Disney Preparing Live-Action Peter Pan with Pete’s Dragon Director

[LittleBuford]

A reviewer at the Site That Shall Not Be Named has given his take on Peter Pan and Wendy. And it's spot-on. Scores the flick a 4/10. Lists every abomination in it. And points out that the aim of "Disney" with its live-action remakes is not to make better versions of its classics, but to correct the imagined problems some people have with them. I'm a bit surprised by the reviewer's honesty. That seems to be a no-no regarding unofficial Disney websites these days...

Still wasting those minutes, huh?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Watched it this morning, thought it was terrible. The actor who played Peter Pan was the WOOOOORST, and I don't know who Jude Law was playing, but it wasn't Captain Hook.

Bottom-tier, along with Pinocchio and Dumbo.

Cinderella remains the only one of these that I liked.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

-As I stated earlier, I really like how this adaptation tackles the growing up/losing one’s childhood theme. I think the “growing up wrong” line is very compelling. It implies that simply aging is not the problem, but the way you age and the adults that some people become can be harmful and bad. Wendy’s happy thoughts consisting of both her as a child and as an adult is an example of this concept and one that is simple, yet so very well-done (and is the whole point of the story!). There is beauty, fun, and good in both childhood and adulthood. The emphasis on the importance and strength of a mother’s love is evident in this film and helps drives the biggest theme of the story home. Again, these themes are central to the story, and the animated version only slightly addresses them. Given that it’s a children’s movie from the 1950’s, I’m not surprised it doesn’t properly and extensively address these themes. However, I do appreciate when they are addressed, and this film adaption does so convincingly.

This is one area where I think the progressive casting harmed the theme. The lost boys should have been boys. The need for boys to become men, and the role that Wendy plays in their awakening, is different than the need for children to become adults in a more generic sense.

This is particularly important now in a time of prolonged adolescence and permanent "guyhood."

 

[Californian Elitist]

Watched it this morning, thought it was terrible. The actor who played Peter Pan was the WOOOOORST, and I don't know who Jude Law was playing, but it wasn't Captain Hook.

Bottom-tier, along with Pinocchio and Dumbo.

Cinderella remains the only one of these that I liked.

Who is Captain Hook, to you?

 

[LittleBuford]

Watched it this morning, thought it was terrible. The actor who played Peter Pan was the WOOOOORST, and I don't know who Jude Law was playing, but it wasn't Captain Hook.

Bottom-tier, along with Pinocchio and Dumbo.

Cinderella remains the only one of these that I liked.

I thought the acting was solid throughout. I’m especially surprised that you didn’t like Law’s performance.

 

[Californian Elitist]

This is one area where I think the progressive casting harmed the theme. The lost boys should have been boys. The need for boys to become men, and the role that Wendy plays in their awakening, is different than the need for children to become adults in a more generic sense.

Where does the need for boys to become men come from? I’m the text, the Lost Boys leave Never Land because they agree to grow up, not necessarily because they all want to become men. In the original animated film, they don’t leave Never Land at all. Could you clarify?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I thought the acting was solid throughout. I’m especially surprised that you didn’t like Law’s performance.

I didn't dislike it, per se. It just didn't feel like Captain Hook. It felt like Jude Law playing Daniel Day Lewis playing a generic pirate.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Jude Law’s performance is easily Top 3, in my opinion.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Where does the need for boys to become men come from? I’m the text, the Lost Boys leave Never Land because they agree to grow up, not necessarily because they all want to become men. In the original animated film, they don’t leave Never Land at all. Could you clarify?

"But where do you live mostly now?"

"With the lost boys."

"Who are they?"

"They are the children who fall out of their perambulators when the nurse is looking the other way. If they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Neverland to defray expenses. I’m captain."

"What fun it must be!"

"Yes," said cunning Peter, "but we are rather lonely. You see we have no female companionship."

"Are none of the others girls?"

"Oh, no; girls, you know, are much too clever to fall out of their prams."

This flattered Wendy immensely. "I think," she said, "it is perfectly lovely the way you talk about girls; John there just despises us."

 

[MisterPenguin]

The need for boys to become men, and the role that Wendy plays in their awakening

That's just "sexualizing children"!!!!

 

[LittleBuford]

"But where do you live mostly now?"

"With the lost boys."

"Who are they?"

"They are the children who fall out of their perambulators when the nurse is looking the other way. If they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Neverland to defray expenses. I’m captain."

"What fun it must be!"

"Yes," said cunning Peter, "but we are rather lonely. You see we have no female companionship."

"Are none of the others girls?"

"Oh, no; girls, you know, are much too clever to fall out of their prams."

This flattered Wendy immensely. "I think," she said, "it is perfectly lovely the way you talk about girls; John there just despises us."

But none of this was conveyed in the animated film either.

 

[Californian Elitist]

"But where do you live mostly now?"

"With the lost boys."

"Who are they?"

"They are the children who fall out of their perambulators when the nurse is looking the other way. If they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Neverland to defray expenses. I’m captain."

"What fun it must be!"

"Yes," said cunning Peter, "but we are rather lonely. You see we have no female companionship."

"Are none of the others girls?"

"Oh, no; girls, you know, are much too clever to fall out of their prams."

This flattered Wendy immensely. "I think," she said, "it is perfectly lovely the way you talk about girls; John there just despises us."

I’m fully aware of the reason there are no lost girls in the text.

I’m still confused about your statement about the Lost Boys becoming men.

 

[Magenta Panther]

There's plenty of Disney content that has been panned: Cars 2; Lightyear; Eternals; Rise of Skywalker; etc... Almost all direct-to-Disney+ movies have horrible ratings.

And yet the pernicious lie that Disney controls all such reviews continues as a baseless conspiracy theory.

Are some third-tier vloggers afraid of losing access to the Food & Wine preview? Sure. But not enough to move the needle.

Maybe re-read my comment. You completely misinterpreted it.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Still wasting those minutes, huh?

Still snorting that (remade) pixie-dust, huh?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But none of this was conveyed in the animated film either.

It is, visually. The lost boys are goofy, idiot boys. They act the way boys and men act when there are no women around to civilize them.

 

[Magenta Panther]

But none of this was conveyed in the animated film either.

Except for the fact that the Lost Boys didn't include girls.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Still snorting that (remade) pixie-dust, huh?

Trust that you too are “snorting pixie-dust.”

 

[LittleBuford]

It is, visually. The lost boys are goofy, idiot boys. They act the way boys and men act when there are no women around to civilize them.

I watched the film countless times as a child (and as an adult). It wasn’t evident to me. Wendy for me symbolised the need for motherhood and hence parenthood, not the civilising influence of women.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It is, visually. The lost boys are goofy, idiot boys. They act the way boys and men act when there are no women around to civilize them.

And they stay behind in Never Land. They don’t become men, they stay with Peter. So, Wendy didn’t doesn’t influence them enough.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I watched the film countless times as a child (and as an adult). It wasn’t evident to me. Wendy for me symbolised the need for motherhood and hence parenthood, not the civilising influence of women.

And they stay behind in Never Land. They don’t become men, they stay with Peter. So, Wendy didn’t doesn’t influence them enough.

My beef with this movie is not that it deviated from the animated version.

I'm not really a fan of the animated version, either.