Peter Pan

Barrie's "PeterPan" is a highly complex story.There are strong elements of social satire,moral ambiguities,deep psychological issues,and emotional traumas investigated in this play.Almost all these aspects have been eliminated in the animated version.Topics such as: dealing with our parents,abandonment,mixed feelings toward our loved ones,and developing a mature adult libidinal attitude have all been erased.Hook's escape at the end,and the return of Peter AND the Lost Boys to Neverland violate some of the core elements of the story.Those criticisms aside,this is really well done.The animation is excellent;the characterizations are first-rate;and by actually having Peter done by a boy,an element of a (benign )sexual rivalry between Wendy and Tiger Lily is introduced.The boys,pirates,and Indians are marvelous,and the crocodile is a masterpiece.(He does act more like a dog than a reptile;Nana come back in disguise,maybe?He reminds me of a miniature dachshund I owned for 13 years.)This is probably the best way to introduce anyone to Peter Pan.

Peter Pan is directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, and is a post war Disney animated film about a young man named Peter Pan that lives in Neverland, a place in the sky in which no one physically grows up. When Wendy, a teenage girl living in late 19th century Britain, decides she doesn't want to grow up, Peter escorts her and her two younger brothers to Neverland, where an evil pirate named Captain Hook is out to get revenge on Peter Pan.

Many older Disney films are considered classics, and Peter Pan is definitely one of them. From the characters, to the top notch animation, Peter Pan is one of the most iconic animated films of all time. Even 60 years later, most everyone has seen Peter Pan, from people who grew up with it when it came out, to children who are growing up with it today. Rewatching Peter Pan, however, I found a few problems with it that stand out along with all of the great aspects of the film.

To start, the animation in Peter Pan is absolutely timeless. Every hand drawn fame of the characters or environment looks amazing, and engulfs the viewer into the bright, whimsical place that is Neverland. All of the characters are also excellently animated, especially when in action. The two characters that stand out the most are that of Peter Pan and his rival, Captain Hook. This particular aspect demands that, in each scene, the viewers' eye is drawn to either of the two enemies, which was a very smart move on the filmmakers' part.

On the subject of characters, all of the voice acting is very good, with great performances being given by, specifically, that of Bobby Driscoll (as Peter) and Hans Conried (as both Hook and Mr. Darling). These two play off of each other brilliantly, washing away all suspicion of two men recording in a studio. The other actors also do very well, and aren't necessarily outshadowed by that of Driscoll or Conried.

One big issue I did find with Peter Pan was the pacing. It may be confusing to read, but the pacing in Peter Pan is so good that it makes a 77 minute film feel like 45 minutes. Each and every scene is so necessary that the film flies by very quickly. One blink could cause major confusion with how a character got from point A to point B, or where the characters even are. It may be hard to comprehend, but, once seeing the film, this problem is understandable.

Another issue I found with the film is the writing for Peter Pan himself. Peter Pan, as written in the original play, is a fun loving child that never grows up. He is supposed to be free- spirited, and a caring person. However, the script for this film seems to portray Peter as a cocky, selfish jerk. He feels as if he's above the Darling children, and, at points in the film, is pretty close to being hated by the audience. He begins to get a bit annoying, and has the viewer rooting for Wendy and her brothers, therefore indirectly rooting for Peter, rather than having us root for Peter himself.

Overall, Peter Pan isn't as fantastic as I had remembered it to be. Is it a good, timeless film? Yes, it is, but it has a few more problems that I see more clearly now than I used to. Anyone who isn't too hard on films will enjoy Peter Pan, and others will, too, because it is a pretty good movie.

