Yesterday, I re-watched (maybe the fourth time?) Walt Disney's 1953 animated movie Peter Pan; and again it struck me as one of the very best of the Disney full length cartoons (running at about 75 minutes).
Of course the source material of this adaptation is one of the great modern myths; which certainly helps. But what makes the movie so good is the script, pacing, and characterisation.
The screenplay is coherent, sometimes very funny, and overall poignant and enchanting. It is objectively very fast paced, packed with variety and incident, and highly varied in tone, hence continually interesting. Nothing goes for nothing - there is zero padding.
Yet this is achieved without the slightest sense of being rushed, all the important aspects are given full weight - the editing and pacing are immaculate.
To my mind; Hans Conried's voicing of Hook (and Mr Darling) is maybe the greatest characterization of the dubbing-era toons (since Disney's Aladdin, modern toons animate the picture around the voice). The emotional range of Hook, displayed on such a small "canvas" is stunning.
Peter Pan himself is shown with the complex moral ambiguity of the original - perhaps even more so. And Mr Smee is a tremendous, Dickensian, comic creation. Even such a minor character as Tiger Lily (who doesn't speak) jumps-out as a strongly-defined personality, simply from her facial expressions.
The animation is less beautiful than - say - Snow White - and there is a degree of simplification evident in the basic pictures. Nonetheless the animation is impressively fluid (e.g. consider Tiger Lily's sinuous dancing), especially in the fast comedy sequences (the Smee slapstick is particularly well done), and the always inventive fight sequences.
And whoever came up with, and executed, the "stuck record" interrupted scream of Hook as his final "words" of the movie; was some kind of genius.
The economy and clarity achieved by the movie story is perhaps an improvement on the original, especially in its wistful and suggestive ending; I personally find the original Peter Pan ending to be rather messy, as if the author couldn't make up his mind, and wanted to cover all bases.
Anyway, if you haven't yet watched the Disney Pan - or watched it inattentively - you are in for a treat!
2 comments:
I also love the sweet melody on the piccolo when Peter Pan first appears:
https://youtu.be/QRz7Ba4yaCw?si=znuY9IznhNgBIpvp
"No wonder Wendy gets these idiotic ideas" by Mr. Darling on the background is such a great line for his character, didn't make me laugh as a child, but now it does every time.
@VF - Yes, it's excellent - although it's meant to be *heard* as if pan pipes, rather than piccolo, I suppose.
I didn't mention in the post that I regard the songs (and their performances) as probably the weakest part of the Disney Peter Pan - only "Following the Leader" (and its brilliant visuals) is at the high standard set by Snow White or Pinocchio.
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