Google’s Saturday doodle is in honor of what would have been Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson’s 160th birthday.
The doodle, found on Google.com, features a pirate, pirate ship, the coveted chest of gold, and the always ominous skull and crossbones flag.
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Stevenson is perhaps best known for his books “Treasure Island,” “Kidnapped,” and “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” though he also dabbled in essays, travel writing, short stories, novels and romances, as well as poetry, plays and biography during his 20-year career, according to a Stevenson Web site maintained by Edinburgh Napier University.
“Treasure Island” was first published in 1883 and told the story of Jim Hawkin’s quest for buried treasure. It prompted several film adaptations, including a 1950 production from Disney, which was the studio’s first live-action film.
“Jekyll and Hyde” and “Kidnapped” were published three years later in 1886, telling the stories of a physician with a dark side and a boy’s quest for his inheritance, respectively. A 1941 film version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” starred Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner and was nominated for three Academy Awards.
In his later life, Stevenson settled in the Samoan Islands with his extended family, where he was buried after his death in December 1894.
Stevenson is not the first artist to which Google has paid homage with its doodle recently. In October, the company honored what would have been musician Dizzy Gillespie’s 93rd birthday, as well as the would-be 70th birthday of former Beatle John Lennon. In September, the company celebrated its own 12th birthday with a doodle drawing of a cake.
Several cartoons have also received the Google doodle treatment. Google commemorated the 50th anniversary of “The Flintstones” with a picture on its home page, and it celebrated Halloween with the help of Scooby Doo. This spring, in celebration of the 30 years of Pac-Man, Google also converted its Google.com homepage to a full, playable game.
