Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a pretty big pop culture icon that is far older than many people might expect. Beginning life as a play titled Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up or Peter and Wendy in 1904, the story of the forever child from Neverland created by J.M. Barrie was pretty well received when audience members first saw him on-stage. This influence was enough to earn the play several other versions throughout the years including a novel made in 1911 (also created by Barrie), a pantomime and stage musical, TV specials and several film versions, including a 1924 silent film, a 2003 live adaptation, and an animated version created by the magical company themselves, Disney in 1953, which is more than likely where a lot of people saw the character first and were properly introduced to his world. In London during the early 19^th century, the Darling family, mainly the three children, Wendy, John and Michael (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont, Paul Collins and Tommy Luske)  love to tell stories about Peter Pan, but these are met with ‘’poppycock’’ remarks from their father, Mr Darling (voiced by Hans Conried) who in a rage tells Wendy that its time for her to actually grow up and leave the nursery. When the parents leave the children at home alone to go to a party, Peter Pan (voiced by Bobby Driscoll) turns up at their windowsill and after discovering that Wendy will leave the nursery tomorrow, he agrees to take her and her two brothers away to Neverland so they won’t ever have to grow up. Upon arriving, they are immediately met with hostility by the pirates, led by the fearsome Captain Hook (also voiced by Hans Conried), Pan’s arch enemy who wishes him dead for cutting off his hand. So, its sword-action and high-flying adventure on the horizon in this new environment as Peter Pan introduces the Darling children to his way of life that Wendy may start to realise isn’t really for her anymore. Being one of the movies that returned the company to form after Disney went through the war effort, Peter Pan is a likeable film that features elements that works for everybody even to this day. It contains its little hiccups (some fairly problematic by today’s standards), but with a decent understanding of the source material, memorable characters, and an overall inviting atmosphere, it is still a likeable enough film to look back on.

The movie seems to get the main features of the J.M. Barrie story down pretty well, even though it really misses a lot of the darker and more introspective stuff that came with it. In site of how straightforward the film is in terms of its scripting, the film has about eight writers attached, including Ted Sears, Erdman Penner, Bill Peet, Winston Hibler, Joe Rinaldi, Milt Banta, Ralph Wright and Bill Cottrell. While it seems a little extreme, you can feel all these people coming together to take the most enjoyable and casually approachable qualities of the story and presenting them in the most appealing light. This one goes for a more charmingly light-hearted adventurous feel which works really nicely with the way in which Disney delivers it, featuring the familiar beats and roles of the story and going through them at a breezy, fun fashion. It doesn’t really rely on its narrative and mainly grabs its audience with its sense of child-like engagement and energy that a lot of them will be able to relate to. It has a nice balance of action and comedy for a faster-pace experience, while also featuring enough slower and more emotional driven moments so that the movie never feels overwhelming in either direction, proving that despite no having a lot of the more mature and deeper qualities of the story, it doesn’t entirely toss them aside and still keeps the heart and message of the story at its centre. The direction of this film, led by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson does a good job at capturing a lot of the feelings that children at the time (and even nowadays) would feel and it just allows them to have fun with this adventure. Its not an overly long sit, its weaker focus on narrative actually allows its audience to keep invested in the simple dilemmas the characters are going through, and while there is this underlying element of Wendy being detached from Neverland as a metaphor for her growing out of childhood against the other kids who are more willing to drown in the chaotic youthful world and even disown and forget their previous life, it doesn’t pretend to be more intelligent than it actually is. While that seems strange as the original source did take things more seriously than this version does and actually has a strong thoughtful side to it that, but for a different version more aimed at kids for a lighter adventure, this movie does it quite nicely.

