Who doesn’t want to fly off to Neverland? With pirates and mermaids, adventure and more? For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
On Wendy Darling’s last night in the nursery, Peter Pan arrives, taking Wendy, John, and Michael to Never Land so that they can never grow up. But no sooner had they arrived, the Darlings are swept up into the adventures of the Lost Boys; Captain Hook and his pirates; and Tiger Lily and her tribe. With Captain Hook ever seeking for Peter Pan, he tricks the jealous Tinker Bell into helping him capture Peter Pan. Includes a dog named Nana, mermaids and a flying ship.
What works
- I love how the movie opens up. “All this has happened before and it will all happen again. But this time it happened in London.” So rather than just saying ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘A long time ago’, we are brought to the beginning of a story but not THE beginning. For me, that makes it a bit more enjoyable. It gives the impression of being a part of continuing story where we’re not going into the unknown, we’re returning to the familiar which ties in super well with Wendy’s stories and John and Michael’s opening scene battle.
- Quickly, almost practically, we are introduced to the Darling family, with each member getting a few words of introduction and enough screen time to get a solid understanding of their character. Even with all of that, it doesn’t feel rushed or overwhelmed, but moves smoothly, or rather bumpily, showing a busy night in the Darling home.
- As each group is introduced, a new dilemma is brought up to be solved with the stakes rising each time. With the Darlings, it’s Wendy’s growing up and leaving the nursery. Peter Pan came up with the solution to fly away to Neverland. With the pirates, it’s Captain Hook’s obsessive desire to find and trap Peter Pan, with the solution to kidnap Tiger Lily so she can tell him where the hideout is. But Hook himself has an even greater problem with the Ticking Crocodile ever on his path (and sounding much like the shark from Jaws). When the Indians are introduced, Tiger Lily is missing and the solution is to keep the Lost Boys as prisoners until she’s returned.
- Peter Pan moves forward like a speeding train, with every conflict and action tying together, constantly moving the movie ahead:
- Wendy’s arrival brings about the (temporary) banishment of Tinker Bell.
- Captain Hook’s capture of Tiger Lily causes the Lost Boys and John and Michael Darling to be captured by the Indians until Tiger Lily is returned.
- Tinker Bell helps Captain Hook so that he can take Wendy away from Peter Pan.
- Because Tinker Bell was captured, she was able to hear Hook’s plan to get rid of Peter Pan and fly to his rescue.
Honorable Mentions
- “Oh goodness gracious, whatever shall we do?! Sound the alarm, call Scotland Yard!” – Mr. Darling’s sarcastic reaction to Mrs. Darling’s mentioning Peter Pan’s shadow.
- John kind of looks like he could be either the future father or grandfather of Milo Thatch (Atlantis).
- The Disney Studio Chorus singing “You Can Fly” is up there with “When You Wish Upon A Star” for me. Maybe because I watched the Sing-along-Song video that it was on so many times, but it always held such inspiration for me.
- “We were only trying to drown her.” The mermaids like to have some strange fun.
- The fact that the Crocodile has both ‘ticking eyes’ and a ‘ticking tail’ from his time with the clock in his belly.
- Physically, Captain Hook endures the most out of any character in this film whether it’s in his avoidance of being eaten by the crocodile or just living. The poor guy gets whacked on the head with a hammer, overheats from boiling hot water and his head gets stuck under a chair. He deserves a trophy just for surviving as long as he has.
Side Questions
- Everyone acts as if Wendy will never be able to visit the nursery again if she moves into her own room. I understand the deeper implications (that she’s growing up) but why couldn’t someone say “It’s okay, Wendy, you can tell them stories before going to your own room to sleep.”
- What did George Darling experience when he first saw the pirate ship? You can’t just end the movie by saying “Oh, that reminds me of an adventure I went on” (not actually in the movie) and then just cut to the credits. Bad form, bad form.
What I learned from watching this film
- There’s not that much focus on character development in Peter Pan. Wendy probably changes the most out of any character, and her change is that she’s ready to grow up (big for the movie, minor compared to character growth in other films). But there was plenty of action which kept the characters moving and kept them from being complacent. The calmest part of the entire film was probably the Mermaid Lagoon and even that was full of splashing water and attempts to drown Wendy.
- As important as character development is, having the action be the focus worked better for this movie. Peter Pan’s whole reason to bring the Darlings to Neverland was to keep Wendy from growing up. If there’s too much character growth, it might signify that the character is growing up and Peter wouldn’t be too happy with that. Jokes aside, the amount of action prevented much growth to occur but growth wasn’t really necessary for the story to succeed.
If you’ve seen Peter Pan, what are some of your thoughts? Share in the comments below!
Rewind to the beginning of the Disney Film Project
Skip back to the previous film with The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
Fast Forward to the next film with The Sword and the Rose
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