Hollywood’s Reinvention of Long John Silver, the Musketeers & Zorro Dates Back to the 1950s

Treasure Island‘s tale of young Jim Hawkins and the treacherous one-legged Long John Silver (with his trademark parrot) has been filmed more than 50 times, with the best-known including 1934’s first talking version (a Turner Classic Movies staple) starring Wallace Beery as Silver and Jackie Cooper as Jim, and the 1950 Disney version featuring Bobby Driscoll as Jim and Robert Newton as Silver, a role he would revisit in a 1954 sequel.

More fanciful treatments include a 1996 Muppet Treasure Island movie, with Tim Curry as the infamous Silver, and Disney’s animated sci-fi adventure 2002’s Treasure Planet.