Most of the characters feel pretty faithful to how they were portrayed in the stories and work within the Disney atmosphere whether it be their designs, their vocal performances and their overall personalities. It’s a story that fits very nicely within Disney’s styling and the characters are also very clearly ‘’Disneyified’’ to keep everything squeaky clean for the kids. Peter Pan lacks that sense of edgy insanity that came with the original character which makes him a bit more ‘’typical man-child energy’’ while still feeling like a competent leader. As a whole, Peter isn’t actually that great of a character in this; he’s kind of just there to be a placeholder for the title and while seeing him flying around and doing his action is fun and all, there’s not a lot of intrigue there and that comes from that distinct lack of emotional depth that came from the original tale. Also, the voice actor for him, Bobby Driscoll, is a little too old-fashioned; while most of the other voice actors still work despite clearly being from an older time period, his just feels a little too dated and too much a ‘’period of the time voice’’. On the other hand, Kathryn Beaumont (who had previously did voice work for Disney as ‘’Alice’’ in Alice in Wonderland) does a really good job as Wendy, handling a character with not a lot to work with and making her work really nicely and still get across a fair amount of character. The Darling brothers as well as all of the Lost Boys are okay but pretty forgettable overall outside of their designs and a few cute moments, but they don’t really do much in the film and they serve their purposes fine enough. Most of the other Neverland creatures are pretty generic (and even stereotypical in certain places) with the only exception being Tinker Bell, whose cutesy, dainty, and pretty designs balanced out by her vengeful temper and almost bloody hatred for Wendy makes for a memorable character, but the real comedy gold comes from the villains. Captain Hook is still to this day a fantastic funny Disney Villain; his interactions with his first mate Smee (voiced by Bill Thompson) as well as his confrontations with Peter Pan and the crocodile that is trying to eat him, are very well handled and his gentile demeanor being offset by his violent outburst and occasional moments of grovelling fear leads to great comedic potential, memorable scenes and a wonderful character overall.

The movie was one of the first fully length movies Disney made after the war finished and it allowed them to have more time dedicated to animation and their budget. Overall, the movie is very nice looking and has a very calming dream-like atmosphere to its color scheme. Its not overly bright and slightly dulled in nature so that the lighter moments can seem almost other-worldly and the darker moments can look blacker and colder. It’s a nice visual look that has a very story-book quality to it and while not featuring the most outlandish or wildest visuals for something that would be a child-like fantasy land, it does still create an identity and people would grow up envisioning Neverland to look like. The music and the songs written by Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain are honestly nothing special in comparison to other Disney properties that were done even before this movie came out. None of them are bad necessarily and some of them have decent melodies, but the movie doesn’t feel like it required music, so the songs don’t provide much and therefore leave very little impact. Weirdly enough, What Made the Red Man Red (despite its ‘’awkward’’ portrayal of Native Americans) is easily the best song in the movie, with its great melody, memorable (if uncomfortable) lyrics, and the one song that could leave you humming afterwards. The movie’s comedy works really well thanks to its mostly humorous villain. While a majority of the movie has its fair share of fun line-reads and moments throughout from the rest of the cast, Hook and Smee are really where the good funny stuff comes from and it mostly comes down to the brilliant slapstick. The scenes involving those two and the crocodile are some of the funniest moments done by Disney in general; with the fantastically quick yet brutal actions matched with the clear fear instilled in the character and the amazing expressions they give him, its truly some of the best parts of the movie.

Peter Pan may not be a movie that is considered one of the greatest works done by Disney, yet it seems to hold a special place in the hearts of those that grew up with it and the reason for that seems to be the connection with how the movie operates. It seems to capture a lot of the feelings and excitements of being a kid and being a part of this magical journey and that’s why it doesn’t need a lot of the deeper stuff that was part of the original novel, it was able to capture the spirit down correctly and that worked for so many people. The action and comedy is strong, most of the voice cast is pretty good, the villains are amazing, and even if it isn’t the most faithful or even arguably the best version of the story (there’s a Fox Kids animated show that is probably the best and balances the child-like and adult content much better), its still a very connectable movie that will still be loved by kids and adults for years to come. Just appreciate it doesn’t have Hugh Jackman singing Nirvana for no reason, return to the second star to the right and relive the childhood wonders of Peter Pan in Neverland.