THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It is bound for every human being to grow up, but the process can be different for every one.
PLOT
Based on the play by JM Barrie, Peter Pan follows Wendy Darling (Kathryn Beaumont), who lives in London with her parents George & Mary (Heather Angel), as well her younger brothers John & Michael and their pet dog Nana. George has grown tired of the children acting unpractical thanks to Wendy sharing imaginary stories of the titular boy who never grew up in the island 'Never Land'. Wanting her children to be more mature, he insists for his daughter to have her own room, separate from the boys' nursery. When he and Mary go out, the stories are proven to be true when Pan himself (Bobby Driscoll) and his mute pixie companion Tinker Bell visit. Wendy helps the immortal boy by sewing him back with his own shadow. When she tells him that her father wants her to grow up, he takes her and the boys with him to Never Land so they can live without hurry. Sharing pixie dust from Tink, the kids are able to fly like him through the star that takes them to the island. Apart from a native tribe and Peter's young brethren the Lost Boys residing within the island, Never Land is anchored off by a band of pirates led by Captain Hook. The pirate vows to kill Pan for cutting off his left hand and feeding it to a ferocious crocodile. Ever since the incident, the reptile has been craving to devour him, taunting him by alerting its presence with the sound of an alarm clock it swallowed. When Hook spots Pan for the first time in days, he shoots at him and the Darlings with a cannon. The immortal boy has the children take cover for safety. As he does so, Tinker Bell goes straight to all six of the Lost Boys and tricks them to attack Wendy, tricking them to believe she's a giant bird. She does this out of jealousy for her attention she's gained hanging with Peter. The boys do throw weapons at the eldest daughter and cause her to fall, but Pan luckily catches her in time. When the boys explain what Tink had told them, he responds by banishing his friend for at least a week. After this, Peter has Wendy meet a group of mermaids, whereas John & Michael join the Lost Boys in a playful fight against the Natives. This time, the tribal chief tells them his daughter Tiger Lily has been taken and demands her back or will kill all the boys by sunset. Wendy does meet the mermaids, but even they act jealous towards her and choose to tease her. The playful banter gets halted when Pan spots Hook and his first mate Mr. Smee hold Tiger Lily hostage. Hook is doing this to lure him out at Skull Rock. With ease, Pan is able to free the young native and defeat Hook, having him get chased away by the crocodile in the process. Once he takes Tiger Lily back home, the chief honors him. While John & Michael enjoy their time on Never Land, Wendy becomes homesick and encourages the Lost Boys to come home with her, certain they'll be adopted. Just when they agree to it, they get abducted by Hook and his crew thanks to him swaying Tink into giving away their hideout. Holding them all captive on the ship, Hook leaves a time boat in the hideout to kill Pan. When Tink overhears this, she chooses to redeem himself by saving him, snatching the bomb from him before it explodes. When she survives the destruction, she and Pan reunite to save everyone. When the immortal boy duels with Hook again, all the children defend themselves against the crew. Hook does try to slay his enemy, but falls straight into the sea and get chased away by the crocodile once more. After a triumphant victory, Peter commands the ship and decides to take the Darlings home. Just as the said children do, John & Michael are sound asleep but Wendy would wake up to share her story with her returning parents. She admits that she is ready to grow up, but George has grown to soften his position for her to have her own room. The film would end with him looking into the sky with his wife and daughter, recognizing a ship from his childhood that happens to be the same ship Peter commands.
