I have never liked Peter Pan in this movie, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I read the Trivia and it said "Though the film was extremely successful, Walt Disney himself was dissatisfied with the finished product. He felt that the character of Peter Pan was cold and unlikable."
does anybody else feel this way?
I mean, I liked Jeremy Sumpter's Peter, as well as Robin Williams, but not this one.
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I'm sort of under the impression that it's meant as an allegory about relationships.
The girl starts off with this romantic idea of the "perfect guy".
Handsome, youthful, adventurous, never able to be tied down or held back, throwing caution to the wind. Carefree, but no-nonsense.
She's told to get over it, and to stop telling others of how marvelous this "perfect guy" would be.
Instead, she meets the incarnation of her "perfect guy", and he whisks her away from everything she's ever known, in a quite literal fairytale way.
Only, once she's there, she sees more and more that he's not really "perfect", even though he's everything she's ever dreamed of. He womanizes, he battles personal demons, and antagonizes everyone around him.
Her brothers serve to give expository to the audience, as they often question what's going on with the world, a foil to the girl's constant explanation of how the world should be.
Throughout the story, she never gives up the role of fantasizing what way things should be, while she suffers horribly at the hands of the "perfect" guy and the world he's whisked her to.
Ultimately, she finally realizes the foolishness of thinking how things "should be" compared to how they are, and opts to leave behind her "perfect guy" and his "perfect world" for a more mature and sensible life.
She never really does give up on the concept of the "perfect guy", but he(or the thought of him), visits her less and less as the years go by.
Disney had a desire for all of his heroes to be, well, heroic, and Peter Pan is no exception. Unfortunately, the source material, Peter is merely the catalyst of a whole cascade of villains and unsavory characters. So as much as Disney may have tried to make him seem more friendly or playful, there's no way to turn the disgusting villain into a character anyone really likes.
I tend to think that if the film was made earlier, before Bobby Driscoll's voice broke, then Peter Pan would have been a much more boyish character, and wouldn't appear to be so cocky and arrogant, but just child-like.
Maybe Walt saw the movie and thought that it was boring and kind of disjointed. Then he blamed Bobby for making a crappy Peter, even tho the kid was the best part of the movie by far.
Everybody likes the Shen.
Interesting, because "cocky, distant, and irresponsible" are the exact qualities of the book Peter Pan. He is a cruel child, not at all likeable really. He was going to kill Tootles with an arrow before Wendy woke up. He cut off Hook's hand and basically antagonized him by feeding it to the crocodile in front of him. It's also implied that he has killed lots of pirates (duh) and actually may have killed other Lost Boys also. This is from the book.
I read Peter Pan in high school but I dont remember him being so dislikable. I liked the one in the disney version, but I just googled Peter Pan and the boy really seems kind of a bully. One of the things that came up was Peter Pan in Scarlet and I was wondering "why the heck would he banish Lost Boys? What a b1tchy thing to do"
I'll have to watch the Disney version again, but I have never been turned off by his portrayal in that film. Yes he was cocky and arrogant but for me it wasnt so bad and I could let it pass. More of an "roll your eyes" type of cockiness rather than a you need to be slapped cockiness.
RingRing hooka RingRing
Well that's the difference bet. the book and the Disney film. And yeah Peter does have some pretty bad moments in the original story such as laughing every time John and Michael fall asleep and nearly fall to their death when there flying to Neverland. He does save them but its because he thinks he's playing a game and not because he's saving a human life and once he gets bored of the game there's a good chance he would let you die. There's also the fact that he thins out the lost boys should they start to grow up and the harsh rules he has them under.
But to me it comes off as him being a child more then anything else. Yes the character is unlikeable, but he's unlikeable because he's a child and that's how children act. It has nothing to do with him actually being evil, I'm not even sure he truly understands what it means to either good or evil.
I actually work with children in both kindergarten and first grade, so I have a pretty good idea how evil little children can seem. If there not being constantly taught and reprimanded for their behavior they'll be pretty bad.
From now on I speak my mind and I bow down to no one.
Yeah, probably; but he's supposed to be around his teens in the movie, no? To me a younger body/voice would've been creepy given his actions, though
shareWell yes in the movies and not just this one he's usually depicted to be around his pre-teens/teens, anywhere from 11-14 I would say. But in the book his depiction is often thought to be younger. No one knows his exact age but he's described as having all his baby teeth and is referred to as a "little boy." Which does not indicate someone who in their teens or even pre- teens for that matter. And the whole topic has largely been devoted to Peter's characterization in the book which comes off as more evil but at the same time younger. He doesn't act nearly as bad here as he does in the book and like you pointed out the character is also older.
From now on I speak my mind and I bow down to no one.
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I do agree, I understand he's meant to be immature but he comes across as misogynistic and insensitive
Do guys like "the thing"?
They like it better than no thing.
Peter's basically the young rebel, committing the ultimate act of rebellion by not wanting to grow up.
Of course, girls always love the bad boy, so it's easy to see why Wendy just fawns over him so much, though one could see her hoping that her ways or attitude towards Peter could 'change' him, but it's a given he won't change.
It reminds me a little of the problems Dsney had with Pinocchio, but there, they really restructured Collodi's character. Here, there was very little of that.
"Thanks, guys." "So long, partner."
- Toy Story 3 (9/10)
Nope, I liked the fact that Peter wasn't super nice, etc. made him more interesting in my opinion.
shareI agree with Disney in the sense that Pan wasn't likeable, but that makes the final product better, from my standpoint, because it was consistent with how the character was written. He's more interesting than any of the other prominent male characters of that era, with the exception of Pinocchio and Tramp, both of whom have some moral problems of their own to work out.
That being said, there's a real attempt to desensitize the character for a modern day audience. One of the book adaptations of the film done by Walt Disney Co. in the early 90s is a pretty good example.
In the film, when the mermaids start antagonizing Wendy, Peter throws his head back and laughs hysterically, and even when they admit they were trying to drown her, he doesn't make a big deal out of it, basically stating that they were "just having a little fun."
But, the book adaptation has Pan beseeching the mermaids to "leave her alone," basically sticking up for her, because, I suspect, giving the okay for that type of "mean girl" bullying isn't exactly the best example to set for kids, from the standpoint of the Company. But its more consistent with the type of person Pan was than the "cleaned up" version. The question is if kids could make the distinction. And if Disney Studios wanted him to be a "Superman for Kids" or something, its definitely not acceptable, lol.
WOW!! Did WD appreciate any of his movies?
You want to play the game, you'd better know the rules, love.
-Harry Callahan
Well, part of the reason it's only behind Pinocchio for me, is the film's masculinity.
Vast majority of Disney classics were quite girly, with princesses, fairies, etc. Peter Pan offered a fun lead character, amazing lead villain, & a ton of fun supporting characters.