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

[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.

 

[LittleBuford]

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.

Fair enough. It’s one my personal favourites.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Given that this film was made now and not decades ago, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to change the original idea that there could never be lost girls because they’re too “clever,” which is code for too intelligent, too sweet, too careful, too dainty, and what have you, all dated ways of looking at girls and women in general. Of course there can be wayward, lost girls. As much as I love the novel, it’s a product of its time.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Given that this film was made now and not decades ago, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to change the original idea that there could never be lost girls because they’re too “clever,” which is code for too intelligent, too sweet, too careful, too dainty, and what have you, all dated ways of looking at girls and women in general. Of course there can be wayward, lost girls. As much as I love the novel, it’s a product of its time.

Masculinity and femininity are cultural universals. They're the product of millions of years of biological and psychological evolution. You don't get to erase that in a span of 100 years. These weren't imposed on anyone by fiat, they emerged organically out of the primordial ooze.

Men and women are different.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Masculinity and femininity are cultural universals. They're the product of millions of years of biological and psychological evolution. You don't get to erase that in a span of 100 years. These weren't imposed on anyone by fiat, they emerged organically out of the primordial ooze.

Men and women are different.

And women can be “lost.” We’re not perfect.

 

[LittleBuford]

Masculinity and femininity are cultural universals. They're the product of millions of years of biological and psychological evolution. You don't get to erase that in a span of 100 years. These weren't imposed on anyone by fiat, they emerged organically out of the primordial ooze.

Men and women are different.

Having grown up as a boy who felt very alienated by the expectations of masculinity around him, I’m glad today’s young people are exposed to a larger range of possibilities. The more traditional male-female dynamics you’re referring to remain the mainstream and aren’t going anywhere.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Given that this film was made now and not decades ago, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to change the original idea that there could never be lost girls because they’re too “clever,” which is code for too intelligent, too sweet, too careful, too dainty, and what have you, all dated ways of looking at girls and women in general. Of course there can be wayward, lost girls. As much as I love the novel, it’s a product of its time.

It's simply amazing how some people think they can re-define the meaning of words to suit them. Seems to be a plague of that these days.

Imagine thinking that calling a girl "clever" is a misogynist insult of some sort. Hoo boy.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Having grown up as a boy who felt very alienated by the expectations of masculinity around me, I’m glad today’s young people are exposed to a larger range of possibilities. The more traditional male-female dynamics you’re referring to remain the mainstream and aren’t going anywhere.

This, exactly.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It's simply amazing how some people think they can re-define the meaning of words to suit them. Seems to be a plague of that these days.

Imagine thinking that calling a girl "clever" is a misogynist insult of some sort. Hoo boy.

You didn’t understand my post. Shocking. Hoo boy, indeed.

But, hey, if you want to uphold the idea that only boys are stupid, clumsy, and wayward, by all means.

 

[Magenta Panther]

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.

That version has some issues, and I'm not just talking about the Native American depictions, either. (Although it's stupid to say that Walt and company meant to be insulting. After all, little Michael tells Peter that he wants to be "an Indian brave". Which is not an insult, duh.)

Walt once said that Peter Pan "kind of got away from him" story-wise. I do think that there was one missed opportunity: when Wendy is singing a song about mothers to the Lost Boys (and, unknowingly, to the pirates as well), Peter gets up from his hammock and peeks through the curtain to watch and listen. And that's it. There's no follow-up. I wish that the scene had gone further, had shown him also moved by Wendy's song. That would have given him more poignancy and a little more depth to his character. But still, the film has so much real Disney magic, and a feeling of joy and enchantment, that it ultimately overcomes its flaws. Why do you guys think that Peter Pan's Flight is such a popular attraction, despite its obvious age? Because it has real magic. Because of the film it's based on. And THAT is what people want when they come to a Disney park. Real Disney magic. Not cringey pandering preaching. Disney magic. Period.

 

[Magenta Panther]

You didn’t understand my post. Shocking. Hoo boy, indeed.

But, hey, if you want to uphold the idea that only boys are stupid, clumsy, and wayward, by all means.

Prove that I was trying to uphold that idea. I was defending the idea that girls can be clever and that calling them such is not misogynist. Is that a problem?

 

[Disstevefan1]

I enjoyed seeing Jim Gaffigan in this.

I was uncomfortable watching the kids stepping off the windowsill. What came to mind was kids try to fly like Peter Pan for real.

Having said that, this movie to me, did not feel like it was for kids.

It was "free" on Disney+ so I watched it.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Prove that I was trying to uphold that idea. I was defending the idea that girls can be clever and that calling them such is not misogynist. Is that a problem?

Where did I insinuate that the idea that women/girls are too cute, clever, and dainty to be lost and wayward is anti-woman? You made that up. That’s your problem.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Having grown up as a boy who felt very alienated by the expectations of masculinity around him, I’m glad today’s young people are exposed to a larger range of possibilities. The more traditional male-female dynamics you’re referring to remain the mainstream and aren’t going anywhere.

I don't disagree with any of this, but the storytelling has to suit the art form. When you're operating in the land of myth, legend, and fairy tale, you have to employ archetypes if you want it to resonate with the greatest number of people.