Peter Pan (Disney film)
| ♥ | This article is dedicated to Bobby Driscoll, the voice actor of Peter Pan, who died of congestive heart failure at the age of 31 (March 3, 1937 - March 30, 1968). |
| This article was copied (instead of imported) from the now-deleted Greatest Movies Wiki. |
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Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the 14th Disney animated feature film. While it might not be a big hit as Cinderella, it was a moderate success at the box office among critics and fans alike.
Peter Pan is the final Disney animated feature in the Canon released through RKO before Walt Disney founded his own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution, later in 1953 after the film was released. Peter Pan is also the final Disney film in which all nine members of Disney's Nine Old Men worked together as directing animators. It is also the second Disney animated film starring Kathryn Beaumont, the late Heather Angel, and the late Bill Thompson after their roles in Disney’s 13th animated feature, Alice in Wonderland.
A sequel, titled Return to Never Land, was released in 2002, and a series of direct-to-DVD prequels focusing on Tinker Bell began in 2008. A live-action adaptation of the film was released on Disney+ in 2023.
Why It Can Fly
- Beautiful animation.
- Great cast of characters, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy Darling, Tiger Lily, Mr. Smee, and Captain James Hook.
- In fact, Tinker Bell is one of the film's most popular and iconic characters and she even became one of the Disney company's official mascots alongside Disney's own Mickey Mouse.
- Both Tinker Bell and Peter Pan receive great character development throughout the film:
- Peter Pan starts as a cocky, arrogant, and immature boy with an intense dislike of adulthood but eventually matures throughout the film when he risks his life to protect Tinker Bell, Wendy, her brothers, and the Lost Boys from Captain Hook and his pirate crew and selflessly escorting Wendy and her brothers home to London despite his desire to have them stay in Neverland.
- Tinker Bell starts as a jealous brat who believes that she deserves all the attention of Peter at the expense of hurting Wendy Darling whom she sees as a rival, but becomes nicer later on in the film.
- The Neverland setting is amazing.
- Awesome songs, like the timeless classic, "You Can Fly!"
- The action scenes are fun and cool.
- Captain James Hook is an entertaining villain and the late Hans Conried did a great job voicing him.
- It has a sequel, Return to Neverland, which was more or less passable.
- The film was so popular that the characters Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Tinker Bell, Mr. Smee, and Captain James Hook became meet-and-greet characters at the Disney Parks.
- Hilarious slapstick moments between Captain James Hook and Tick-Tock the Crocodile.
Bad Qualities
- Although the Native Americans or Indians are just the figment of the imagination of 1800s'-1900 British children, just like everything in Neverland is attuned to the imagination of children (pirates, fairies, mermaids, cannibals...), they double down with racial stereotypes with their song "What Made the Red Man Red?". To be fair though, back in the era this movie was made, this kind of stuff was acceptable, also because there is a similar depiction in the original J.M. Barrie's play and work, and the film itself is a comedy. The controversy, like the cases of many other films, started decades later. Luckily, Return to Neverland and the 2023 live-action adaptation of the film got rid of most of the racism several years later.
- Peter Pan can be quite unlikable in some scenes, especially when he mocks Wendy, despite being his friend.
- Gentleman Starkey, who was Hook’s butler and first mate in the original novel, hardly has any character development, screen time, or lines.
Reception
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times criticized the film's lack of faithfulness to the original play claiming it "has the story but not the spirit of Peter Pan as it was plainly conceived by its author and is usually played on the stage." Nevertheless, he praised the colors are "more exciting and the technical features of the job, such as the synchronization of voices with the animation of lips, are very good." However, Time gave the film a highly favorable review, not referring to the changes from the original play.
Rotten Tomatoes reported the film received an approval rating of 81% based on 36 reviews with an average score of 7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it doesn't delve deeply into the darkness of J.M. Barrie's tale, Peter Pan is a heartwarming, exuberant film with some great tunes.".
Trivia
- Peter Pan was the late Michael Jackson's favorite movie. That's why he named the ranch that owned after Neverland.
- Wendy's facial design is recycled from Alice from Alice in Wonderland. They are both voiced by the same voice actress, who was Kathryn Beaumont, who eventually recycled her voice for Alice.
- Hans Conried, the voice of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in this film, later worked on Sleeping Beauty when he performed live-action movements as King Stefan but was himself replaced by Taylor Holmes for the voice of Stefan for unknown reasons, making it unknown who voiced Lord Duke.
- This was the last Disney animated film to be distributed by RKO Radio Pictures before Disney established its own distribution company Buena Vista Film Distribution Co, Inc. that same year.