Shared with you
This movie was pitched to Disney by John Musker and Ron Clements several times: (1) In 1985, during production on The Black Cauldron (1985), but they ended up assigned to direct The Great Mouse Detective (1986). (2) After directing The Little Mermaid (1989), but they ended up assigned to direct Aladdin (1992). (3) After directing Aladdin (1992), but the studio wanted them to direct Hercules (1997). Musker and Clements agreed to direct that movie only if they were allowed to make this movie right after it.
This movie took ten years to make, having had the longest production cycle of any movie in Disney's Post Renaissance Era, after it went through production hell, though the production mainly started after the release of Hercules (1997).
The human characters are hand-drawn. John Silver's cyborg leg, arm, eye and the robot B.E.N. are flat-rendered CGI. The ship was created using Disney's "Deep Canvas" process. In some scenes, all three types of animation appear simultaneously.
When Jim's mother sits with him on his bed to read his book, on his bookshelf, there is a Stitch doll in an astronaut suit.
The name of the ship, "R.L.S. Legacy", is a reference to the book's ("Treasure Island") author, Robert Louis Stevenson.
A sequel was planned with Willem Dafoe set to voice the villainous Ironbeard, but it was cancelled based on this movie's failure at the box office.