''Shipwrecked'' ( no, Haakon Haakonsen) is a 1990 family

action-adventure film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Nils Gaup Nils Gaup (born 12 April 1955) is a Sámi film director from Norway. Career Gaup was born in Kautokeino, Finnmark County in Northern Norway. He first intended to become an athlete but from 1974 to 1978 he went to drama school and studied at the ...

and starring Stian Smestad and Gabriel Byrne. The film is a dramatization of Norwegian author Oluf Falck-Ytter's book ''Haakon Haakonsen: En Norsk Robinson'' (''Haakon Haakonsen: A Norwegian Robinson''). The movie was produced by a consortium of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n companies and released in the US in an

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

version by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

Plot

Haakon Haakonsen (Stian Smestad), a young Norwegian boy in the 1850s, becomes the sole support of his family as a

cabin boy ''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...

on a ship after his father is injured. Jens (

Trond Peter Stamsø Munch Trond Peter Stamsø Munch (born November 13, 1960) is a Norwegian actor. He graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of Theater and has been engaged with the Trøndelag Theater since 1989. He is married to the writer and playwright Tale N� ...

), who was a shipmate of Haakon's father and a friend of the Haakonsens, agrees to be a "sea daddy" to Haakon, teaching him seamanship and acting as an older brother during their voyage. At first, Haakon has a difficult time adjusting to life at sea, but eventually earns the respect of his shipmates. After shore-leave in London, a British naval officer, Lt. Howell, joins the crew ostensibly to provide protection from pirates. Unbeknownst to the crew, he is actually a notorious pirate named John Merrick, who has murdered the real Howell and taken his identity. Haakon learns that "Howell" has secretly brought guns onto the ship, and Howell attempts to persuade Haakon not to say anything about the guns to the captain. After the mysterious death of the admired

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

(who had been poisoned by Howell's first mate), Howell assumes command. Upon arriving in Sydney, shore-leave is abruptly cancelled and a suspicious new batch of sailors come on board. After departing Australia, Haakon discovers a

stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other cas ...

(Louisa Milwood-Haigh) named Mary who turns into a

love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

. Work on board ship soon becomes terrible for Haakon, Jens, and the original sailors, which intensifies when the new captain finds Mary and demands whoever has been fraternizing with her to show his face. Haakon admits responsibility, and the captain sentences him to be lashed with the

cat o'nine tails The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip or flail that originated as an implement for severe physical punishment, notably in the Royal Navy and British Army, and as a judicial punishment in Britain ...

. Jens protests, saying that whipping Haakon would be an effective death penalty, to which Howell orders that Jens will administer the punishment to Haakon instead of Howell. However, the court martial is interrupted by a terrible

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

that damages the mainmast, then sinks the ship. Haakon manages to rescue Mary from the brig but in the confusion is separated from the crew and wakes alone up on a deserted

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

island. After searching the island, Haakon discovers treasure as well as

wanted poster A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

s for an English pirate named Merrick (

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...

), who looks identical to Howell. (In the first scene of the film, the real Howell was murdered by Merrick, who then stole the identity as a doppelganger). Haakon discovers that the suspicious shipmates (i.e. the new batch of abusive shipmates who were brought on after Merrick's captaincy) are really

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, who stored the treasure during a hot pursuit from naval forces, and will soon return to the island to extract their loot. Following a self-training with a sword and gun, Haakon manages to use a horn when a

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

attacks. This makes the gorilla docile, who then starts to befriend Haakon, behaving like a pet. Haakon devises a set of booby traps anticipating that the pirates will soon return for their treasure. Although Haakon adjusts to the island, he misses Jens, and more so his family back in Norway. One day, Haakon sees smoke from a distant island and tries various attempts to get there on a raft of his own. Upon successfully arriving there, he finds a village of

natives Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

doing a night dance. Haakon encounters Mary in the middle of an altercation with several of the natives. Misinterpreting the situation, Haakon reveals himself and frightens the natives with a gunshot until he backs into Jens, who explains that the natives are peaceful and saved his and Mary's lives. The reunited trio happily depart for Haakon's island the next day. Shortly thereafter, the three friends witness the arrival of the pirates along with Berg and Steine (Knut Walle and Harald Brenna), two of Jens' friends who survived the sinking ship and are being held prisoner. After Haakon's traps fail to work, he quickly devises a plan to save their friends. At night, Mary sneaks aboard the ship and frees the remaining crew who manage to overpower their pirate guards and retake the ship. Meanwhile, on land, Haakon and Jens manage to distract the pirates long enough to free Berg and Steine and narrowly make it back to the ship, stranding the pirates on the island. Haakon, Jens, Mary and the liberated crew return to their native Norway. Each man keeps a small share of the treasure, with Haakon deciding to use his share to get his impoverished family out of debt. Back home in Norway, Haakon reunites with his family and introduces them to Mary. His parents agree to take her in until she can reestablish contact with her own relatives.

Cast of characters

* Haakon Haakonson (Stian Smestad) - A Norwegian youth who signs on as cabin boy aboard a ship whose captain is his father's close friend. At first he is shy and timid from years of being teased and picked on because he is poor, but after being stranded alone on the island and forced to survive, he becomes more confident. * John Merrick (

) - The pirate captain who poses as a member of the English military, he eventually takes over the ship Haakon is on after the original captain mysteriously dies and proceeds to make life difficult for everyone. * Jens (

) - The family friend of Haakon's family and a sailor. He sailed with Haakon's father and considers himself Haakon's guardian on the ship after promising Haakon's father to look out for him. * Mary (Louisa Milwood-Haigh) - A young stowaway searching for her uncle in Calcutta. She escaped from a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

in Australia, where she was placed after the death of her parents. * Berg (Knut Walle) - One of Jens' shipmates. * Steine (Harald Brenna) - One of Jens' shipmates. * The Captain (

Kjell Stormoen Kjell Stormoen (24 March 1921 – 22 October 2010) was a Norwegian actor, scenographer and theatre director. He was born in Bergen as a son of Trygve H. Stormoen (1896–1971) and Hjørdis Henriksen (1897–1975). He was a first cousin of Guri S ...

)

Production

The original 1873 Norwegian novel, aimed at young readers, was inspired by another adventure classic, Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

''. The film was shot on location in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom in July to October 1989. In the original version of the film, the Norwegian characters speaks Norwegian to each other and English to English characters, while the English characters speaks English only. In the international version, all lines in Norwegian are dubbed over in English, in most cases by the Norwegian actors themselves.

Reception

The film received favorable reviews as a well-made adventure movie for all ages.

Awards

''Shipwrecked'' was nominated for three

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

s in 1992: * Best Family Motion Picture — Drama * Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture — Stian Smestad * Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Motion Picture — Louisa Haigh

External links

* * * *
Commonsensemedia.com review of ''Shipwrecked''
{{Robinson Crusoe Pirate films 1990 films 1990s children's adventure films Walt Disney Pictures films Norwegian adventure films Norwegian-language films English-language Norwegian films Films directed by Nils Gaup Films set in the 1850s Films set in 1859 Films set in Norway Films set in England Films shot in Fiji Films shot in Norway Films shot in England Films shot in Spain Films based on Norwegian novels Films scored by Patrick Doyle Films based on Robinson Crusoe Seafaring films 1990s English-language films