THOUGHTS
I’ve said before that I grew up in the 2000s with the already stacked catalog of animated films produced by Walt Disney and because of that, it was a no brainer for me to come around this. At some point after binging on my favorite films from the Renaissance Era, I was taking a step from the past and became captivated with the stuff that came beforehand. When it came to this one, I can’t deny being entertained of what was given. To this day, I still think the animation is aging well due to each character design and each location is so impressively distinctive to remember. Never Land may be simple in comparison to other fictional worlds, but it’s so interesting to look at you’ll wish you would take at least one step to explore. While there are things that prevent it from being perfect, which I’ll get to later, I’ve been able to find some kind of joy every time I choose to rewatch it because I have been able to capture the big theme that is explored thanks to incredible execution by the directing team of Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske. They express the lesson that is spoken yet unspoken at the same time: In life, everyone is bound to grow up and become responsible. If you avoid maturity, you won’t able to strive like you think you would. And the second you choose to adapt, your life is truly getting started. We adore Peter Pan because there is a part of him inside each of us. He always left a positive mark on us for embracing youth which is important because it’s within our youth where we find reasons to be happy and the song 'You Can Fly' accurately tells us to live in the moment like he does. He teaches that to the Lost Boys, which is a good but also bad thing. He avoids growing up because he’s afraid of losing the spirit that makes him happy. It is through his adventure with the Darlings where it makes you smarter and more capable of what you already can do. Wendy did have her moments where she was still a child at heart, yet still maintained the maturity she had gained and her time in Never Land only enhanced it. I mean I don’t what else could prove she’s still childish in spirit if not trying to kiss Peter upon first meeting him. While she wants to be happy and enjoy herself, she knows that growing up is inevitable and for her, she just wants to be prepared. And apart from helping take care of her brothers, she proved she was ready whenever she spoke up. John & Michael being younger proves they got more energy to share, but the inspiration they get from their sister shows how self aware they are. They don’t want to grow up, but they have a better job accepting it’s part of life. Although the Darlings may have went home in the end, they’ll never forget the positive impact Peter had on them. And their dad remembering the ship only solidifies how the memories of our childhood never go away. While this story is about children preparing to grow up, it’s ironic that they become surrounded with adults that never grew up mentally. I’m sure Tinker Bell has to be older than Pan because she does look like an adult compared to him. It was definitely hard to like her at first since she acts very stubborn. It’s clear that even she’s protective of a friend towards Peter when her jealousy towards Wendy kicked in and it led to her unwise decision. I believe she is able to earn her redemption because it proved that in the darkest scenarios, friends will find a way to prove their devotion and loyalty. She did have her dislike with Wendy, but the last thing she wanted was Peter to die and her quick thinking to save him was definitely breathtaking to witness. And the fact that she takes her home by exposing the ship with her pixie dust still proves that hate isn’t permanent for everyone. When you look back, you know you wouldn’t find excitement with this story if there wasn’t a threat along the way and we get the most entertaining kind with the menacing Captain Hook. Each adaptation of Peter Pan has grown to be iconic and a big thanks is going to go to how this villain is portrayed. You wouldn’t be able to appreciate it had it not been for the standard left behind from Hans Conried’s iconic voice performance in this film (who also voiced George). He makes it easy for us to love hating this villain for embracing him as one whose decision to act vengeful makes him extremely dangerous. While he is willing to act ferocious to those who cross him, he sadly cannot match that energy when he encounters the crocodile craving him. The 180 of him going from tough guy to cry baby is hilarious and it really gets topped off when his body skips the ocean like a rock to get away from the reptile. The only thing he has on the bright side is having a loyal first mate out of Mr. Smee. It’s ironic how he seems to have some type of kind heart when he’s align with such a villain and you sense all of it thanks to impressive voice acting by Bill Thompson. The hilarity kicks in so much when he acts so dim witted at the worst time possible for his captain. He accidentally almost shot at Hook as well as hit him with a paddle when aiming at the croc. I get the loudest laugh at that moment and I have to pause the movie tog get it out of my system. If you weren’t laughing at that, you were probably laughing at how he unknowingly shaved a seagull and thought he beheaded his captain on accident. If there wasn’t comedic relief like Smee, I don’t know if the movie would still be bearable to sit through. I naturally can enjoy the movie for what it’s going for, but there are a lot of things that didn’t make much sense to me which make their own mark like the sensitive depiction towards Tiger Lily’s tribe. Like for instance, I admire Michael for trying to bring Nana along, but it’s kinda dumb that he didn’t untie the dog before sharing pixie dust. If I gotta go any deeper I gotta ask, have the mermaids ever been jealous towards Tiger Lily? Peter may be chill with everybody that doesn’t want to kill him, but the mermaids prove to be jealous towards other girls when it came to Wendy and since Tiger Lily lives in Never Land with her tribe, I kinda wonder if there is animosity. And I think we can all agree Tinker Bell barely put any thought in her plan to have killed. I mean she should’ve known the Lost Boys were gonna tell Peter why they attacked her. Also, why would the chief assume the boys abducted Tiger Lily? If they have been pretending to feud this whole time, then he should know Hook is the only one capable of doing so. If you ask me, this was weirdest way to give more tension. On top of that, how does word get out so fast for Peter to banish Tink? Hardly anybody lives in Never Land since it’s just the boys, the tribe and non talking animals. If Smee overheard it from someone, it wouldn’t hurt to get clarified. And lastly, how did Hook get his crew hyped up to abduct the boys? They looked bored as hell waiting for Pan when first introduced and if Hook made some kind of empty promise, even that should be clear. Ignore this and you’re good to go. To wrap up, 1953’s Peter Pan deserves to be a Disney classic for its focus on giving joy and embracing maturity. You want a movie that does both? This is a top candidate.
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