Treasure Planet

Movie Final Project

Kayla Cook - 3rd Period
 Summary of Plot Information
Since he was a young boy, Jim Hawkins had a heart for adventure, as he adored the legend
of Treasure Planet, which was a hidden planet that contained all of Captain Flints
Treasure. As he grew older, Jim and his mother had to abruptly adjust to a life without Jims
father. Jim, though a brilliant technician, became troubled in his fathers absence and began
to get into trouble with the law. Everything changed when Jim became accidentally mixed
up in a pirate scheme and was given a treasure map that led to the legendary Treasure
Planet. To make his mother proud and to find himself, he and his family friend Dr. Doppler
joined a crew headed for Treasure Planet. Jim was assigned to work under the Ships cook,
Silver the Cyborg. Silver and Jim formed an unlikely bond, until Jim discovered that Silver
was planning on leading a mutiny on the ship. Following the mutiny, jim was forced by
Silver to help them find the treasure. After they found it, they set off a booby trap that
would blow up the entire planet. Silver gave up his lifelong search for treasure in order to
save Jim, and Jim helped the entire crew make it back to their home planet safely. In the end,
Jim finally finds his purpose, decides to chart his own course, and reconciles with his mom.
Critique of the Movie
In my opinion, Treasure Planet is one of the most underrated Disney movies ever made. It
features beautiful animation (especially since it was made in 2002) and it includes some
talented actors such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emma Thompson, and Brian Murray.

I find this movie extremely creative, because it took the central ideas from the book
Treasure island, and changed the setting to be in a distant galaxy. Throughout the
movie it is very easy to relate to Jim, the protagonist. Watching the bond Jim and Silver
grow is heartwarming, and the message that the film portrays is both hopeful and
inspiring. In addition to this serious aspect of the film, there are several fun-filled
characters such as Morph, B.E.N., and Dr. Doppler. The mix of drama, adventure, and Fun
makes the movie very enjoyable to watch.

I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys exciting and lovable films. I
especially recommend to those who havent seen this film yet. Disney is known for its
fascinating animation, but this film features some of Disneys best work.
Hindsight Bias Unit 2: Research Methods
Hindsight Bias: Tending to believe, after learning an outcome
of an event, that one would have foreseen it (I knew it all
along). People tend to overestimate their ability to predict an
outcome that they couldnt have possibly predicted.

Didnt I say the lad had greatness in him? -Silver

In this scene, Jim had just barely saved the entire crew from
burning up on the booby-trapped Treasure Planet by using his
quick wits and his hoverboard flying skills. Everyone was
cheering, and then Silver declared aloud that he had known
all along that Jim had greatness in him. However, by saying
this right after Jim had just proven his greatness, Silver fell
victim to the Hindsight Bias, believing that he had the ability
to predict greatness in a person.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory Unit 14: Social Psychology
Cognitive Dissonance theory: Cognitive Dissonance is the mental
discomfort that an individual feels when he holds two or more
contradictory beliefs/attitudes at the same time. Because people tend
to seek consistency in their values, individuals change their attitudes
or beliefs to relieve the tension.

Its just a lifelong obsession, Jim. Ill get over it. -Silver

In this scene, Silver faced a cognitive dilemma. He had been desperately

searching his entire life for Captain Flints treasure, but in this
situation he had a hard choice: he could either save the treasure, or
he could save Jim. He decided to save Jim and let go of the treasure. To
relieve the discomfort of valuing the treasure while also knowing
that he had chosen to save Jim, Silver expressed that he did not care
about the treasure anymore and that he will get over it. This
change in attitudes helped him relieve his cognitive dissonance.
Schema Unit 7: Cognition
Schema: A mental framework that helps people organize information or things based on
their experiences. Schemas are a way for people to categorize things that are alike into
categories in order to know how to approach those things.

We see his type all the time, maam. Wrong choices. Dead-enders. Losers. -Policeman

In this scene, jim had to be escorted home by the police for breaking the law again. The
police tell Jims mother that they have seen his type all the time. This statement shows that
the policemen are using a schema that they have developed about people who do similar
things to what Jim has done. They categorized Jim as a person who makes wrong choices, is
a dead-ender, and is a loser. This is not necessarily true, but it was easiest for the policemen
to quickly categorize Jim by those characteristics simply based on his behavior.
Antisocial personality DisorderUnit 12: Abnormal Behavior
Antisocial Personality Disorder: Antisocial Personality Disorder is
characterized by a lack of empathy and conscious. Those who suffer
from this have a disregard for people and the law, and they lack of
remorse for their crimes. Criminal behavior is often linked to this
disorder.

