AllMovie

Do not be misled by the title. The 1992 direct-to-video feature Return to Treasure Island doesn't constitute a sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's much-loved 1883 novel or the 1950 Byron Haskin/Walt Disney adaptation of that work, but reiterates the exact same story in animated form. As in the Disney film, the events here concern young Jim Hawkins, resident of his parents' Benbow Inn, who joins his friends on a mad quest for the buried treasure of Captain Flint. In the process, Hawkins and the others attempt to beat the dreaded pirate Long John Silver to the punch. At 73 minutes long, with colorful, larger-than-life, buffoonish characters and hefty doses of slapstick, this family-friendly film reposits much of Stevenson's original tale in a Saturday morning cartoon-style format reminiscent of Hanna-Barbera or Walter Lantz. It thus aims at a slightly lower age bracket, and will be most appreciated by children of early school age and younger.