Post by Pan Maciej on Oct 1, 2020 15:52:08 GMT
I recently did shared my opinion on Disney's "Peter Pan" on Geox blog but since it was a recent topic here I may very well share it here...
I'm actualy happy to hear I'm not the only one who don't find it that great of a Disney movie as... as far Disney movies made while Walt was alive go... this maybe my least favorite or at least the one I go back to revisti the least (I'm not counting films that are just collection of shorts gule together)
This being said I think there are some thing that are fun about the movie : Tinker Bell is an enjoyable character (and frankly has the most compelling character arc in my opinion), Captain Hook and his sidekick have some funny moments, I like the part with the mermaids trying to drawn Wendy (even if that scee get's shorter every time I re-watch the movie... ) and Tigger Lilly, while I understand is a problematic character is pretty amusing in her serious dignity... honestly I wish she got a bigger part and more screan time...
Sadly the main problem are the main characters - The Darling Childreen are a pretty generic and bland bunch. Peter in some cases is even worse since I find him pretty unlikable character... he's not annoying, just comes of as a jerk and not much more... And the lost boys are like between Peter and the Darling Childreen. Frankly, I don't even remember their characters, aside one is "fat and stupid". The father is also pretty unlikable but at least he is only in the opening scenes... It's just hard to get that invested in the main story where the characters who are ment to be what glues the movie just aren't interesting or compeling.
And agian - I'm happy I'm not the only one who see my second biggest issue with the movie - there is nothing that whimsical about Never-Neverland. As odd this may sound, I sort of think it's the color choices - It felt like a place I watch to go to sleep, not feel like I want to have an exciting
adventure there.
The animation on it's own is nice but... how do I put it? It feels more like very average for Disney. Like it's a Donald Duck cartoon. There is nothing that spectacular. As an animator I appreciate or the effects on Tinker Bell and some of the mime but... man, I wish this movie looked more like "Pinochio", where it all feels grand and spectacular. In "Alicie in Wonderland" and "Cinderella" despite similar visual look they still manage to make it look grand and magical. Here it's good but nothing stand out. Maybe it blow minds of people at the time but the flying over London sequence never amazed me, even as a kid.
This movie has also probably my least favorite collection of songs... not that they are bad, I just never find them that memorable (In fact I couldn't remember from top of my head half of them) EXCEPT ONE SONG, which I found very catchy and fun as a kid... and sadly it's the song that's consider racist and probably is. I'm not going try to defend and justify "What's makes the Red man red", don't get me wrong... I just think it's ironic/sad that the only song that's up-beat and stock in your head has now this problematic stigma to it and it's hard now to enjoy this part of the movie without thinking about it. The one other thing that I remember music wise is the Peters(?) theme music that plays in first few scenes with him which is very similar to the sound track from the Pluto shorts...
Finally - I'm not a Peter Pan purist but I'm sort of bothered that they replaced the iconic Tinkerbell drinks poison to save Peter scene with a time bomb. It just fells out of place and sort of makes little sens as a replacement. I understand that Walt said it would be hard if not impossible to have an audience in a movie theater clap for Tink but... I still think you could have the iconic line without the audience participation. I do like the part where she is rushing to save Peter (honestly, the most heroic scene in the movie) but after that it's pretty rushed... we get a brie scene of sad Peter is talking to Tink which is I suppose dying off screen , then in the next time we see her HA-HA! She is still alive! and... then we barely see her for the rest of the movie. No resolution for her with Wendy? I know I'm making my own movie now but this felt to me like a easy fix - either have her drink the poison or get seriously injure from the bomb... but have her in dying state, so Peter would have to brink her to Darling children so they can say the "I believe in fairies" formula and resurrect her (and maybe have her hug Wendy or something while you at it) See - you have a third act ticking clock and it doesn't have to be literal.
