This is one of many adaptations of J. M. Barrie’s play, but
is probably the most well-known one.
Okay heavy criticism had been levelled at this film over the
years for certain aspects of it so let’s skip right to that.
Yes, I agree with the majority assertion that the Indians in
this movie are terrible stereotypes in the way they are drawn and presented,
both in voice work and in how other characters describe them. John’s line about the Indians not being
intelligent actually made my jaw drop watching the film for this review. The Indian chief is on the top of my personal
list of things I fast-forward through in this movie. Honestly I always found him scary as a kid
and that hasn’t really changed, apart from really growing to like the dancing
sequence with him, because that was done by my idol Ward Kimball. Also I have to admit that ‘What Makes the Red
Man Red’ is very catchy and I still enjoy it as a song. That said the lyrics and all of the stuff I
just mentioned are not okay, along with the use of the words squaw and
red-skins. However, this was made in the
50s before Native American rights came to the forefront. Furthermore this is Disney. The company at the time prided itself on
being a wholesome family friendly art-form that did not seek to do anything
controversial. They worked in technical innovation, not pushing society’s
boundaries. I don’t expect it to be some
paragon of modern virtues totally ahead of its time. Even a show like Star Trek that was about
trying to push boundaries and explore difficult topics, and be something
interesting and timeless has issues that arise from the era in which it was
made. I will not blast the film for not
knowing better, in that time this kind of stereotyping of ethnic groups was
acceptable in the industry and if we want to continue showing this film to
modern audiences that must be accepted.
So the question that can now be asked is should we keep showing it? Should this film instead be stuffed in the
vault a la Song of the South and left
there? I would argue no it doesn’t need
to be dropped into history simply because it has racial issues. I mean outside of thinking the Indian chief
was a heck of a lot scarier than Captain Hook I didn’t notice any of this when I
was young and so I think it’s okay for kids to see it, because chances are they
won’t notice it either. And if they do
notice and are aware enough to ask questions parents can explain why Native
Americans are portrayed like that and why it’s not okay to do that today. So this can be used as a learning tool and I
think a very accessible one.
Actually watching this as an adult I found the one thing
that really bothered me this time around wasn’t the Indians really it was the relationships
between the female characters. Outside
of Wendy and her mother they are all negative.
Every single one is portrayed as females being against one another and
all of it is over a guy. Tinkerbell is jealous of Wendy and so are the
mermaids. Wendy is jealous of Tiger Lily,
and they’re all pinning after Peter who is really kind of jerky goof-ball. He really is a very typical selfish child,
more concerned about his own feelings and desires than anyone else’s. Very true to Barrie’s original concept so
that’s good; I just don’t find him very much fun or all that interesting. Honestly the portrayal of every female character
as jealous and catty is really off-putting to me, if you’re looking for an
example of strong female bonds this film certainly doesn’t have it.
Okay so far we have bad Native American stereotypes and bad female
stereotypes, along with a main character who I don’t find very likable. Is there anything in this film that does
work? Yes, and the first thing is that the
slapstick is hilarious. I loved Hook and
the crocodile fights as a kid and it’s still great now. The great contrast of Hook and Smee as his
bumbling right hand man is a laugh-riot too.
Even the bits with George in the beginning hitting his head on the
drawer and ranting on about Peter Pan are great stuff. I like that we establish the Darlings as a
regular family in opening scene too.
George isn’t some ham-handed horrible father, just a guy who gets
over-excited on occasion. The voice
acting overall is really good and the animation is top notch. Tinkerbell, while I may not like her
personality, still has a great display of that personality in her body
language. The floating effect with Peter
is wonderful and all the subtle movements Hook’s eyes and moustache twitching
into time to the tik tok of the clock inside the crocodile are just a thrill
for me to watch as aspiring animator, this is great stuff. The look of the film is also really good, there’s
a nice variety of locations and Peter’s hideout in the tree is the best
clubhouse ever. The songs are fun and
catchy and ‘Your Mother and Mine’ is wonderfully touching. Finally I think Hook is a really great
villain. He’s charming when needed while
also being cruel, bombastic, and scared witless when the situation calls for
it. He is acts all sophisticated when he
tricks Tinkerbell into revealing Peter’s hideout and then just goes full out
monster in the final battle when he taunts Peter. Then to top it all off he goes right back to
being a scared codfish when the crocodile comes back at the end. If only Peter was this interesting.
Re-watching this as an adult I also really like all the
little subtle ways Wendy is on the cusp of young adulthood. The obvious one is her crush on Peter, while
he is still very much a child and totally not interested in anyone that
way. But the other stuff intrigues me
too. The way she is motherly to her
brothers and to Peter sometimes. Yet she
still wants to have fun. She enjoys
flying and initially wants enjoy the party at the Indian village. She is really straddling the edge of
childhood and young adulthood and it’s nice to watch really. John and Michael are also fun to watch and I like
the wide age range of the kids that allows for different reactions to all the situations. John is the serious scholarly type while
Michael is the young innocent kid who just wants to have fun. They act as the characters you can imagine
yourself being and since they have a large age range the film ages really well
through childhood, at least I found that to be the case.
To sum it all up I have to say that I still really like this
film. It has a fun story, great
animation, a good voice cast, the songs
are nice, and there’s some nice subtle stuff to explore for the adults in the
audience. Are there problems with
it? Absolutely. The women’s relationships and lack thereof
and especially the portrayal of Native Americans are very problematic when viewing
this from a modern perspective and rightfully so. However, I think that it’s something to be
discussed and acknowledged not ignored or dismissed, and so I think people
should watch the film talk about the good and the bad that’s there, and yet still enjoy it as
a fun adventure film.
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