Disney Plus-Or-Minus: The Island At The Top Of The World

Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was one of the most ambitious and successful live-action movies of his career. It was one of the highest grossing films of 1954, impressed critics around the world and won two Academy Awards. So one of the great mysteries of this column is why the studio never really tried to capitalize on its success. In its immediate aftermath, Disney released lots and lots of forgettable westerns like The Littlest Outlaw and The Great Locomotive Chase. When the studio did incorporate elaborate visual effects, they were in service to more modest stories like Darby O’Gill And The Little People. But they couldn’t seem to get another sprawling, effects-heavy epic like 20,000 Leagues off the ground.

Disney also had (and arguably still has) a bad habit of relying on movie formulas like an unimaginative cook relies on recipes. Their first attempt at replicating the success of 20,000 Leagues was 1962’s In Search Of The Castaways, also based on a Jules Verne novel. Audiences liked it (or, if nothing else, they liked star Hayley Mills) enough to turn it into a hit but just about everyone agreed it failed to recapture the magic and excitement of 20,000 Leagues. And so the studio went back to doing what they thought they did best: gimmick comedies, animal pictures and animation (although they were doing less and less of that).

It would be over ten years before Disney took another stab at the genre. Part of the reason for the gap was an exceptionally long development and pre-production period. The Island At The Top Of The World was first announced in 1968, six whole years before the movie was released. That sort of thing happens regularly now that the internet has turned into a perpetual hype machine for studios’ precious IPs. It’s hard to imagine anyone back then caring enough to attempt tracking the movie’s production.

The Island At The Top Of The World was not based on a Jules Verne book, although Disney really wanted audiences to think it was. It’s actually based on the novel The Lost Ones by Ian Cameron. “Ian Cameron” is one of several pseudonyms employed by British author Donald G. Payne. Under the name James Vance Marshall, he published the novel Walkabout, which became a very great film directed by Nicolas Roeg. Payne/Cameron went on to publish similar fantasy-adventure books such as The Mountains At The Bottom Of The World and The White Ship.

Disney took some liberties with The Lost Ones to make it more Verney. To start, they changed the time period from 1960 to 1907, much closer to the steampunk aesthetic of 20,000 Leagues’ 1868. They also added an airborne equivalent to the Nautilus with the airship Hyperion. Named after the Silver Lake street where Walt had his first studio in Los Angeles, the Hyperion is an impressive motorized dirigible designed by legendary effects artist Peter Ellenshaw. Ellenshaw had been with the studio since Treasure Island and was coming to the end of his distinguished tenure at the studio. He retired after completing work on Island At The Top Of The World but Disney managed to pull him back in a few years later. We’ll see his work in this column again.

The Island At The Top Of The World also ended up being producer Winston Hibler’s last film although it wasn’t meant to be. Hibler joined Disney during World War II and left quite a legacy. He’d worked in animation, narrated the True-Life Adventure series, and even pioneered a new style of nature film blending documentary-style footage with a fictional narrative with movies like Perri. Hibler retired after his next project, a sci-fi disaster movie tentatively titled Space Probe One, was temporarily shelved. When the film was revived as The Black Hole, Hibler unretired and persuaded Ellenshaw to come back to work. Unfortunately, Winston Hibler died shortly thereafter on August 8, 1976, at the age of 65. In 1992, he was posthumously and deservedly named a Disney Legend.

The screenplay was written by John Whedon, grandfather of Joss and screenwriter of The Bears And I. Not only was The Island At The Top Of The World Whedon’s last Disney credit, it was his last credit of any kind. He retired after this film and passed away in 1991 at 86.

Robert Stevenson was given directing duties, which was usually a mark of confidence in a project. His Oscar nomination for Mary Poppins made him the closest thing to an A-list director Disney had on the payroll. He also had experience in the genre after In Search Of The Castaways. Plus, his movies usually raked in piles and piles of money.

