Robert Louis Stevenson is the original creator behind several anime and manga works as the author of the 1883 adventure novel Treasure Island. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850, Stevenson was a novelist, poet, and travel writer whose work has become a cornerstone of adventure fiction. Treasure Island, initially serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks from 1881 to 1882, introduced iconic characters such as the cunning Long John Silver and established many enduring tropes associated with pirate lore, including treasure maps marked with an "X," one-legged sailors with parrots, and the tropical setting for a hunt for buried gold.

Stevenson's novel has served as the source material for numerous Japanese anime adaptations. One of the earliest and most notable is New Treasure Island, a 52-minute television special that aired on January 3, 1965. Produced by Mushi Production and directed by Osamu Tezuka, this adaptation was a fanciful retelling of Stevenson’s original story that reimagined the characters as animals, with Jim Hawkins as a rabbit and Long John Silver as a wolf. While it shares a title with Tezuka’s own 1947 manga, the special is explicitly based on Stevenson’s novel.

The novel was adapted again as Animal Treasure Island, a feature film released by Toei Animation on March 20, 1971. This version also utilized an animal cast, with Jim Hawkins as a young boy accompanied by a mouse friend, and Captain Silver as a central character. The film notably featured story contributions from future acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki. Another major adaptation is the 26-episode anime television series Treasure Island, which aired from October 8, 1978, to April 1, 1979. Produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Osamu Dezaki, this series offered a more faithful rendition of the original plot while expanding on character backstories, particularly that of Long John Silver.

The recurring presence of Stevenson’s work in anime underscores his significance as a foundational literary source. His original story provides a classic narrative framework of adventure, betrayal, and moral complexity that has proven adaptable across different eras and creative visions, from the character-driven animal allegories of the 1960s and 1970s to the character-focused dramatic expansions of the late 1970s. The sustained interest in adapting Treasure Island for Japanese audiences reflects the story’s universal themes and its lasting influence as a work that defined the adventure genre.