Day 14: Peter Pan

Peter Pan (1953)

Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Paul Collins, Tommy Luske, Hans Conried, Heather Angel, Bill Thompson, Corrine Orr, Robert Ellis, Jeffery Silver, Jonny McGovern, Stuffy Singer, Tommy Butala, June Foray, Connie Hilton, Margaret Kerry, Karen Kester, Candy Candido, Tom Conway, the Mellomen

Songs: "The Second Star to the Right," "You Can Fly!," "A Pirate's Life," "Following the Leader," "What Made the Red Man Red?," "Your Mother and Mine," "The Elegant Captain Hook"

Peter Pan is the fourteenth animated feature film by Disney and it is based on the play (and novel) by Sir J.M. Barrie.  It tells the story of Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, and lived on Neverland with mermaids and contemptuous pirates.  He meets the Darling children (Wendy, John, and Michael) and takes them to Neverland with him, where Wendy becomes a mother to the Lost Boys and an enemy to saucy fairy Tinkerbell (who was much feistier than she ever appears to be in the modern Disney Fairies films!).

Disney planned this movie to be his second, after Snow White, but he was unable to secure the rights, as J.M. Barrie had bequeathed them to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.  Like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and most of the stories that became segments in the packages films, story development for this movie began in the late 1930s but was halted by World War II.  But Walt Disney was committed to making this film happen, as Peter Pan was a favorite story of his as a child.  In 1953, the film was finally released and became a critical and commercial success.

This is a movie I have always loved.  I would probably put it in my top five of Disney movies to this day.  The 1950s and 1960s saw most of my favorite Disney movies being released, so I'm excited for the next couple of weeks!

What I Liked: This has become a refrain on this blog but Mary Blair backgrounds!  Mr. Smee thinking he's accidentally cut off Hook's head and saying, "I never shaved him this close before!"  All the voice actors (who are phenomenal and perfectly cast) but especially Hans Conried, who upholds the stage tradition of the same actor portraying Hook and Mr. Darling.  Also, Hook's Sunday set of hooks.

What I Disliked: The racial stereotyping of Native Americans in the "What Made the Red Man Red?" scene, and in general really.  It's like I said about the crows in Dumbo way back on day four -- I recognize that this was a different time with different standards about what was and was not acceptable, but I cannot excuse it.  If I had children and I watched this movie with them (which I likely will one day), I would use this scene to start a dialog about racism and stereotyping... and why the way the Native Americans are presented here is offensive and wrong.  

Should You Watch This Movie: Yes, definitely.  Again though, if you watch it with your kids, make sure they realize that the treatments of the Native Americans is wrong.  Kids are quick though... they'll understand, and you may not even need to be the one to point it out to them.