However, Stevenson wasn’t exactly able to bring in an A-list cast, most likely due to budget concerns. Like many Disney stars, top-billed David Hartman first made a name for himself on Broadway. He appeared in a few forgettable comedies in the 1960s but fared better on television, first on The Virginian, then on the medical drama The Bold Ones: The New Doctors. The Island At The Top Of The World marked his first big-screen appearance since the 1968 Phyllis Diller bomb Did You Hear The One About The Traveling Saleslady? It would also be his last. In 1975, he was tapped to be the co-host of ABC’s new morning show Good Morning America. Hartman proved surprisingly successful as a broadcaster and journalist. He stayed on GMA for 11 years, then went on to host a series of PBS documentaries.

Hartman’s costar, Donald Sinden, was a highly respected British stage actor who occasionally appeared in films and television. Sinden was well-known in the UK but Island was one of his few ventures into Hollywood.

The only actor with previous Disney experience was, of all people, Mako. One of Mako’s first big-screen gigs had been as the cartoonish stereotype Kenji in The Ugly Dachshund. Since then, he’d been nominated for an Oscar in The Sand Pebbles. That honor didn’t buy him much respect at Disney, though. In The Island At The Top Of The World, the Japanese actor was cast as Oomiak, a cartoonish Eskimo stereotype. The more things change…

Hartman stars as Professor John Ivarsson, an archaeology professor from the University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!). He’s summoned to the stately manor of Sir Anthony Ross (Sinden), a Very Very Rich Man about to embark on an expedition to locate his missing son, Donald (played by David Gwillim, the son of Jack Gwillim from In Search Of The Castaways). Donald disappeared two years earlier while attempting to locate the legendary place “where whales go to die”. Ivarsson waves the very idea away as the stuff of myth and legend but Ross is convinced it exists and has invested some serious money in finding it.

Ross doles this information out to Ivarsson in bits and pieces, first in a carriage, then on a train and lastly, on board a ship bound for France. He needs a captive audience because Ivarsson has very little interest in accompanying Sir Anthony on his quest. He assumes an Arctic expedition will take months and he’s got his own life to lead. But Ross has secretly funded the construction of the Hyperion, the experimental airship designed and piloted by Captain Brieux (Jacques Marin). Instead of months, they can now make the journey in hours.

As a matter of fact, Brieux himself didn’t realize that Ross had ulterior motives for bankrolling the project. He’s under the impression that Sir Anthony is here for a launch ceremony with members of the press and great fanfare. But Ross throws his weight around, reminding Brieux that he paid for the ship so he can take it wherever he wants, whenever he wants. Unable to argue with rich man’s logic, it isn’t long before the entire crew, including Brieux’s poodle Josephine, heads north to find Ross’ son.

Their first stop is Donald’s last known whereabouts, a small Eskimo village. Here they meet Oomiak, a guide who’d traveled with Donald until they became separated. Oomiak believes Donald is still alive but will never come back of his own volition. As far as he’s concerned, Oomiak is more than happy to leave him there. But Sir Anthony is determined to find his son and tricks Oomiak into boarding the Hyperion. Essentially, he kidnaps him, just like he basically kidnapped Ivarsson. The guy’s recruitment methods leave a bit to be desired.

Oomiak leads them to a mysterious island surrounded by tall, cloud-enshrouded cliffs. This is the fabled Whales’ Graveyard. So not as mysterious as Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island but still pretty mysterious. Unfortunately, Brieux is unable to navigate the Hyperion through the clouds and ends up crashing into the cliffs. Ross, Ivarsson and Oomiak bail out to continue on foot while Brieux goes down with his ship.

Their trudge through the tundra brings them to a hidden valley heated by underground volcanos. This is Astragard, a lush paradise at the top of the world. The three men soon learn the hard way that Astragard is far from uninhabited. Descendants of Vikings who speak in Old Norse emerge to take them captive. After some initial tension, Ivarsson is able to communicate with the Vikings who confirm that Donald has indeed been there.