If Walt Disney had never made another cartoon feature after BAMBI in 1942 he would still be remembered as the man who transformed the animated full length film into an art form. SNOW WHITE , PINOCCHIO , FANTASIA and BAMBI all belong on the list of the greatest achievements in American Film. Disney's next phase in full length animation took place after World War 2 and although these subsequent works may not match the brilliance and creativity of the earlier films, they still possess the superb craftsmanship the Disney artists are famous for. Missing from the new batch of films was the meticulous background detail that distinguished the earlier projects. Starting with Cinderella in 1950, the animators seemed to concentrate more on clean, uncluttered backgrounds but the drawing was just as professional as before , characters still brought to life with fluid, lifelike movements. Colors tended to be bright and splashy, but the cartoonists also knew when subtlety was called for, and scenes occurring at night were done with convincing atmosphere and shadows. The success of Cinderella confirmed that the movie-going public was still willing to be entertained and moved by a cartoon movie, and Disney and his artists forged ahead with an impressive array of animated features that to this day remain models of the Art Form. Perhaps the greatest of these was PETER PAN, first released in 1953. Based on J.M. Barrie's immortal play and novel about the little boy who doesn't want to grow up, PETER PAN had been a project stewing in Disney's mind for years. It wasn't until after the War that work on the film really took off. When the movie was completed and finally released to theaters, Disney seemed rather ambivalent about its achievement. He had a hard time defining who Peter actually was as a character but to millions of children in movie theaters all over the world, that didn't seem to matter. PETER PAN is not very deep story-wise. It lacks the heart and sentiment of the Barrie original, which to some degree is a good thing. Past stage versions and the spectacular 1924 Paramount film version could be cloyingly sentimental at times.

The Disney version is light and breezy and moves at a clip. The London sequence which opens the picture is spectacular in both the backdrops and the animation itself. When Peter, Wendy, John and Michael leap out of the Darling nursery window and fly over nighttime Edwardian London the viewer is treated to some of the most thrilling animation ever created for the movies. Later sections of the movie are equally enchanting, and the personage of the villainous Captain Hook is brought to great comic life by Disney animators and the marvelous vocal talent of Hans Conried. As with past Disney efforts, the song score is superb. "Second Star to the Right", "You Can Fly" and "Your Mother and Mine" are highlights in a tuneful soundtrack created by Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain.

PETER PAN holds a special place in my heart. It was the first movie I ever saw. As a 4 year old sitting with my father in an ornate, red carpeted movie palace in Cincinnati, Ohio, looking up at that big screen watching Peter and his friends swooping and flying over the roofs and spires of London was an overwhelming experience. I was hooked, so to speak, and it is an image that has stayed with me ever since. This is the film that initiated my love affair with movies. PETER PAN is one of the iconic films of the Baby Boom Generation.

This Disney cartoon classic offers flights of fancy that appeal directly to children's fertile imaginations. The ability to fly and be a devil-may-care youngster and never grow up, exploring a fantasy island of Indians, pirates, mermaids and mysterious caves is a powerful magnetic pull for young dreamers. The production's artwork is beautiful, and the characters and catchy tunes add to the pleasure of watching this movie. Peter Pan is nearly upstaged by his companion Tinker Bell, a temperamental pixie who is jealous and possessive of Peter's friendship with Wendy. Captain Hook and his shadow, the crocodile, the sniveling Smee, the beautiful mermaids, and the stoic Tiger Lily are all memorable characters. The catchy tunes also make this adventure one of Disney's best.

'Peter Pan' is undoubtedly one of the best of Disney's films. The story isn't too deep or meaningful, as, say, 'Bambi'. The power behind it is the familiarity. Every little kid yearns to haveadventures like Peter, so everyone identifies with the story. To tell the truth, the film is kind of episodic, like an extra-large TV cartoon special. The climax is fittingly climactic, but the final defeat of Hook isn't really powerful enough, which makes it disappointing after all the flashy swordplay. Speaking of Hook, he and Mr Smee are inevitably the scene-stealers, no matter how beloved Peter may be to children. The same way, in Hook/Smee scenes, if you throw in a hungry crocodile, the monstrous reptile will overshadow even Hook. Wendy really looks too old to be horrified about growing up, though, except for the sequences in which she fantasizes about Never Land with all the authenticity of a three-year-old. Never Land is beautiful, to say the least. The lush jungles and the mermaid lagoon is wonderfully brought to life, as is the eery Skull Island. This is the best showcase for the art direction. Also excellent is the detailed, meticulous design of the wooden hideout of the Lost Boys.

'Peter Pan' is one of my all-time favorites. It has humor, great animation, and the best part of it is a simplistic story that revolves around the desires of the child within all of us (I'm still twelve, so I never had to look too deep). A must-see for any animation fan, particularly Disney buffs, the young and the young-at-heart.

9/10