Peter Pan {1953}

{Animated Disney Film #14 of 52}

It's been nearly three months since the last entry in my animated Disney film series! Three months! I'm looking forward to getting back into this series, and I hope you guys are, too. :)

This week I'm going to be talking about Peter Pan.

Like I mentioned with Alice in Wonderland, I feel like Disney's adaptation of Peter Pan is how most people were introduced to the story. I know that was the case for me. I grew up watching the movie. When I was a teenager, I read the book and was drawn to newer adaptations of the story: the 2003 live action film and Finding Neverland (in that instance, it definitely didn't hurt that I had a teenage crush on Johnny Depp :). I could definitely relate to the not wanting-to-grow-up thing around that time when I was thinking about what I was going to do after high school.

Basically, I love this movie. It is an Americanized version of the story. But it's also completely classic Disney, with the added bonus that it's generally more appealing to boys as well as girls (compared to the more princessy movies).

I have to say something about this right at the start. Mr. and Mrs. Darling are going to leave their young children at home alone while they go to a fancy party? With presumably no one there to watch them except Nana the dog, who has been exiled outside to her dog house? How is this okay?? I can't believe that out of all of the times I've watched Peter Pan (the most recent of which was last year), I just now noticed that.

Also, something else that has always bugged me...why is Tinkerbell such a popular Disney character? She's actually pretty awful for most of the film. She's vain and selfish and is nearly responsible for the death of several people. I know she comes around towards the end, but still. She does not deserve her own sequels and spin off franchise. She's one of the worst possible Disney characters to use as a role model! I just don't understand it. Whew, glad I finally got that off my chest. :)

The animation and colors are so gorgeous in Peter Pan. It's one of the films (like Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland) that seems to have a lot of Mary Blair's influence, which I love. This was actually the last Disney film she did concept art for...she resigned from the company shortly after it was finished. One of my favorite parts is the animation when they're flying through the clouds over London. It's so lovely!

{Speaking of flying, if I could have one superpower, it would totally be flying. How awesome would that be? I had a dream once, several years ago, that I could fly and I still remember it vividly because it felt so real. I could feel the wind on my face. Is that weird? :) Anyway, it was the best dream I've ever had. And I tend to associate it with Peter Pan because I dreamt it the night after I watched the 2003 adaptation for the first time.}

I also love the music. Whenever I hear the choruses (like the one at the very beginning), it instantly reminds me of classic Disney films. All of the music in this movie feels very 40s/early 50s to me. I guess what I mean is that I usually find Disney music pretty timeless, but here it feels firmly in its time period. I like that, though, because of course I'm obsessed with oldies music.

If some of the voices in Peter Pan sound familiar, that's because they are. Kathryn Beaumont is the voice of Wendy, and she was also the voice of Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Also, Bill Thompson voices Mr. Smee, Hook's bumbling assistant. He also had a part in AiW, as the White Rabbit. (He did voices in the next two Disney films as well, but I'll mention that in those posts.) I know that Walt Disney liked to use the same voice actors and actresses quite often, but I'm a bit surprised that he used the same ones for such prominent roles in two films in a row.

I love the fact that Captain Hook and Mr. Darling are voiced by the same person. They carried that over from the original play, where the same actor played both parts. I think that's awesome because Hook is obviously the villain in Neverland, and Mr. Darling is basically the villain in London, since he's the one who doesn't believe in Peter Pan and who orders that Wendy has to leave the nursery and "grow up."

One more bit of random trivia: Disney loved the story of Peter Pan and wanted it to be his second full length film. But because of problems with the rights and then WWII (and the years of nothing but the dreaded package films, ha), it ended up being his fourteenth film.

So yes...I love Peter Pan. I love the story and the music and the animation. It's just a great adventure story. Up next in the series is another favorite of mine, even though I'm someone who doesn't usually like "animal stories"...Lady and the Tramp!

Do you like Peter Pan? Have you read the book or seen any other films inspired by it?