Peter Pan (1953) - Disney Animation's Peak

Peter Pan: Anyone Else Think Tinker Bell is Hot?

Walt Disney had a group of nine animators who formed the core of his studio. They were Lee Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman and Frank Thomas. They had worked on every animated feature film from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward. Reitherman went on to direct the feature films in the 60's and '70s, including successes such as The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book. This was their last film together as a group, so, in a sense, it is the end of classic Disney. Their departures may partly explain why the studio lost its way in the animation field between 1959's Sleeping Beauty in and The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Disney keeps this very up-to-date, in the US and abroad

They still were at work here for "Peter Pan" (1953), based on J.M. Barrie's 1904 play and 1911 novel, and the quality shows. In fact, it was basically the same crew from "Alice in Wonderland," with Mary Blair again handling the color and styling and Wilfred Jackson, Clyde Geronimi and Hamilton Luske directing. Walt Disney had put this on his list back in the 1930s, but he had trouble getting the rights. When he finally had them, World War II was in progress and this was one of the projects that he shelved in order to focus on war propaganda films. It took years after the war ended for the studio to recover, but when it did, Disney, put this back on the schedule.

I can fly!

The setting is Edwardian London. George (Hans Conried) and Mary (Heather Angel) Darling have two young boys, John (Paul Collins) and Michael (Tommy Luske), and an eldest daughter, Wendy (Kathryn Beaumont). Wendy has been telling them stories that make them act up, so George bans her from the nursery and tells her it is time she sleeps alone in her own room. George and Mary then leave for a party.

Flying 'round Big Ben

With the parents gone, the three children have two unusual visitors: Peter Pan (Bobby Driscoll), a boy with magical powers who never wants to grow up, and Tinker Bell (Margaret Kerry was the model, though Tinker never speaks), his cute little pixie sidekick, who Peter secretly loves. Peter visits because he knows the children believe in him and made him the hero of their nursery games. He takes them flying, then on a visit to a remote island called "Never Land." There, they see Captain Hook (Conried) and his timid, down-to-earth mate, Mr. Smee (Bill Thompson).

Tinker Bell through the key hole!

Hook lost his hand to a crocodile and blames Peter Pan, whom he plots to destroy. Peter Pan and the children visit the six "Lost Boys" (Robert Ellis, Jeffrey Silver, Jonny McGovern as twins, Stuffy Singer, and Tony Butala), who wear pajamas and follow Peter Pan. Tinker Bell turns out to be jealous of Wendy and tries to get the Lost Boys to shoot her down while flying, but Peter saves and then banishes Tinker for "high treason" until she redeems herself later.

"You're so cute!"

Hook has captured the local Indian chief's daughter, Tiger Lily (Corinne Orr), who he thinks knows the location of Peter Pan's hideout. John and Michael go with the Lost Boys to talk with "Big Chief" (Candy Candido), but instead Big Chief captures them, thinking they took his daughter. Big Chief gives Peter Pan until nightfall to return his daughter or he says he will burn his hostages at the stake.

Captain Hook, at your service

Peter Pan and Wendy visit the local mermaids (June Foray, Connie Hilton, Margaret Kerry and Karen Kester), who love Peter but are jealous of Wendy and playfully try to drown her. Hook, arrives, though, and the mermaids are scared away. Peter Pan and Wendy see Tiger Lily being held captive, and they free her, making Big Chief happy. Hook finds Tinker Bell and tries to convince her to reveal Peter Pan's hideout, but Tinker Bell makes him promise not to hurt Peter Pan. He promises, but then proves his treachery by locking Tinker Bell inside a lantern.

Peter giving Tinker a good shake

The Darling children decide to return home and invite Peter to join them, but Peter refuses to grow up. Hook captures the children and the Lost Boys as they try to leave, and try to blow Peter up with a bomb. Tinker Bell, though, escapes and saves Peter just in time.

A lovely mermaid at rest

Peter and Tinker Bell then confront Hook and manage to free the children before Hook makes them walk the plank. Peter chases off the pirates and flies everyone back to London on the pirate ship. When their parents come home, the children have a tremendous story to tell, but will George and Mary believe them?

Watch out for that... wall.

This is a rousing story, with some great songs such as "The Second Star to the Right" and "You Can Fly" by Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain, and "A Pirate's Life" by Ed Penner and Oliver Wallace. The animation is wonderful, with distinctive drawings of each of the characters that made them iconic. Hook, for instance, is drawn with a 5 o'clock shadow which helps define his character at first glance, and few animated characters are as distinctive as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Live-action footage was used as guides, but not templates, for the characters. The animation of the characters flying is spectacular and seldom matched since, while the sword fight between Peter and Cook becomes a way to show how playful Peter can be and how ineffective Cook really is. Tinker Bell's pique at Peter's attentions to Wendy is among the best in animation history.

