Peter Pan (1953)

Some Disney films have grown so famous over the years that you occasionally forget why you like it so much. For me, such is the case with Peter Pan. What I remembered to be an innocent, playful romp through a fantasy land from my youth turned out to be a little darker than nostalgia would have me remember. This film may not fit into today’s political correctness-obsessed culture but, taken for what it is and when it was made, Peter Pan cannot be denied its rightful place among the top tier of Disney’s work.

John and Michael Darling love to hear the fanciful stories that their older sister Wendy tells them about a roguish, ageless boy named Peter Pan. Their father, not wanting the boys’ heads filled with ‘poppycock,’ decides it’s time for Wendy to have her own room, cutting the boys off from their beloved stories. That night, Peter Pan himself comes prowling around the Darling abode and whisks them away to Never Land.

Upon their arrival to Peter’s fantastic world, Wendy finds an unexpected foe in Peter’s pixie friend Tinker Bell, who is jealous that a girl should come between her and Peter. Tink’s jealousy leads her to assisting Peter’s nemesis, Captain Hook. The short-tempered pirate captain constantly has one eye on the lookout for Pan and the other on the lookout for the crocodile that claimed his hand and wants the rest of him too. The children explore their new surroundings, meeting the Lost Boys, an Indian tribe, and a fateful encounter with Hook.

Peter Pan gets back to what Disney does best- innovative animation, a delightful story, and memorable songs. That is the formula for Disney greatness. Cinderella nailed each component but Alice in Wonderland faltered in both story and music. Peter Pan already has a great story built in, so the songs and music are really where Disney should be most heavily evaluated.

“You Can Fly” is still among Disney’s most recognizable tunes but this is not a one-song film. Other memorable tunes include “Following the Leader” and “What Makes the Red Man Red?” are also quite enjoyable. Granted, the latter song, and the presentation of the Indian tribe as a whole, is a gross stereotype that would be met with all kinds of protest today. If you can keep in mind the time period when the original story was written (1911) and when this film was released (1953), you should be able to take these depictions with a grain of salt.

I had all but forgotten about the politically incorrect portions of Peter Pan since the last time I saw it (which is admittedly quite a long time ago). What I hadn’t forgotten was how great the film looks. Three significant accomplishments stand out for this production. First and most obvious is the animation of the children flying. I can’t even fathom how much time it took the animators to make those sequences look right. The children float, rise and dive almost without effort, creating a perfect illusion.

Second is the work involving Tinkerbell and her glow. Several times she hides behind pieces of foliage but her natural luminosity makes for a unique effect that I don’t recall ever seeing before now. Finally, during the climactic battle with Captain Hook, there is a sequence where the camera is ‘looking down’ on Hook as he climbs the rope ladder toward Peter. Instead of Hook just growing larger as he climbs closer to where the camera would be if it were live action, the effect is that of the camera panning backward at the same pace as Hook while the background deck of the ship grows smaller. It seems like a minor detail but it floored me because it is extremely intricate.

The beauty of the story of Peter Pan is that it works on two levels. Kids will love it because it is an adventure involving children that don’t grow up. The kids ultimately pick up a lesson that, at some point, growing up is inevitable and should not be resisted. For parents, the story of Peter Pan makes them confront some of the realities of adulthood. How much like Captain Hook and Mr. Darling are you? That’s the subtle question it asks while quietly assuring us that growing older doesn’t have to mean growing colder. The Disney team captures these messages perfectly.

While political correctness junkies may be loathe to show this film to impressionable children, I plan on showing Peter Pan to my kids someday. Chances are, kids won’t even remember the ‘red man’ stuff. The Disney team is on top of their game here, which means that children and adults will marvel at the colors, sounds and music coming their way. It’s a great story given a terrific treatment. This film is part of the reason that the story and spirit of Peter Pan still exists in our cultural lexicon.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

This is a tough film to place. I have never studied, nor even read, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass. I don’t know if that leaves me at a disadvantage when approaching this film from a critical perspective. Literary types go gaga over the source stories and artsy-fartsy types (not to mention recreational drug enthusiasts) adore the trippy animation employed by Disney’s team. Seeing as I don’t really fall into any of the above categories, it should come as little surprise that this film fails to get much of a reaction from me.

The young and lovely Alice grows tired of living within the strict rules of reality. Dreaming of a world unlike her own, she spies a White Rabbit hurrying along and talking to himself. Following the curious creature, Alice falls down his rabbit hole and into a world full of nonsense. Along her pursuit of the White Rabbit she meets various unique characters that have become timeless: the Mad Hatter, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and the grinning Cheshire Cat, just to name a few.

Not many of the characters Alice meets along the way are helpful but her quest isn’t much to get excited about. Through most of the tale she is merely trying to catch up to the White Rabbit and find out where he is running to. She does a good job of staying on task, despite being bombarded by gibberish and nonsense at every turn. Once she gets to where the Rabbit is headed, her life is put in jeopardy by the headstrong Red Queen.

The story itself is interesting, despite going off on a tangent with the seemingly random vignette of ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter.’ Then again, there’s really not much to the story at all. Alice is trying to find the White Rabbit the whole time and eventually realizes what a mess a world of nonsense would be. I guess the point of the tale is for Alice to learn a simple lesson while encountering a world of bizarre people and creatures. In many ways, this is similar to a number of other children’s fantasy tales. Alice in Wonderland just happens to be wittier and smarter than most.

Disney keeps much of the manic wordplay that made Carroll’s stories popular with the literary crowd. It is fun to hear the double entendres and usage of dual-meaning words. It is also enjoyable to watch the weirdness play out. The Cheshire Cat is really the only animation marvel in the film though, as he fades in and out of existence with ease. Yes, there are plenty of creative settings but Alice features Disney’s plainest animation since Dumbo. That takes away from the visual impact that could have turned the film into a real mind-bender.

I understand why Disney played up the story for a family-friendly vibe but Alice in Wonderland misses the mark a hair for modern audiences. I don’t know how kids were back in the 50s but nowadays it’s mostly the under-10 crowd that goes to see Disney movies. Kids that young won’t get much of the wordplay and will be more likely to watch it on the surface as a goofy fantasy with funny characters. Parents may pop it in just to entertain the kids and not think much, but they’re apt to find their brains in overdrive processing the literary lunacy being cut loose.

The utter weirdness of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland has made it memorable for generations. I remember seeing it and reading the Diseny read-along-on-tape book when I was a kid. Do I remember it for being awesome and fun like Cinderella? Nope. I remember it for being weird and being creeped out by the Cheshire Cat. Elements of the story remain in our cultural consciousness and I believe that this animated version has kept it there for the past 60 years much in the same way that Disney’s Cinderella has for that tale. Do many parents read Carroll’s stories to the kids anymore?

Maybe I just don’t belong to the niche audience that Alice in Wonderland was made for. It is entertaining to watch, albeit frustrating at times, but the conclusion lacks profundity. Alice learns that a world of nonsense is not a place worth living in. Any adult could have told her that but, like any stubborn child, Alice has to learn it for herself. Unlike most other Disney films, there are no central themes or morals to the story. Perhaps, given the source material, none are needed, and I’m just used to children’s stories having a lesson behind the colorful, musical fun.

Perhaps I’ll change my tune once I read the works of Lewis Carroll. Until then, I’m not surprised that this film isn’t remembered as part of the upper echelon of Disney classics.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5