As the Vikings lead their captives into town, they pass by the farm where Donald’s been staying. Donald isn’t there but they do get to meet the farmer and, more importantly, the farmer’s daughter, a beautiful blonde named Freyja (Swedish model and actress Agneta Eckemyr). Freyja speaks fluent English thanks to Donald’s lessons. She explains that the Vikings believe their idyllic land will one day be invaded by outsiders and that Donald has been arrested as a spy by the high priest, The Godi (Gunnar Öhlund). The good news is that the farmer sits on the council that will decide Donald’s fate and he’s quite fond of his future son-in-law. The bad news is almost nobody else in Astragard is on Donald’s side.

Oomiak is able to escape before they reach the village but Sir Anthony and Ivarsson are hustled in front of the Lawspeaker (Rolf Søder). Donald is brought out to stand trial alongside his father. For a split second, things look like they might turn out OK. But then The Godi brings the hammer down, along with a wall of fire and some really terrible rear projection, and gets the assembled crowd thirsty for blood. The prisoners are sentenced to death, set to sea on a burning boat. At least they’re considerate enough to include a traditional Viking funeral in their death sentence.

Before our heroes meet a crispy demise, Freyja swims to the rescue, emerging from the water in a sexy, skintight animal skin ensemble that almost certainly wouldn’t have passed muster back in Walt’s day. She rescues the three dudes in distress, then heads back to distract The Godi and his pursuing hordes while they get to safety. For a woman in a 70s Disney movie, Freyja is kind of a bad-ass.

While the guys are waiting for Freyja to return, Oomiak pops up again. Don’t ask me why he had to disappear from the movie for a spell. Maybe there were scheduling issues preventing Mako from filming. Anyway, now that everyone’s back together (including Freyja, who wants to accompany Donald back to England), they decide the only way off the island is across the volcanic plains to the Bay of Whales. Even if The Godi chases them across an active volcano, the Vikings won’t desecrate the Bay of Whales by coming near it.

This is probably a good place to discuss the visual effects of The Island At The Top Of The World. Peter Ellenshaw and really the entire Disney effects and design team were remarkable artists. But even at their best, the visual effects in live-action Disney movies never look realistic or seamless. Matte paintings always look like matte paintings and that’s perfectly OK. Not everything has to look real. I’ve always felt matte work and miniatures and other practical effects lend film a heightened, dreamlike quality that can be quite beautiful.

Some of the effects in The Island At The Top Of The World achieve that. The Hyperion is very cool and there are shots of it in flight that can hold their own with Disney’s best work. Even the initial views of the Bay of Whales work on that level. It doesn’t look like anything other than a painting but it’s a terrific painting. It’s not the awe-inspiring vista they may have wanted but it’s certainly neat.

And then there are things like the pursuit across the volcano, where it looks like the cinematographer lighting the actors never even had a conversation with whoever was shooting the effects. Or the shoddy rear projection during the trial I’ve already mentioned. Oh, and don’t forget about the whale attack. Yes, while they’re trying to escape the Bay of Whales, our intrepid heroes are attacked by a pod of angry (and very bouncy) orcas. If you can keep a straight face during any or all of these sequences, you are a stronger person than I, my friend.

Anyway, where was I? Suffice it to say that our heroes do make it out of the Bay of Whales thanks to a last-minute save from Captain Brieux. He was able to safely land the Hyperion but its motors have been damaged beyond repair. However, if they jettison everything except a basic gondola, they should be able to use what remains of the Hyperion as a balloon and float to safety. It won’t be a quick trip but it beats being eaten alive by whales.

As with most plans in this movie, this sounds like a great idea until it is very much not. The Godi and his men are lying in wait on the mountains above. At first, the simple Vikings are terrified of the elaborately designed, slow-rising dirigible. But The Godi isn’t about to let his enemies get away that easily. He orders his men to attack, leading the charge with flaming arrows. Brieux orders everyone to abandon ship and everyone gets to safety, including Josephine. But The Godi is not so lucky. Safety tip: do not fire a flaming arrow at a gas-filled balloon at point blank range. The Godi is engulfed in the enormous explosion. The second he’s gone, his influence over the other Vikings disappears with him.