En guarde!

It is a sparkling production. Some small changes were made to the story mostly for technical reasons, but not enough really to notice. This has become the "accepted" version, and anyone who wants to read the novel to get the "real story" is always free to do so. Each of the Lost Boys gets a distinctive personality, though the Indians are raw stereotypes, which may offend. In defense of the portrayal of the Indians, they were obvious caricatures played for laughs and as a comical threat, just as Hook and the Lost Boys were hyper versions of reality with prejudices against Indians and girls that are quickly proven false. As Big Chief notes, "Sometimes you win, sometimes we win," and Tiger Lily is portrayed as disdainful of these mere commoners and refuses to talk, so at least their honor and dignity is intact. If you want to be offended about something, there are a lot more important things to latch on to in life than this film.

Peter reviews the Lost Boys

Cook is one of the iconic villains of film, reminiscent of Charles Laughton in Captain Kiddand the previous year's Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd. Peter Pan is invariably represented by his animated character in this film. Wendy and Tinker Bell are terrific, human figures who learn to assert themselves. Tinker, in fact, is a favorite of many viewers even though she says nothing. The story is enchanting. What more do you want from one animated film?

Tinker Bell checking herself out

The Disney crew really was one big happy family at the time. Delightful schoolgirl Kathryn Beaumont was back again, and the reliable old crew was keeping things on track. Within a few years, Beaumont would be grown up and off to teach school as a career, and the nine animators would start peeling off in their own separate directions. This is a high point for animation, and remains a favorite of children everywhere and the definitive version of the tale. It is superior in every regard, and bears repeat viewings.

The film is set for Diamond Edition DVD release (60th anniversary) on February 5, 2012. Below is the full movie, it you wish to view it.

2012

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Alice in Wonderland (1951) - Culmination of a Dream

Alice In Wonderland: Reject All Inferior Imitations! This is the Real Deal!

Walt was struggling. His animation business in Kansas City just wasn't making it. He tried everything he could think of with short cartoons, but the public just didn't like them. Times were tough, but he wasn't choosy - live action or animation, it didn't matter, he just needed to eat. He gave it one last try, using an unknown local child who had been useful on some of his earlier shoots, Virginia Davis. The last-ditch project would be a combination of live action and animation based on English author Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland." He filmed it and was pleased: excellent work, if he did say so himself.

Alice looking surprised

Nobody cared.

The White Rabbit. Jefferson Airplane must have loved this film.

Discouraged, Walt gave it all up and headed to Hollywood, desperate enough to give up animation completely and just try to become a regular film director. He banged on doors, he begged, he pleaded: just hire me. I will direct anything.

We're twice the fun!

Nobody hired him.

Alice talking to Cheshire Cat. "I prefer the short-cut."

His older brother Roy believed in Walt, so together they scrounged up some cash, opened shop with the pretentious title "Disney Brothers Studio," and pulled the old "Alice" reel out of Walt's trunk. They showed it to M. J. Winkler, a local distributor.

You may have noticed, I'm not all there!

He liked it.

Alice at the tea party

Elated, the brothers called all their old animation buddies from Kansas City and told them to head west. There was work in Hollywood! They wouldn't have to do anything that they hadn't been doing all along, somebody finally appreciated their work. They packed up and joined Walt.

Queen of Hearts playing croquet

Over the next few years, the brothers and their friends put together over 50 silent shorts they called "Alice Comedies." Later, Walt came up with the idea of a talking mouse who did crazy things, and the public loved it.

Aren't those the bluest eyes?

Walt's success grew, and soon he was one of the biggest movers and shakers in the film industry. "Alice in Wonderland," though, stayed on his mind. It was practically his baby: he knew it inside and out, knew just how to film it, and had the people in place with the experience to do it. it was a sure thing, like drawing to an inside straight. He almost got it going in 1933, actually doing a screen test with star Mary Pickford, but then his biggest nightmare happened: Paramount did a live-action version starring the biggest stars of the day, including Gary Cooper, Cary Grant and W.C. Fields. He'd be laughed out of town if he tried to put on his own little animated feature in the face of all that talent.

Hmmm, I don't know about that....

He reluctantly turned to other projects. After the boys in the back room gave hm a hit with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he felt the time was right. Once he finished off a few more pictures already in the pipeline, it would be ready to go. He even had the name registered - all he needed was a year to put behind it. But Pinnochio, Fantasia and Bambi all bombed, and while Dumbo succeeded, it didn't give him much breathing room. Worse, World War II had broken out and European and Asian markets were shut down for the duration. He turned his focus to smaller projects and bided his time.

