Overall, the adventure provided by Peter Pan, start to finish, is fun as hell. I can see why this story has survived, as well as the movie, for generations. It’s entertaining, very lighthearted, and it is a good reminder not to take life too serious, otherwise you’ll lose its innocence.
How in the world did I miss this as a kid? My mother, who was a huge Disney fan, always put us through the ropes with Disney material. From Snow White to TRON, there was never a Disney movie left behind in our household…except Peter Pan. So, when you read this review of Peter Pan, just please take note that the reviewer is experiencing it for the first time. How many reviewers of this film can say such a thing?
Anyway, the film is pretty darn good with a simple message — keep your childhood as long as you can because adulthood is far too serious. It’s a good message for kids and adults alike, and it sets the tone for the rest of the film, which is basically a huge childhood adventure through different scenarios of wackiness and mayhem.
The film begins with Wendy and crew being swept away by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell into Neverland, where they have the opportunity to live out their lives as a young kids, instead of growing up in the real world. Not a bad deal, if you’re going for that Cocoon philosophy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9BSsIX2j7M). Upon arrival in Neverland, tension is established been Wendy and Tinker Bell, both fighting for Peter’s attention — at least Tinker Bell is, maybe Wendy unknowingly, and continues until towards the end of the movie. The bitterness from Tinker Bell will play a role in the overall adventure. Eventually, the tension boils over so much that it leads Wendy into the clutches of the evil Captain Hook.
Captain Hook is the antagonist of the story, if you couldn’t figure that out by the name, and is hellbent on tracking down Peter Pan and enacting revenge on him for Hook’s loss of a hand, which ended up as a crocodile snack. To get his revenge, Hook first kidnaps, and quickly loses, Pan’s Native American friend Tiger Lily, but the plan is thwarted thanks to Pan’s cunningness and candor. This rescue is thrilling, as it is ridiculous, which makes for a good adventure and sticks to Peter Pan’s overall theme. That’s one thing that is remarkable about this film is that it never loses sight of its intended message, which is staying young, wacky, and fun.
Having failed to lure and kill Pan, Hook then strikes up a deal with Tinker Bell, who is still bitter towards Wendy, and acquires Wendy to lure Pan out more. This, of course, spirals the story towards the final showdown between Pan and Hook.
Now, in between these moments , we’re introduced to a variety of characters related to Pan’s group, which includes the Lost Boys, a band of misfits, and some pirate baddies from Hook’s side of the ship. The secondary characters here are beautiful, as well as oddball, which just adds to the adventure and theme of childishness (in a good way) to the film. As a collective, all the characters do their best to add to the film’s tone and style, which makes the adventure of watching it even more playful.
Overall, the adventure provided by Peter Pan, start to finish, is fun as hell. I can see why this story has survived, as well as the movie, for generations. It’s entertaining, very lighthearted, and it is a good reminder not to take life too serious, otherwise you’ll lose its innocence.
On the quality side of this release, it’s absolutely gorgeous! It’s flawless and Disney did a fantastic clean-up job on it. As with all the releases they have done since re-releasing some of its classics on Blu-ray, Disney has intricately cleaned up the imperfections on the film to release colorful and new-looking animated films. It has worked on all the Blu-ray releases so far, and Peter Pan is no different. Again, it’s absolutely gorgeous.
In terms of special features, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to on the digital and Blu-ray release:
• Stories from Walt’s Office: Walt & Flight
• A “Darling” Conversation with Wendy & John: Kathryn Beaumont and Paul Collins
• You Can Fly” – A new “Oke” rendition and graphic look of the classic Disney song, “You Can Fly,” with fun lyrics on screen and lots of your favorite “Peter Pan” characters.
• “Never Smile at a Crocodile”
• DisneyView
• Sing-along Version of the film: Sing along with your favorite songs from the movie.
• Growing Up with Nine Old Men
• Deleted Song: “The Pirate’s Song”
• Deleted Song: “Never Smile at a Crocodile”
• Deleted Song: “The Boatswain Song”
• Deleted Scene: “The Journey Home”
• Deleted Scene: “Alternate Arrival”
• Disney Song Select
◦ “The Second Star to the Right”
◦ “You Can Fly”
◦ “A Pirate’s Life”
◦ “Following the Leader”
◦ “Your Mother and Mine”
• Audio Commentary Hosted by Roy Disney
• Music and More
◦ ”Never Land”: The Lost Song
◦ Music Video: “Never Land”
◦ Music Video: “The Second Star to the Right”
• Backstage Disney
◦ You Can Fly: The Making of ‘Peter Pan’
◦ In Walt’s Words: “Why I Made ‘Peter Pan’”
◦ Tinker Bell: A Fairy’s Tale
◦ The Peter Pan That Almost Was
◦ The “Peter Pan” Story – An original featurette for the film created in 1952.
There are a lot of features included on the Digital/Blu-ray release and you won’t be disappointed.