So yhe, for these reason I just find it one of Disney most bland movies (but I wouldn't call it bad) and I think it's a shame as elements that are strong are pretty good... they just almost feel over-power by the "Meh" one. Oddly enough I much more a fan of the CGI Tinker Bell movies... which true, are ment for younger kids then you usal Disney features but I found them very enjoyable, they make neverland much more fun place, the characters are charming... the least one (The Legend of the NeverBeast) is especially good and a bit of a tear jearker. The 4'th one ("Secret of the wings") is the only "meh" one for me but for a series of six direct-to-dvd movies they are pretty solid series. If some one here enjoy stuff like "My little pony : Friendship is magic" he should enjoy them a lot
I'm actualy happy to hear I'm not the only one who don't find it that great of a Disney movie as... as far Disney movies made while Walt was alive go... this maybe my least favorite or at least the one I go back to revisti the least (I'm not counting films that are just collection of shorts gule together)
This being said I think there are some thing that are fun about the movie : Tinker Bell is an enjoyable character (and frankly has the most compelling character arc in my opinion), Captain Hook and his sidekick have some funny moments, I like the part with the mermaids trying to drawn Wendy (even if that scee get's shorter every time I re-watch the movie... ) and Tigger Lilly, while I understand is a problematic character is pretty amusing in her serious dignity... honestly I wish she got a bigger part and more screan time...
Sadly the main problem are the main characters - The Darling Childreen are a pretty generic and bland bunch. Peter in some cases is even worse since I find him pretty unlikable character... he's not annoying, just comes of as a jerk and not much more... And the lost boys are like between Peter and the Darling Childreen. Frankly, I don't even remember their characters, aside one is "fat and stupid". The father is also pretty unlikable but at least he is only in the opening scenes... It's just hard to get that invested in the main story where the characters who are ment to be what glues the movie just aren't interesting or compeling.
And agian - I'm happy I'm not the only one who see my second biggest issue with the movie - there is nothing that whimsical about Never-Neverland. As odd this may sound, I sort of think it's the color choices - It felt like a place I watch to go to sleep, not feel like I want to have an exciting
adventure there.
The animation on it's own is nice but... how do I put it? It feels more like very average for Disney. Like it's a Donald Duck cartoon. There is nothing that spectacular. As an animator I appreciate or the effects on Tinker Bell and some of the mime but... man, I wish this movie looked more like "Pinochio", where it all feels grand and spectacular. In "Alicie in Wonderland" and "Cinderella" despite similar visual look they still manage to make it look grand and magical. Here it's good but nothing stand out. Maybe it blow minds of people at the time but the flying over London sequence never amazed me, even as a kid.
This movie has also probably my least favorite collection of songs... not that they are bad, I just never find them that memorable (In fact I couldn't remember from top of my head half of them) EXCEPT ONE SONG, which I found very catchy and fun as a kid... and sadly it's the song that's consider racist and probably is. I'm not going try to defend and justify "What's makes the Red man red", don't get me wrong... I just think it's ironic/sad that the only song that's up-beat and stock in your head has now this problematic stigma to it and it's hard now to enjoy this part of the movie without thinking about it. The one other thing that I remember music wise is the Peters(?) theme music that plays in first few scenes with him which is very similar to the sound track from the Pluto shorts...
Finally - I'm not a Peter Pan purist but I'm sort of bothered that they replaced the iconic Tinkerbell drinks poison to save Peter scene with a time bomb. It just fells out of place and sort of makes little sens as a replacement. I understand that Walt said it would be hard if not impossible to have an audience in a movie theater clap for Tink but... I still think you could have the iconic line without the audience participation. I do like the part where she is rushing to save Peter (honestly, the most heroic scene in the movie) but after that it's pretty rushed... we get a brie scene of sad Peter is talking to Tink which is I suppose dying off screen , then in the next time we see her HA-HA! She is still alive! and... then we barely see her for the rest of the movie. No resolution for her with Wendy? I know I'm making my own movie now but this felt to me like a easy fix - either have her drink the poison or get seriously injure from the bomb... but have her in dying state, so Peter would have to brink her to Darling children so they can say the "I believe in fairies" formula and resurrect her (and maybe have her hug Wendy or something while you at it) See - you have a third act ticking clock and it doesn't have to be literal.
So yhe, for these reason I just find it one of Disney most bland movies (but I wouldn't call it bad) and I think it's a shame as elements that are strong are pretty good... they just almost feel over-power by the "Meh" one. Oddly enough I much more a fan of the CGI Tinker Bell movies... which true, are ment for younger kids then you usal Disney features but I found them very enjoyable, they make neverland much more fun place, the characters are charming... the least one (The Legend of the NeverBeast) is especially good and a bit of a tear jearker. The 4'th one ("Secret of the wings") is the only "meh" one for me but for a series of six direct-to-dvd movies they are pretty solid series. If some one here enjoy stuff like "My little pony : Friendship is magic" he should enjoy them a lot