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The Hispaniola at sea
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The Hispaniola is the ship which serves as the primary location for much of Muppet Treasure Island.
The ship is owned by "Squire Trelawney and Son: Master Ship Builders" who financed the voyage to Treasure Island.
The ship is captained by Abraham Smollett, with first-mate Samuel Arrow. Rizzo makes some money on the side by charging rats money to take a modern Caribbean cruise. The crew is hired by Squire Trelawney (with the help ofMr. Bimbo and Long John Silver), which turn out to be pirates. The pirates mutiny when the ship reaches Treasure Island, planning to take the treasure and the ship for themselves. Jim Hawkins, Gonzo, Rizzo, Dr. Livesey, Beaker, Samuel Arrow, Squire Trelawney and Mr. Bimbo reclaim the ship and crash it into the island. In the end, Smollett and crew take the ship back to England, where the pirates would stand trial for their actions.
Behind the Scenes
The miniture Hispaniola being shot in the studio parking lot.
In the documentary, The Tale of the Story Beyond the Tale, production designer Val Strazober said, "The star should be the ship. The ship was quite a challenge to do because I was trying to create a ship which will friendly to Muppets and also accept humans".
The ship was a stationary set piece, and the sourounding sets moved around the ship. The crew would strip and build the sets around the ship to change from the Hispaniola at the docks of England, the beach of Treasure Island, or out at sea. The full ship, set was built on a giant gimble that simulated the rocking motion of a ship on water. Driector Brian Henson feared that the cast and crew would get sea-sick due to the rocking ship and made everyone take Dramamine to combat the potential sea-sickness. However the rolling motion of a ship at sea and the simulated gimble conditions were diffrent and sea-sickness was not a problem, however staying awake and alert after taking drowsey-causing medication was a problem for some of the cast and crew, including Tim Curry.
The shots of the ship sailing on the ocean were made by compositing shots of a miniture Hispaniola over shots of a garbage ship on the Caribbean. Members of the production crew spent a week in the Caribbean shooting agarbage ship on the sea infront of sunsets, sunrises, and other Caribbean skys that the Hispaniola would later be inserted over.