Peter Pan (1953)

Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures. Peter Pan is the final Disney animated feature released through RKO before Walt Disney's founding of his own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution, later in 1953 after the film was released. Peter Pan is also the final Disney film in which all nine members of Disney's Nine Old Men worked together as directing animators.
The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. A sequel titled Return to Never Land and a prequel titled Tinker Bell were released in 2002 and 2008 respectively.




Plot Synopsis;

In Edwardian London in the neighborhood of Bloomsbury, George and Mary Darling's preparations to attend a party are disrupted by the antics of the boys John and Michael, acting out a story about Peter Pan and the pirates, told to them by their older sister Wendy. The father angrily declares that Wendy has gotten too old to continue staying in the nursery with them, and it's time for her to grow up. That night they are visited in the nursery by Peter Pan himself, who teaches them to fly with the help of his pixie friend, Tinker Bell, and takes them with him to the island of Never Land.



A ship of pirates is anchored off Never Land, commanded by Captain Hook with his sidekick Mr. Smee. Hook boldly plots to take revenge upon Peter Pan for cutting off his hand, but he trembles when the crocodile that ate it arrives; it now stalks him hoping to taste more. The crew's restlessness is interrupted by the arrival of Peter and the Darlings. The children easily evade them, and despite a trick by jealous Tinker Bell to have Wendy killed, they meet up with the Lost Boys, six lads in animal-costume pajamas who look to Peter as their leader. John and Michael set off with the Lost Boys to find the island's Indians, who instead capture them, believing them responsible for taking the chief's daughter Tiger Lily.

Meanwhile, Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids, where they see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily, to coerce her into revealing Peter's hideout. Peter and Wendy free her, and Peter is honored by the tribe. Hook then plots to take advantage of Tinker Bell's jealousy of Wendy, tricking her into revealing the location of Peter's lair. The pirates lie in wait and capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings as they exit, leaving behind a time bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.

     

Peter rescues Tinker Bell from the rubble and together they confront the pirates, releasing the children before they can be forced to walk the plank. Peter engages Hook in single combat as the children fight off the crew, and finally succeeds in humiliating the captain. Hook and his crew flee, with the crocodile in hot pursuit. Peter gallantly commandeers the deserted ship, and with the aid of Tinker Bell's pixie dust, flies it to London with the children aboard.

Mr. and Mrs. Darling return home from the party to find Wendy not in her bed, but sleeping at the open window; John and Michael are asleep in their beds. Wendy wakes and excitedly tells about their adventures. The parents look out the window and see what appears to be a pirate ship in the clouds. Mr. Darling, who has softened his position about Wendy staying in the nursery, recognizes it from his own childhood, as it breaks up into clouds itself.

     

The songs in Peter Pan were composed by Sammy Fain, Sammy Cahn, Frank Churchill, Winston Hibler and Ted Sears. Oliver Wallace composed the incidental music score.

• "The Second Star to the Right" - The Jud Conlon Chorus and The Mellomen
• "You Can Fly!" - The Jud Conlon Chorus and The Mellomen
• "A Pirate's Life" - Mr. Smee; The Pirates
• "Following the Leader" - John and Michael Darling; The Lost Boys
• "What Made the Red Man Red?" - The Indian Tribe, (Candy Candido and The Mellomen)--This song has become very controversial due to its racist stereotypes of Native Americans; lyrics and actions in sequence suggest that Indian men maintain a permanent blush due to their constant pursuit of Indian women.
• "Your Mother and Mine" - Wendy Darling
• "The Elegant Captain Hook" - Captain Hook; Mr. Smee; The Pirates
• "You Can Fly!" (reprise) - The Jud Conlon Chorus and The Mellomen
• "Never Smile at a Crocodile" - The lyrics were not heard, but the music was.

The melody for "The Second Star to the Right" was originally written for Alice in Wonderland as part of a song to be entitled "Beyond the Laughing Sky".

Related articles by Zemanta

• 19 reviews of Captain Hook (rateitall.com)
• Six Repurposed Disney Songs (neatorama.com)
• Phillyist Reviews... Peter Pan (phillyist.com)
• Ten Movies That Should Never be Remade in 3-D (trueslant.com)
• Alice in Wonderland Soundtrack Doesn't Sound Like Burton (beatcrave.com)
• Disney & Sony Set To Release 3D Movies On Blu-Ray Disc (perezhilton.com)
• Roy Disney Dies (slobokan.com)
• Disney Buys Marvel for $4 Billion (pastemagazine.com)
• Disney's 'Skeleton Dance' (1929) (laobserved.com)
• 81 reviews of Lion King (rateitall.com)
• Roy Disney: 1939-2009 (thestar.com)
• Disney Considering Movie, Comics for Epic Mickey [Wii] (kotaku.com)