hawkins" on
the 'Lux Radio Theatres adaptation on January 29, 1951.
* There have been two BBC Radio adaptations of 'Treasure Island', with
Silver being played by Peter Jeffrey in 1989, and Jack Shepherd in
1995.
* Author John le Carré performed an abridged reading of the novel in
five parts as part of BBC Radio 4's 'Afternoon Reading'.
* 'Treasure Island 2020' (November 12, 2018 - January 12, 2020) is a
10-part BYU Radio radio adaptation broadcast via 'The Apple Seed'. The
audio adventure places the main trio of kids in 2019 and turns it into
a time-traveling adventure that involves both them going to the past
to look for treasures and Long John Silver, Billy Bones, and others
coming to the present through the time vortex. The series is now
available as a free podcast.
Other audio recordings
========================
* Basil Rathbone starred as both The Narrator and Silver, with Dix
Davis as Jim Hawkins, in a 1944 audio recording for Columbia
Masterworks Records.
* James Kenney played Jim Hawkins and Anthony Woodruff played Long
John Silver in the 'Tale Spinners for Children' audio adaptation of
'Treasure Island' (United Artists Records, UAC 11013).
* A 2013 Big Finish Productions audiobook adaptation of 'Treasure
Island' was written and directed by Barnaby Edwards and starred Tom
Baker as Long John Silver, Nicholas Farrell as the Narrator, and
Edward Holtom as Jim Hawkins.
* The King Arthur/Treasure Island album features a 15 minutes long
adaptation of the novel with Captain Flint replacing Billy Bones as
the holder of the map.
* There is also a 30-minute recording of the novel with a more
expanded version of the plot. Both these albums feature different
orchestration of the song "Fifteen men on a Dead man's chest", and the
30 minute version features a song about Long John Silver's parrot,
Captain Flint.
Books and comics
==================
* 'Famous Stories #1' (1942, Dell Comics) -- sixty pages, drawn by
Robert Bugg
* 'Shin Takarajima' (1947) -- a loose adaptation of 'Treasure Island'
by Sakai Shichima and Osamu Tezuka
* 'Classics Illustrated' #64 (Oct. 1949, Gilberton) -- adapted by Ken
Fitch and Alex A. Blum
* "Walt Disney's Treasure Island", 'Four Color' #624 (April 1955, Dell
Comics) -- adapted by John Ushler from Disney's 1950 film adaptation
* "La isla del tesoro", 'Joyas Literarias Juveniles' #2 (1970,
Editorial Bruguera) -- adapted by José Antonio Vidal Sales and Alfonso
Cerón Nuñez; translated and reprinted as "Treasure Island", 'King
Classics' #7 (1977, King Features)
* 'Pendulum Illustrated Classics' (1973, Pendulum Press) -- adapted by
John Norwood Fago and Nardo Cruz
* 'Marvel Classics Comics' #15 (1976, Marvel Comics) -- adapted by
Bill Mantlo and Dino Castrillo; re-issued by Fisher-Price in 1984
* 'Godspeed' (1993) -- a science-fictional novel by Charles Sheffield
that recasts the search for pirate treasure as the search for lost
faster-than-light drive technology
* 'Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island: The Graphic Novel' (2005,
Penguin Books) -- adapted by Tim Hamilton
* 'Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island' (2007, Capstone
Publishers) -- adapted by Greg Rebis
* 'Treasure Island' #1-6, 'Marvel Illustrated' (Aug. 2007-Jan. 2008,
Marvel Comics) -- adapted by Roy Thomas, Mario Gully, and Pat Davidson
* 'L'Île au trésor, de Robert Louis Stevenson' (2007-2009, Delcourt)
-- adapted by David Chauvel and Fred Simon; translated and reprinted
as 'Papercutz Classics Illustrated Series' #5 (2010, Papercutz)
* 'Disney Treasure Island, Starring Mickey Mouse' (Oct. 2018, Dark
Horse Comics) -- adapted by Teresa Radice, Erin Brady (translation),
and Stefano Turconi
Music
=======
* The self-titled Ben Gunn Society album released in 2003 presents the
story centred on the character of Ben Gunn, based primarily on Chapter
XV, "Man of the Island", and other relevant parts of the book.
* "Treasure Island" (1992) is a song by Running Wild, from their 'Pile
of Skulls' album, that tells the novel's story.
* Scottish glam rock artists The Sensational Alex Harvey Band paid
tribute to the book with their 1974 song "The Tomahawk Kid". The song
names many of 'Treasure Islands characters in its lyrics, and was
often dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson in live performance.
* "I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" and "Always Know Where You Are" are
songs performed by Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik for Disney's
animated retelling.
* 'The Cursed Island' (2014) is an album by Skull & Bones that is
based on 'Treasure Island'.