I say we kill them all now! -Scroop

In this scene, scroop told the rest of the pirates who were planning
the mutiny that they should go ahead and kill Jim, the Captain, and
Dr. Doppler. In this scene and throughout the entire film, Scroop
acts violently, with a lack of remorse or empathy. He tries to kill
Jim at least three times. Additionally, he kills the Captains assistant,
and showed no emotion or feelings of guilt after doing any of it.
This suggests that Scroop may have antisocial personality disorder.
Sublimation Unit 10: personality
Sublimation: a type of defense mechanism that helps people
transform their socially unacceptable impulses into socially
acceptable behavior. For example, someone who is extremely
aggressive can play an aggressive sport to relieve their unacceptable
impulse.

I met this old cyborg and he taught me that I could chart my

own course. Thats what Im gonna do. -Jim

Before jim went on this adventure, he was rebellious and would

have done anything to get away from his home. But in this scene,
Jim decides not to travel the galaxy with Silver. He instead decides
to chart his own course, and act more responsibly. This is a type
of sublimation. He has transformed his anger and rebellious
behavior towards his absent father into a socially acceptable
behavior, such as helping his mom and starting his own path in life.
Prefrontal Cortex Unit 3: Biological Bases
Prefrontal Cortex: the part of the brain just behind the
forehead that is responsible for judgments, reasoning, and
decision-making. It is known as the rational part of the
brain. However, it is not fully developed until age 25.

Jim, I just dont want to see you throw away your entire
future. -mrs. Hawkins

In this scene, Mrs. hawkins is scolding Jim for getting in

trouble with the Law again. However, because Jim is only 15
years old, it is actually typically for people his age to act
irresponsibly without thinking through the long-term
consequences. Because Jims prefrontal cortex is not yet
fully developed, he has trouble making rational judgements,
reasons, and decisions.
Identity vs. Role ConfusionUnit 9: Developmental Psychology
Identity vs. Role Confusion: the 5th stage within Erikson's Stages
of Psychosocial Development. It lasts from approximately age
12-18. In this stage, adolescents search for a sense of self. If he
experiences role confusion, though, an adolescent may begin to
experiment with different lifestyles and feel unhappy.

What future? -Jim

In this scene, Mrs. Hawkins tells Jim she is worried that he will
throw away his entire future. He responds with what future?,
which shows that he is currently experiencing role confusion in
adolescence. He is unsure about his place in society and he is
having trouble finding his identity. This may be because he failed
to successfully move on from his previous developmental stage
(industry vs. inferiority) due to his father abandoning him.
Extrinsic Motivation Unit 6: Learning
Extrinsic Motivation: Behavior that is driven by external
rewards (money, fame, grades, praise). These rewards provide the
satisfaction that the task itself may not provide.

This is my chance to make it up to you. Im gonna set things

right. Ill make you proud. -Jim

In this scene, Jim is trying to convince his mother to allow him

to search for Captain Flints treasure. He is motivated to search
for Treasure Planet in order to help repay his mother and to
make her proud of him. These are external motivating factors.
Rather than being motivated to search for the treasure simply
for the enjoyment of going on an adventure, Jim is motivated
to go on the adventure in order to fulfill these external
factors.
Framing Effect Unit 7: Cognition
Framing Effect: refers to a cognitive bias where people react to a
particular choice in different ways depending on how it is
presented. For example, framing something like kills 99% of
germs is viewed more positively than 1% of germs wont be
killed.

Just wait until your mother hears about this! Of course, we may
downplay the life-threatening parts. -Dr. Doppler

In this scene, Jim was just offered a spot in the interstellar

academy, and Dr. Doppler suggests that when they tell his mom,
they leave out the life-threatening parts. By framing their
adventure without the dangerous parts, Mrs. Hawkins is more
likely to view their voyage in a positive way and to react more
favorably to it.
Deindividuation Unit 14: Social Psychology
Deindividuation: the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint
occurring in group situations that foster arousal and
anonymity. large groups give the illusion of anonymity and
diffused responsibility, so individuals are more likely to act in
ways that they normally wouldnt.

Change in Plan, lads! We move now! -Silver

In this scene, Silver is leading a mutiny against the Captain, Dr.

