Disney Duster wrote:
Sicoe Vlad wrote:
Aw, you liked that part so much, huh? Yea and all the darker stuff is so great. For me,
Beauty and the Beast is the best Disney Animated Classic, followed by
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I thought you didn't like Beauty and the Beast and aren't your favorites Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty?
Disney Duster wrote:
JeanGreyForever wrote:
I think Peter Pan is hurt the most because the Disney version is basically a watered-down version of the original story and loses the main themes and tragedy behind the character and replaces all that with just a fun little entertainment. Which isn't a bad thing, but it isn't Peter Pan. Walt made a big deal out of sticking close to the source material for Alice, but I wish he had done the same thing for Peter Pan. I think a 1940s version of it would have been darker and possibly more tragic like the original.
What was Peter Pan's original play/book supposed to be like? I'm curious.
It's a bit difficult to condense, so I'll ask if you have seen the 2003 live-action film. Basically that is a very close adaptation to the book and it actually keeps a lot of the iconic Disney elements in it (like Michael's teddy bear, John's hat, Hook screaming for Smee, etc.) but it stays accurate to the book. I find it superior to the Disney one in every way. Even the music; it isn't a musical but it has a gorgeous score that apparently Disney liked enough that they used it in their Disney Parks commercials. I wish the live-action film had been the one Disney had released back in 1953 (animated of course).
There are too many differences to fully explain so I'll just talk about Peter's character and his love story with Wendy because that is the part I feel Disney got wrong the most (besides Captain Hook who is supposed to be very scary and threatening and not the comic relief he ends up being). Honestly, I'm surprised Disney didn't play up their love story the way the live-action film ended up doing, especially since the 50s was known for their classic romances like Cinderella and Lady and the Tramp. There are a lot of their romantic moments in the book which would have translated really well into Disney and it would have given Disney their first human developed romance light-years before.
Wendy and Peter have this sort of tragic romance/love story. It is obvious she likes him and it seems he likes her too but he's afraid of admitting he has feelings because that would suggest he is growing up. So he tells her he only views her as a mother, and she realizes then that there can't be a future between them. Like in Disney, every other girl desires him, but unlike Disney, he isn't aware of this and only seems interested in Wendy. They have a dance scene where they are both flying and slow dancing while fairies dance around them and it's a really magical moment which I wish Disney had kept. They also play around with the concept of a thimble and a kiss which Disney only touches on but never fully realizes. In the book, Wendy wants to give Peter a kiss but he is afraid of being touched, so she gives him a thimble and calls it a kiss. He gives her an acorn in return which she wears as a necklace and when Tinker Bell orders the Lost Boys to shoot her down, the arrow nearly kills her but it hits the acorn instead so Peter's kiss ends up saving her. (the vice-versa of that happens in the climax for the live-action movie)
They play "mother and father" to the Lost Boys which is clearly Peter's way of getting to play "grown-up" and live this pretend life with Wendy that he subconsciously wants without having to actually do it. The Lost Boys all end up leaving Neverland and are adopted by the Darlings, but Peter refuses to go although he tries to convince Wendy once more to stay with him at the end, something her mother realizes she might actually do so she is forced to step in.
Peter Pan's character is a lot darker. Basically he represents the quintessential child full of innocence but also heartlessness. Children are generally selfish and they must grow before they start caring for other people and their needs. Of course Peter refuses to grow so he is incredibly dark. He kills off Lost Boys if they start to grow, nearly lets the Darling brothers die because he lacks empathy, and even switches sides in fights with the pirates and Indians to shake things up a bit. He cannot read and has all his baby teeth so he resembles a child and wears leaves rather than the Robin Hood tights. His story is that he left his mother and when he finally returned years later, she had "replaced" him with another child, so this is why he hates mothers even though it is clear he secretly desires one but cannot admit it. He's supposed to be cocky and a big show-off to Wendy like in the film, and he has a lot of charming quirks like he steals other people's good ideas as his, refuses to apologize and admit he is wrong, and even though he didn't grow up with manners and etiquette, he is still very mannerly without knowing it. He's also supposed to be very forgetful like children, so he constantly forgets Michael and John, and even ends up forgetting Hook and Tinker Bell at the end.
While the Disney movie gets the cocky part right, they make him really unlikable, and even Walt felt he wasn't likable. The book version might be cocky, but he's also very charming and is supposed to be irresistible to women which is why every girl on Neverland wants him, but he cannot understand feelings or love, so he is oblivious to this and the only girl he has an eye for is Wendy. So he's incredibly flawed in the book, but he has a lot of charming tendencies that make up for that, even if he is basically a sociopathic killer. Keep in mind that the original book/play had him as the villain who hates mothers and steals children from their parents (like in OUAT). This changed to make Peter more of a tragic anti-hero and Hook was introduced as the evil villain.
Fans of Captain Hook usually don't like his Disney depiction and another thing they usually hate is the pre-climax scene when Hook tries to kill Peter. In Disney, it is with a bomb but that never made much sense since Peter and Tink escape unscathed, even though they are right next to the bomb and the explosion can be seen from the sea. It was supposed to be poison that Hook carries on him at all times in case he is captured, and Tink drinks it to save Peter. She dies but Peter asks the audience of the book/play to clap their hands and say they believe in fairies to revive her.