* 'Dead Man's Sea Shanty', a song written by Chonny Jash, is a
retelling of the story of Treasure Island, told as a sea shanty,
utilising a rearrangement of 'Dead Man's Chest' heavily.
* 'Treasure Island' (2025) is a suite for orchestra composed by Andrea
Montepaone and published by Telecinesound Records in which the events
of the novel are described through 13 pieces.
Video games
=============
* 'Treasure Island' (1984) is a graphical adventure computer game
based loosely on the novel. It was written by Greg Duddle, published
by Mr. Micro (and often rebranded by Commodore) on the Commodore 16,
Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. In the game, the
player takes the part of Jim Hawkins travelling around the island
dispatching pirates with cutlasses before getting the treasure and
being chased back to the ship by Long John Silver.
* 'Treasure Island' (1985) is an adventure game based upon the novel
published by Windham Classics.
* 'La Isla del Tesoro de R. L. Stevenson' (1999) is a point-and-click
adventure game based upon the novel developed, edited, and published
by Barcelona Multimedia.
* 'Monkey Island', a LucasArts adventure game, is partly based on
'Treasure Island', lending many of its plot points and characters and
using many humorous references to the book.
* 'Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon' is one of the various video
games released by Disney based on their animated film 'Treasure
Planet'.
* 'Treasure Island' (2010) is a hidden objects game launched by French
publisher Anuman Interactive.
* 'Captain Silver' is an arcade game that follows its protagonist, Jim
Aykroyd, in his quest to find Captain Silver's hidden treasure, for
which he must battle an undead Captain Silver in order to find.
References in popular culture
======================================================================
* The Strong Winds series of children's adventures by Julia Jones
draws freely from events and names in 'Treasure Island'.
* In the 'Swallows and Amazons' series by Arthur Ransome, the
Blacketts' Uncle Jim has the nickname of Captain Flint and a parrot.
* In J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan', Captain Hook is mentioned as being the
only pirate that Long John Silver, also known as "Barbecue," feared.
* A 1960 episode of 'Dennis the Menace' is centered around the pursuit
of buried treasure, inspired by Mr. Wilson reading his childhood copy
of 'Treasure Island' to Dennis and his friends.
* In 1988, the Soviet director David Cherkassky released the 1988
Soviet film 'Treasure Island' which relates to the book.
* The book is referenced by Bart Simpson in the 'Simpsons' episode
"Bart Gets an F".
* 'Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan' (2000) is a parody by
Spike Milligan.
* At the beginning of a fifth-season episode of 'Arthur' titled "You
Are Arthur" (2000), the titular character is seen reading 'Treasure
Island'.
* In an episode of 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains', titled "Jumping
Ship" (2010), the castaways Amanda, Colby and Danielle win an
overnight trip to the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson and a
screening of the 1934 version of 'Treasure Island'.
* In 'The Way Back' (2010), one of the prisoners in the Russian gulag
briefly narrates some of 'Treasure Island' to his fellow inmates. He
mentions the characters Jim and Long John Silver.
* In the teen fiction novel 'One for Sorrow' (2015, Fledgling Press)
by Philip Caveney, the main character, Tom Afflick, is reading
'Treasure Island' which serves as the catalyst for his adventure.
* In 'Blade Runner 2049' (2017), Rick Deckard makes a continued
allusion to 'Treasure Island' upon first meeting the protagonist; in
the scene, he explicitly references Ben Gunn's craving for cheese.
* In 'Solo: A Star Wars Story', Woody Harrelson's character Tobias
Beckett is based on Long John Silver.
* In the finale of Season 3 of 'The Handmaid's Tale' (2019), Commander
Lawrence reads an excerpt of 'Treasure Island' to a group of runaway
children.
''Pirates of the Caribbean''
==============================
Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise references 'Treasure
Island' many times. In the 2006 revamp of the original attraction, the
island port was officially named Isla Tesoro, with the Spanish
translation of Treasure Island is 'La isla del tesoro'. In making
'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl', 'Treasure
Island' was one of many inspirations behind making the film, noted by
the filmmakers like producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who regarded the 1950
Walt Disney Studio feature.
In writing Captain Jack Sparrow, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry
Rossio took from their experience on 'Treasure Planet', and asked the
question, "Is Long John Silver a delightful Falstaffian character or a
contemptible villain?" Hector Barbossa's pet monkey, named "Jack"
after Jack Sparrow, is a reference to Long John Silver's pet parrot
Captain Flint. Both animals are named after their owner's former
captain.
Of the films in the series, 'Dead Man's Chest' features the most
references.
* Joshamee Gibbs sings "Dead Man's Chest," a song from the novel,
which served as the original opening in an earlier version of the
film.
* Jack Sparrow is given the Black Spot by Bootstrap Bill Turner as a
marker that the Kraken can track.