One lump, or two?

The war finally ended, and Walt excitedly came back to the Alice project, as he liked to call it. Ginger Rogers was available, and it wasn't often he got to work with an Oscar-winning actress, but animation took time, and she had to move on to other projects. His people brought him proposals, but he turned them all down. This was his baby, and it was going to be special.

No, Alice! Don't go through there!

Finally, Walt ran out of patience, as he wasn't getting any younger. He told his people to just do it. Rather than get cute, he wanted some of his usual reliable directors - Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luke - to play it straight and do it as they did all the other animation features. It was to be all animated, none of this fancy live-action/animation stuff, and heavy on the comedy and upbeat tunes. Once Cinderella was out of the way, it finally was time. The feature had his steady crew voicing it, including Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts, and Bill Thompson as the White Rabbit. To them, he had been able to add Ed Wynn, an old-time comic whose son Keenan was a rising star, as the Mad Hatter; famous comedian Jerry Colonna as the March Hare; and cute young unknown Kathryn Beaumont as blue-skirted Alice. Kathryn had just the right upper-class British accent, surely that would charm the British.

Alice, eat the mushroom!

Not taking any chances, he made sure high quality songs were included. He received more song submissions, in fact, than he could possibly use, and put some aside for the planned "Peter Pan" and other projects. He skimmed off the cream and indulgently used some for just a few seconds each. The art direction by Mary Blair was a bit crazy, he admitted to himself, especially that scene at the end where she runs to the door in slow motion, but he still liked the look. With everything in place, he went to the premiere full of confidence.

The caterpillar. Whooooooo are you?

The film's plot followed the original book fairly closely, though with a few typical Disney alterations. A young girl named Alice daydreams and tells her cat, Dinah, that she is bored with studying and wishes she could live in a different world. She then spots a formally dressed rabbit who runs by claiming to be late for an appointment. She follows him down a rabbit hole and engages in a series of bizarre adventures, always chasing the rabbit but never quite catching up with him. It is a completely different world, as she had desired, but it's not what she had expected at all. She is surrounded by madness, with a Mad Hatter, a March Hare, and a Dormouse drinking tea of all things. When she tries to run away, she runs into the Queen of Hearts, who puts her on trial and orders her execution. Alice runs away, chased by everyone she has met.

Some parts of this just defy description

Upon release, the critics hated the film, but Walt didn't care. He had made this film for the fans, and he was sure they would love this project over which he had obsessed for over thirty years.

The 1950s version of Beavis and Butt-head

They didn't really like it. After all he had been though with the project, though, Walt wasn't too surprised. The British claimed he had "Americanized" the sacred text, while others complained that the film seemed disjointed and that the Alice character wasn't sympathetic. Box office receipts were bad, very bad, but fortunately he had some set aside from the smash success of "Cinderella."

Such a good girl!

Dejected, Walt refused to give up. He recalled that he had a new outlet for his studio, a weekly television show. It would - after some minor cuts - fit right in there and get bonanza ratings! He used "Alice" in the second episode, cut down to match the time slot. Reaction was positive, and after that he shelved the film until the times changed.

Quite a court! Notice the cards are all Hearts. Alice on Trial.

Times did change, but unfortunately the desperate genius from Kansas City didn't live to see them. Only a couple of years after Walt Disney had passed away, the world suddenly caught up with "Alice in Wonderland" (1951). The pot-heads and acid freaks loved the twisted and bizarre visuals by Mary Blair, and college campuses around the country started screening it. A re-release followed in 1974, which was successful and led to later releases in the theater and on home video. It became so highly thought of that Disney made it one of the first titles available for rental in the 1980s. It has been on store shelves ever since.  Finally, the picture was making money, good money.

Now this is kind of crazy....

Costumed versions of "Alice" characters are mainstays at all of Disney's theme parks. One of the rides is the "Mad Tea Party," a teacups ride for children. Disney indirectly owns the theatrical rights, and the play is staged regularly at high schools and colleges. There's even a video game for Nintendo Game Boy.

You can see why the '60s college kids thought this was trippy.Applaud the Queen!

Today, "Alice" is seen as one of Disney's classic films. Its latest release was on February 6, 2011 on Blu-ray to celebrate its 60th anniversary - which Walt would have crossed out and put down as its 88th anniversary, from the time he put together that first short with Virginia Davis.

Don't worry, Peter, your turn is coming next

There was a 2010 live-action version with Johnny Depp, but it didn't touch Disney's animated version. It may go in and out of style, but if you like classic Disney, you'll love this film. Below are both the original theatrical trailer and the entire film.

2012

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