A.O. Scott in the New York Times dismisses Treasure Planet, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, as "less an act of homage than a clumsy and cynical bit of piracy, designed to steal time and money from schoolchildren and their harried, Pottered-out parents during this very long holiday weekend." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post calls it "disappointing;" Robert Elder in the Chicago Tribune remarks that it feels "a little distant;" and Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News comments that "it's one of those Disney adventure cartoons that takes too long getting to anything really exciting - and once there becomes too frenetic to effectively wow." But Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post observes that the movie "answers a question that to my knowledge has never been asked before, possibly because no one cared: What kind of a 30th century would the 18th century make? The issue isn't likely to be on anyone's Must-Figure-Out-Before-Dinner list, but the answer, contained in the new, lovely Disney animated feature, is nevertheless quite interesting: The 18th century makes a splendid 30th century." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times may write that the sight of pirate ships and galleons sailing through the stars "just doesn't look right," but Ray Conlogue in the Toronto Globe and Mail observes that while such sights may seem "bizarre to the adult mind," they are "actually a charming triumph where its intended under-12 audience is concerned."