The Lawspeaker and other Vikings concede that Sir Anthony and his friends may not have been the prophesied invaders they’d feared. Even Freyja’s father is cool with her leaving to be with Donald. Most of them are free to go home but there’s a catch. One of them must stay behind as a hostage, insurance that the rest will never reveal the existence of Astragard. Sir Anthony harumphs something about not giving in to demands but Ivarsson (now decked out in furs and looking uncannily like the Marvel Comics version of the Monster of Frankenstein) actually wants to stay. As a scholar, he can’t pass up the opportunity to immerse himself in a culture frozen in time several hundred years ago. And since none of the others are all that close to him anyway, nobody makes much of an attempt to talk him out of it.

The Island At The Top Of The World feels like it should work a whole lot better than it does. Stories about ancient civilizations and hidden worlds will never not be interesting (just ask that one friend who’s really into conspiracy theories). And unlike a lot of other movies in this genre, the plot is driven by something universal. Sir Anthony isn’t motivated by the promise of fortune and glory. He wants to find his son. Sure, fortune and glory would be nice after he finds him but it isn’t the driving factor.

Unfortunately, Donald Sinden and David Gwillim never establish a strong father-son relationship. And when you don’t have an emotional connection you can believe in, characters motivated by fortune and glory suddenly seem a lot more interesting. Island sorely lacks a character as magnetic and driven as James Mason’s Captain Nemo. The closest we get here is The Godi and unless you speak whatever mishmash of Nordic languages they’ve got him speaking, you’re probably not going to get terribly invested in his cause.

I’m glad David Hartman found success as a journalist because he’s an uninspiring action hero. On the plus side, he seems like a more realistic archaeology professor than Indiana Jones ever did. But would you rather watch an Indiana Jones movie or would you rather watch a movie about your actual archaeology professor from college? Granted, it depends on the Indiana Jones movie but still.

Jacques Marin fares best as the jovial and occasionally daring Captain Brieux. He’s a lot of fun and I’m happy to say he’ll be back in this column. Mako had to put up with a lot in his two Disney movies. I’m disappointed but not in the least surprised that he was done with the studio after this. Agneta Eckemyr appeared in a few more movies, primarily in her homeland of Sweden, before becoming a successful clothing designer.

Disney had high hopes for The Island At The Top Of The World. Before the movie was even released, plans were being made for a sequel that would have used the novel’s original title, The Lost Ones. A ride featuring the Hyperion was planned to be one of the keystone attractions for a new Disneyland area called Discovery Bay. The Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues was also meant to have a home there. But then the movie came out on December 20, 1974. Slowly but surely, all those plans were abandoned.

The Island At The Top Of The World wasn’t a total disaster. It made its money back plus a little extra. But to justify all their big ideas, the movie needed to do a lot more than just make its money back. It didn’t help that it opened the same day as both The Godfather Part II and The Man With The Golden Gun. Compared to those blockbusters, The Island At The Top Of The World was small potatoes.

Critics were a bit divided on the merits of The Island At The Top Of The World. Several were arguably kinder than they needed to be, while others compared it unfavorably to its accompanying short feature, Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too. Peter Ellenshaw and his team did manage to snag an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (it lost to The Godfather Part II) but pointedly not for Visual Effects. That was given as a Special Achievement Award to Earthquake, which, to be fair, also has some extremely dodgy effects.

It's also worth mentioning that Island continued Disney’s recent trend of bringing in outside composers like Marvin Hamlisch and Jerry Goldsmith. This time, Maurice Jarre contributed a suitably lush and epic score. It might not rank among Jarre’s best but we’re talking about a guy whose best includes Lawrence Of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, so the bar is high. This was Jarre’s first Disney score but it wouldn’t be his last. We’ll hear his work in this column again.

The Island At The Top Of The World ended 1974 on a disappointing note for Disney. Everyone at the studio believed the movie was a surefire hit. When it failed to meet expectations, Disney drew its head back in its shell a little more. This column will be covering some bleak years in the weeks ahead. I hope you stick with it but things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better around here.

VERDICT: There is stuff to like in here. Even some of what doesn’t work fails so spectacularly that it’s worth a laugh. But make no mistake, it’s a Disney Minus.

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