Field Notes - ENGL 817AJ - Muppet Treasure Island Update!

I finally watched Muppet Treasure Island (1996) in preparation for my final paper! 

First image of map from Muppet Treasure Island (00:14:48)

The film was surprisingly fruitful in comparisons relating to the original questions I had going into the film. Below are the questions I had prepped and a few notes about each that I took while watching:

• Is the map the same or different in the film?

- The map in the book and the film are VERY different. The film one does not even resemble the original map that Stevenson produced for the book.

- This difference may end up being quite useful for my paper and the analysis I'm leaning towards.

• Is the map used the same or differently in the film?

- The function of the map is similar in some ways, but also very different in others. One thing that stood out to me was Jim's connection to the map and how he clings to it in the film which is at odds with his relationship to it in the novel.

• How does the map factor into the story in the film versus the book? Same or different?

- In Stevenson's novel the map is well-known and familiar to many of the characters and eventually becomes a sort of toss away item. However, in the film, the map is very much used as a tool, an instrument in locating the treasure, but not the primary tool. Jim's father's compass actually becomes the key tool in locating the treasure for the pirates.

• Are the character interactions with the map the same or different in the film?

- This results of this question are going to make up a good portion of what I might focus on in my paper. 

- Not to give too much away, here are a few tidbits: Treasure mapping the treasure map; Jim is an active participant, not just dragged along; the map is still common knowledge of the pirates.

World map depicting the ship's trajectory in Muppet Treasure Map (00:40:42)

• Is the island the map depicts more real or fantastical in the film? Or is it a mix like in the book?

- To me, the island seems more fantastical in the film just because of the depiction of it on screen. Its more gothic, craggy and implied to be scary where as the book island is more like a tropical island with some beaches, trees and some rocky pillars.

- Furthermore, in the film, Jim doesn't go off on his own on the island, he is stuck with the pirates. This kind of reinforces the scary and fantastical quality of the film island.

• How does the film depict the 2D island from the map into a 3D visual for the screen?
• How similar is the visualization? Or, are there very glaring differences?

- This kind of ties into the last question. I noted down a few time stamps from the film in which the island is shown. Most notably is that key landmarks are missing, the island is shown mostly from sea, and the beach is really the only thing that matches the original book description.

• Does the film treat the map more like a treasure map or like a locations map such as the book?

- I think the map is treated very much like a treasure map in the film, specifically because the pirates use it to follow the trail and locate the treasure. The pirates in the text know how to read the map and follow its clues but they don't use it per se to locate anything. The novel's map is more used to orient the reader to the events of the story.

• Does the MTI map lend itself to the creation of the story on film like the drawn map did for the text? Basically, where were the creative liberties, often taken with film, evident and used?

- Considering the film map is nothing like the book one, the film map does not lend itself to the creation of the story. It is very purely an adaptation of the already existing story. Therefore, the film took MANY creative liberties with the story as it was adapted to the film!

- Pop culture references like Star Trek, musical numbers and commentary on it being a children's film.

- Jim is an orphan in the film and has Gonzo and Rizzo as friends, unlike the novel.

- The island is populated with a tribe of pig-puppets that have a culture, rather than with just goats.

- The marooned man is Miss Piggy but some of the details of backstory are kept, like being part of Flint's crew are kept the same.

- Jim, when rescuing the Hispaniola from the pirates, it is undamaged and he turns out to be an excellent sailor rather than fumbling along and barely making it to shore.

Under the umbrella that both the book and film are for kids, I'm going to focus on the differences between the text and film's maps, how characters from both sources interact with the maps, how the island is depicted in 3D from a 2D image and text description and add in some analysis on the cinematic world map the film included depicting the trajectory of the Hispaniola.