Shipwrecked

Disney has a long history of making adventure films that the whole family can enjoy, and these include live action as well as animated movies. But even Disney can be accused of rehashing old stories if it seems like a good idea at the time. The story itself is based on a book by O.V. Falck-Ytter titled "Haakon Haakonsen", but movie is a combination of several different stories, and that's not to say that it's a bad film for this approach, its a very good film but the story just seems stale and worn out. This movie blends the stories of Kidnapped, Swiss Family Robinson, and Treasure Island into an enjoyable film that the kids will enjoy and parents wont mind sitting through.A young boy sets out to sea to pay his families debt at home and runs into pirates, gets shipwrecked, and finds a treasure to answer all his dreams. The island that is for the scenes after the shipwreck is an actual island in the Fiji chain, so its as authentic as can be for a deserted island. The time and effort put into this film to make it as authentic to the time period is very evident from the ship and how the crew handles her to the costumes for all of the characters that come from locations that range from Norway to Fiji. The only real recognizable actor in this film is Gabriel Byrne; he plays the pirate Captain Merrick and plays it very well.
This is not a real well known Disney film, when it originally came out there wasn't much fan fare for it and now the only way you can get a copy of this film is through the Disney Movie Club. But its worth the time and effort to get it, its clean harmless fun for young boys who are into pirates and sailing. With the ideas that there is buried treasure out there somewhere, pirate movies will always have a special place in our hearts.