Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island set in outer space? Non-computer animation? Yeah, and damn it, it works. Anachronistic and eclectic in the spirit of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, this epic, engaging film may restore detractors’ faith in the viability of Uncle Walt’s legacy.

Jim Pleiades Hawkins (well-voiced by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt) is a disgruntled youth wondering when his life will begin. When he’s entrusted with a map to the legendary Treasure Planet, his adventure-craving egghead uncle (a brilliant David Hyde Pierce) begs Jim’s mother to let the boy try his luck. The two venture out on a grand space ship (remarkably like an antique galleon) captained by a sexy catlike admiral (droll Emma Thompson, whose scenes with Hyde-Pierce are as Beatrice and Benedick as you can get). Her ragamuffin alien crew (characters reminiscent of the French classic animation Forbidden Planet) are under the thumb of cyborg galley cook Long John Silver (crusty-voiced Brian Murray), who takes a shine to young Jim. With its inventive art direction and stunning action sequences, not to mention sophisticated hilarity and no small amount of tongue-in-cheek homo-eroticism (much of it from a loony robot perfectly voiced by Martin Short), this may be the sci-fi space pic for the grown-ups to see this holiday season. (94 minutes