ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

US, 1974, 93 minutes, Colour.
David Hartman, Donald Sinden, Jacques Marin, Mako.
Directed by Robert Stevenson.

Island at the Top of the World is one of about twenty films that British director Robert Stevenson (King Solomon’s Mines, Jane Eyre) directed for the Disney studios between the mid-60s and the mid-70s. They included Mary Poppins and Blackbeard’s Ghost.

This is a fantasy adventure – in the Jules Verne vein. An English aristocrat, Donald Sinden, hires a professor and a French aviator to fly a Zeppelin to the North Pole to find his son who is lost in an expedition. This provides a lot of aerial action and adventure. When they arrive at the North Pole, they encounter remnants of a Viking civilisation there – and more action.

The film is directed towards the family audience, especially young boys, probably seems a bit tame because of its being made in the 1970s. However, it is enjoyable Disney adventure.

1. The quality of this Disney film, its qualities for family entertainment, for what age group was it made?

2. The importance of colour, period re-creation of England, the presentation of the Arctic, the island itself, the details of the Viking culture, the terrain of the island with its heat and cold, the balloon, the special effects? The quality of the imaginative appeal? The nature of audience response to this?

3. How interesting and plausible was the mission? The structure of the film with this sense of mission: preparations for the voyage, the voyage itself, varying hazards, the goal, dangers, a happy conclusion? Audience involvement and interest in this structure?

4. Were the events credible? Could such events have taken place in 1970? is such an island possible? How plausible was the plot? The emphasis on what might be possible rather than on magical effects?

5. The importance of the character of Sir Anthony, the relentless bulldog Englishman, his persuading of Iverson to go on the mission, his buying of the balloon, his dominance, his pomposity and arrogance, his love for his son, his quick decision-making, his confrontation of people and of dangers? Did he change throughout the experience? Comment on this picture of a British Empire man? The critique of an Empire man?

6. The contrast with Professor Iverson? A quiet American, his academic background, the way that he was persuaded to go, a role of steadiness throughout the whole expedition, his motivation for remaining?

7. The contrast with the French captain? The emotional response to the voyage, humorous side? His genius in creating the balloon? The way that he was persuaded? Sir Anthony's dominance of him? His skill in running the balloon? His re?arrival at the end? An interesting character?

8. The importance of the atmosphere of showing the balloon, its emergence into the morning, the various adventures like changing the cover, moving through the clouds and the cliffs? How credible were the adventures on the voyage?

9. The importance of the Eskimos, their reaction to the balloon, their reaction to the myths about the island, the Eskimo guide and his fear, the way that he was tricked into going, his help throughout the voyage? Sympathy for him?

10. The presentation of the island, the volcanic explanation, heat and cold? The Viking culture and its credibility, the good side, the refuge from the world, its age? The bad side in the superstition and the religious hostility? The solemnity of the meeting, the decisions about Donald? The friendly family?


11. How well built-up was the crisis, the chase, the various hazards through the volcanic parts, the cold? The getting into the balloon once again? The Bay of Dying Whales? The vindication of all their beliefs? The vindication against a religious fanatic? The irony that he was killed by the balloon which he shrewdly shot? The final decision about the hostage and its reasons?

12. How suitable was the romance between Donald and his wife? decision to leave and what it cost her, the leaving with the professor left as a hostage?

13. How well did the film use mythical backgrounds: all the background of the Vikings, their ships, whaling# language? Myths about civilization of the north, the refuge for dangers in the world, the Bay of Dying Whales?

14. How satisfying is this kind of entertainment?