Animation Celebration Saturday - Peter Pan

Disney, 1953
Voices of Hans Conried, Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, and Bill Thompson
Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson
Music by Sammy Fain and others; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn and others

Peter Pan was Disney's big follow-up to Alice In Wonderland. It went over much better at the time with critics and audiences. How does this tale of pirates, Indians, and Boys Who Never Grow Up look to modern audiences? We'll need a little pixie dust to fly over London to the Darlings' house, where Wendy Darlings' life is about to change...

The Story: Wendy (Beaumont), John (Paul Collings), and Michael (Tommy Luske) Darling firmly believe in the stories of Peter Pan (Driscoll), who lives in Neverland with his Lost Boys, with all their hearts. The younger boys consider Wendy to be the authority on Peter and his adventures...which is why they're all devastated when their father Mr. Darling (Conried) gets angry and insists that Wendy's going to be moved out of the nursery.

Peter's not happy about it either when he arrives to hear more stories. After Wendy sews on his shadow, he agrees to take her and her brothers to Neverland. Tinkerbell, his pixie friend, is jealous that Peter's paying attention to someone else and repeatedly tries to get Wendy hurt. The mermaids Wendy admires aren't terribly pleasant to her, either. Meanwhile, Wendy's brothers and the Lost Boys are having their own troubles. The Indians have captured them, insisting that they kidnapped the chief's daughter Tiger Lilly. Peter does rescue Tiger Lilly from Captain Hook (Conried) and his pirates, giving Wendy a little bout with jealousy of her own during the ensuing party.

Tink's still jealous too, so much that she lets Captain Hook talk her into telling him where Peter's hideout is. That turns out to be a mistake. Hook kidnaps the other kids and tries to kill Peter. Tink flies off to warn him. After they escape, they head to Hook's ship to save the others and throw Hook to the Tick-Tock Crock for good.

The Animation: While not as crazy-psychedelic as Alice, there is some nice work here. I've always liked the flying sequences in particular, as the children soar through the skies, and the finale with the ship silhouetted against the London sky.

The Song and Dance: While there have been other retellings of this story on the big and small screen, from Mary Martin to Robin Williams, this may be the definitive version. Conried's Captain Hook is such a highlight, so mincing and delightfully nasty, that you almost wish he'd finally get the best of egotistical Peter for once. Thompson makes a hilarious Smee as well. My favorite character has long been John. Not only does Collings lend him the appropriate big-brother air, but I love a kid who brings an umbrella and top hat with him to Neverland.

Favorite Number: "You Can Fly!", where Peter shows the kids how to get to Neverland, is probably the most famous number from this one, and is my personal favorite. It's an exhilarating romp through London, as Peter shows off on swans and Michael tries to help poor Nana join them. John, Michael, and the Lost Boys have fun heading through the jungle to fight Indians in the march "Following the Leader." Conried, Thompson, and the pirates get two funny songs that introduce Hook and his life of pillaging and annoying Peter, "A Pirate's Life" and "The Elegant Captain Hook." I kind of wish the lovely "The Second Star to the Right" wasn't thrown away during the opening credits, but it does introduce the idea of Neverland quite well.

What I Don't Like: The racist portrayal of the Indians is built into almost every version of Peter Pan, and I'm afraid this one is no exception. The song "What Made the Red Man Red?" will likely make many folks cringe, as will the Boys constantly referring to the Indians as "savages" and their seeing nothing wrong with hunting them down. Granted, this comes from the original play, and Peter Pan revivals as late as the 80's portray the Indians in this manner, but it's still doesn't make it right or something that'll be easy for many folks to see today.

I've never really been a big fan of Peter Pan in general. Peter himself is an obnoxious jerk. He flirts with every girl in the movie and sees nothing wrong with playing them off each other. His ego could probably dwarf neighboring planets. This may have been seen as innocent in 1900, when this is set and was written, but it comes off as annoying today.

The Big Picture: Mixed feelings here. The great music and performances do help to distract from a story that occasionally hasn't dated well and the racist portrayal of the Indians. If you love Peter Pan stories more than I do, you may find a lot more of interest here than I did.

Home Media: Alas, this is another title currently on moratorium...but unlike other movies in the Disney Vault, it can be found for streaming on several platforms.

Amazon Prime (buy only)