Doppler, and Jim. The entire mutiny is acting very violently in
an attempt to murder Captain, Doppler, and Jim. The mutiny
grouped together the mass of pirates, allowing them to assume
a shared identity, feel anonymous, and lose their sense of
individuality. This makes it easier for the mutiny to act more
aggressively.
Outgroup Unit 14: Social Psychology
Outgroup: Those perceived as different or apart from ones
ingroup; considered to be them rather than us

What are you looking at, Weirdo? -Group of Pirates

In this scene, Jim was mopping the floor while watching a

group of pirates whispering in a huddle. When they noticed
him looking at them, they called him a weirdo. The group
of pirates perceived Jim as part of the outgroup, and
treated him like he was not a part of their group. By
whispering in a group and making him feel uncomfortable,
they are showing the ingroup bias: the preference of ones
own group over another.
Mere Exposure EffectUnit 14: Social Psychology
Mere Exposure Effect: a phenomenon in which
people develop a preference for things merely
because they are familiar with them

Getting in too deep here, morphy. next thing you

know theyll be saying Ive gone soft. -Silver

In this scene, Silver is realizing that he cares about

Jim. The Mere Exposure Effect could argue that
Silver began to care for and form a preference for
Jim because he was forced to spend so much time
with him on the ship. By merely being around Jim
for such a large amount of time, Silver began to
feel soft hearted towards Jim.
Retrieval Failure Unit 7: Cognition
Retrieval Failure: even though the memory was encoded and
stored, sometimes you still just cannot access the memory. This is
the inability to retrieve stored information from memory

Wait. I--I r-r-remember. I do. I--treasure! Lots of treasure buried

in the centroid centroid of the mechanism. And there was this
big door opening and closing... and opening and closing... and
Captain Flint wanted to make sure...nobody could ever get to his
treasure... so I helped him... Aah! Data inaccessible! Reboot! I'm
sorry. My memory isn't what it used to be. - B.E.N.

B.E.N. experienced retrieval failure, because he had once encoded

the memory of Captain Flints treasure, but he simply could not
access it. He was unable to retrieve it from his Long Term Memory,
thus resulting in Retrieval Failure.
Arousal Theory Unit 8: Motivation & Emotion
Arousal Theory: states that people seek an optimum level of
excitement or arousal. We are motivated by activities that
help us achieve our needed level of arousal.

[Jim is riding his solar vehicle] Yaaaa-hoo! Whoo! Come on!

Whoo! Ha ha ha! Whoo-hoo! [Jim spins throughout the sky]

In the opening scene, Jim is seen enjoying himself by

dangerously gliding across the sky. Jim is motivated to
continue this dangerous but exhilarating behavior because
of the Arousal Theory of Motivation; Jim is seeking an
optimum level of excitement, and by using his glider, he can
achieve that level.
Gender Roles Unit 9: Developmental Psychology
Gender Roles: behaviors that tend to be associated by a
culture as being male or female

Shipshape it is, sir, but Im not the captain. - Mr. Arrow

In this scene, Dr. Doppler approached Mr. Arrow and called

him the captain. Mr. Arrow corrected Doppler, and
introduced Captain Amelia as the captain of the ship. This
scene defies gender roles, because generally the occupation of
being a ship captain is associated as a male role. Dr. Doppler
made this association by mistake. Instead, the captain of the
ship was a female, showing that even though society
associates certain genders with certain roles, they are not
permanent or absolute.
Reflection
How has your film viewing been impacted by taking AP psychology?

This project was really interesting because it forced me to look for the psychology in
everyday things, such as films, tv, or books. While usually I can quickly identify
psychological phenomenons, it was very eye-opening to be able to distinguish fifteen
different psychological concepts that all occur within the same film.

This project will help me in the future to be able to easily identify psychological
concepts in the world around me, whether it is in a movie or in real life. I enjoyed being
able to create a final project based around a movie that I love, and I think it was a
really good idea to introduce this project to us. I think that this was a really cool and
creative way to demonstrate our understanding of psychological concepts as a final
grade.
Works Cited
Treasure Planet. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. By Sam Levine, Alex Mann, Ron

Clements, John Musker, and Rob Edwards. Perf. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Emma

Thompson. Disney, 2002. DVD.

Fineburg, Amy C., David G. Myers, and Charles L. Brewer. Myers' Psychology for AP.

1st ed. New York: Worth/BFW, 2014. Print.