* Governor Weatherby Swann witnesses Mercer kill the captain, who was
intended to be called "Captain Hawkins", as revealed by screenwriters
Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio on the film's DVD commentary. Hawkins'
backstory was intended to relate to that of Jim Hawkins' father in
'Treasure Island', explaining the circumstances of his father's
disappearance at sea and why he never returned to the Admiral Benbow
Inn.
* The merchant ship the 'Edinburgh Trader' was played by the 'Bounty',
a ship replica which played the 'Hispaniola' in the 1990 movie
adaptation of the novel.
'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' has Hector Barbossa
begin wearing a wooden peg leg where a real one used to be, revealed
to have been lost in an off-screen encounter with Blackbeard. Barbossa
is feared as an omen of death and referred to as "the one legged man"
by Blackbeard and his daughter Angelica, which is a parallel to Billy
Bones having feared John Silver and ominously referred to him by the
same moniker. Regarding this change in Barbossa, actor Geoffrey Rush
noted Robert Newton playing Long John Silver in 'Treasure Island'
Terry Rossio references 'Treasure Island' and 'Treasure Planet' in the
annotations for his screenplay draft for 'Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Men Tell No Tales', which features a character named Captain
(later Admiral) John Benbow as a reference to the Admiral Benbow Inn.
One of Chris Schweizer's early ideas for the 'Pirates of the
Caribbean' comic book series was to have Will Turner and Elizabeth
Swann's 12-or-13-year-old son be involved in Jack Sparrow's search for
Anamaria who had disappeared while searching for a mystical treasure,
with the boy eventually growing up and becoming Billy Bones, a
character from 'Treasure Island'. A phantom pirate named Black Dog
Briar appears in the video game expansion.
See also
======================================================================
* Elenore Abbott, illustrator
* 'Moral Emblems'
Sources
=========
* Barker-Benfield, Simon (2014). 'The Annotated Treasure Island'.
* Cordingly, David (1995). 'Under the Black Flag: The Romance and
Reality of Life Among the Pirates'. .
* Letley, Emma, ed. (1998). 'Treasure Island (Oxford World's
Classics)'. .
* Pietsch, Roland (2010). 'The Real Jim Hawkins: Ships' Boys in the
Georgian Navy'. .
* Reed, Thomas L. (2006). 'The Transforming Draught: Jekyll and Hyde,
Robert Louis Stevenson, and the Victorian Alcohol Debate'. .
* Watson, Harold (1969). 'Coasts of Treasure Island: A Study of the
Backgrounds and Sources for Robert Louis Stevenson's Romance of the
Sea'. .
External links
======================================================================
*
*
*
[
https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3Atreasure%20island%20creator%3Astevenson%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts
'Treasure Island'], scanned and illustrated books at Internet Archive.
Notable editions include:
** [
https://archive.org/details/treasureisland00steviala 'Treasure
Island'], 1911 'Scribner's', illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. See also
[
https://archive.org/details/treasureisland00stev alternate edition]
(better quality scan, some images missing).
** [
https://archive.org/details/treasureisland00stev2 'Treasure
Island'], 1915 'Harpers', illustrated by Louis Rhead.
** [
https://archive.org/details/treasureislan00stevuoft 'Treasure
Island'], 1912 'Scribner's' "Biographical Edition", includes essays by
Mr and Mrs Stevenson.
** [
https://archive.org/details/stevensonstreasu00stevrich 'Treasure
Island'], 1911 Ginn and Company, lengthy introduction and notes by
Frank Wilson Cheney Hersey (Harvard University).
* [
http://www.kellscraft.com/treasureislandcontent.html 'Treasure
Island'], with an introduction and notes by Franklin T Baker (Columbia
University, 1909). Fully annotated online.
*
* [
http://www.ciffciaff.org/en/content/treasure-island 'Treasure
Island'] - Full text and audio website.
*
[
http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/HistChldBks&CISOPTR=50852&REC=57
'Treasure Island'], A. L. Burt Company, 1890.
* [
https://archive.org/details/OTRCFR-TreasureIsand 'Treasure Island']
on The Mercury Theater on the Air: July 18, 1938
* [
https://archive.org/details/RobertLewisStevensonTREASUREISLAND
'Treasure Island'], Columbia Masterworks, 1944
* [
https://archive.org/details/LuxRadioTheatre_201606 'Treasure
Island'] on Lux Radio Theater: January 29, 1951
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20130813045512/http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/
Download 'Treasure Island'] on Tale Spinners for Children
* [
https://archive.org/details/TreasureIsland_251289 The 1989 BBC
Radio 'Treasure Island'] on Archive.org
* [
https://www.vpark.io/space/plxcmwe3874jxc 'Treasure Island' Public
video panorama room] on vPark.io
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island
