Peter Pan

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/26/03 at 9:59pm

Just caught the show with friends. This film seems closer to the book. But,it focuses a bit too heavily on the relationship of a very young Pan and Wendy. Too much "puppy love". Boring to adults and children.

Acting is mediorce at best. No standouts! The computerized special effects seem to take away from "Tink's" fairy dust a bit. This Tink is surely no Julia Roberts. She's barely a supporting cast. The lost boys are pretty much lost in the story. No one stands out or is even given a chance to have a personality.

Hook is a bit stronger as a character, but he is nowhere near the caliber of a Dustin Hoffman. And Schmee is just a giant elf with little charm. The pirates all look like Michael Jackson's Thriller zombies.

Any charm and character is wisked away by a lot of clever computerized flying and fight scenes. The coolest character is the crock! Steve would be orgasmic hunting down this crocky!

It's neither entertaining enough for kids or clever enough for adults to chuckle at.

All I could say was "It Ain't Hook! ". And worst of all...No "BANGARAY!". No Thudbutt. Blah!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/26/03 at 10:03pm

well.. Peter Pan was my first show and one of my favorite stories as a child so I am planning on seeing this regardles...

i think it is worth noting that with teh exception of Jeremy Sumpter as Peter, all of the kids are making acting debuts.....

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/27/03 at 5:40pm

Gotta say, I'm up for this one, too. The Times review was a surprising qualified rave, talking about the darker, sadder Barrie elements being brought to the surface. I think we're overdue for a male child in the role. The underlying sexual issues were oddly skewed with those crowing, crotch-less gals in butch haircuts. A story about repressed adolescent sexuality and gender roles became a lesbian love story, with Mary Martin so coy and flirty in the presence of the womanly Kathleen Nolan in a nightgown.

This film, whatever its flaws, gives the story back to Barrie puirsts. And of course, NAMBLA. Reaching those far-reaching demos makes it a damned ambitious project.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/27/03 at 5:43pm

I love the score from the Broadway musical, but my favorite FAVORITE version of Peter Pan has to be the Caird-Nunn adaption for the RSC. They complied all of barrie's drefts (he NEVER stopped rewritting the show), as well as material from teh novel and a silent film script Barrie wrote that was never produced and they came up witha WONERFUL script.

also be sure to look at the other musical versions of the tale out there.. I enjoy most of them

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 12/27/03 at 6:56pm

Doesn't that HONK team have a PETER PAN musical? the team that is writing additional songs for the stage version of the Sherman Brothers film score of MARY POPPINS?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/27/03 at 6:59pm

yes.. stiles and drewe.... you can listen to the score online .....
Peter Pan -- stiles and drewe

[Princess MimiChica]

Posted: 12/27/03 at 9:48pm

I adore Peter Pan! I was obsessed with it when I was little. I used to act it out with my cousins all the time! since I was the only girl, I always got to be Wendy =)

My favortie video ever was the Mary Martin version..i wore that tape to death! Until very recently, I had NO IDEA Mary was 47 years old when she did that role. As a kid, I totally bought her being a young boy! Fun stuff...

But yeah, this new version looks really cool and im excited to see it as soon as I can! I hope its better than Hook....

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/28/03 at 11:22am

While watching this movie, we started smelling smoke in the theatre. Everyone looked around nervously and the ushers came in thinking someone in the theatre was smoking. There is a restaurant below and we just assumed it was from the kitchens. A few minutes later, I looked up and saw bruning ash falling from the air vents. We evacuated quickly. Needless to say, we missed the end, but I enjoyed what I saw before the panic ensued.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 4:43pm

After the raging debate about Miss Rigby's Return, I checked out the new film. I would have to disagree with the nice poster who started this thread. I thought this movie was lovely. P. J. Hogan did a wonderful job mining the story for new (Barrie intended) subtexts, and the focus on adolescent yearning and budding sexuality was done subtelty. Not to rehash the Rigby fight ... but there is something powerful about seeing the story of a boy afraid of -- shall we say -- his inner-man ... played by a boy, not a woman d'un age certain. There's one scene of mutual attraction between Wendy/Peter that scares the hell out of both characters. Bravo.

But whether anyone wants a fresh spin or not, the film is just beautiful to see. It has this sort of combo Magrite/Maxfield Parrish look in the art direction. What skies! One fight scene on the pirate ship is staged at sunset, and has that special, intense peach colored lighting often employed by Parrish in his work. Stunning. It moves along, too, having none of the lead that Spielberg injected into HOOK. And the actor playing the Capn is effective. And for once ... butch. The fight between Hook and Peter for Wendy's heart and mind (!) is particularly sophisticated, and this Hook resists camp, but is still outre.
Anyone curious won't be disappointed. It's not a holiday confection, but a new, serious re-visiting of the story.

Updated On: 1/10/04 at 04:43 PM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:00pm

I agree Auggie

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 3:02pm

I haven't seen the Rigby version (or the Sandy Duncan one either) but is it safe to assume that "Ugg A Wugg" has been cut? And if so, has anything replaced it?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 3:39pm

Ug-a-wug was still in the show when I saw the Rigby version in the mid-90s. It still works fine (if you like that sort of thing), and Peter -- La Rigby -- does a drum solo in the middle.

Anyone remember the Frank Rich piece in the Times in the early 90s about the Long Island community that had determined the whole show is too sexist/against native American sensibilities? It was edited, enflaming the Comden/Green office, appropriately. Tons of lines were cut about spring cleaning being women's work, etc, etc. Too silly, as Rich opined. The whole point of the Peter Pan story is that the boy has frozen, sexist views about women/mothers, etc. To make Peter himself PC is so pointless, removing the story's teeth.

I did notice that honest to God Indians play the Indians in the current movie. Complete with a real Indian ceremony, or so it seems. That makes a lot more sense than air-brushing away anything that doesn't fit the tastes of the times.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 6:34pm

Yes, the number was drastically altered into a big drum/dance number. I loved the new version..

[CapnHook]

Posted: 1/12/04 at 9:08pm

Great discussion topic. Notice my avatar I have used for the past few months? Jason Isaacs from PETER PAN.

Don't praise Spielberg's HOOK - ESPECIALLY DUSTIN HOFFMAN OR JULIA ROBERTS. Hoffman destroyed Barrie's vision of Hook. Roberts offered a dull Tinker Bell (a fairy who can only have one emotion at a time). I admit, they provided strong characters - but not Barrie's. I enjoyed the film, even though it was wrong in many ways.

As for my thoughts on the new PETER PAN film - they can be read here:

https://www.peterpanfan.com/hppreviews.html

[ ^ Shameless plug ^ ]

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/13/04 at 3:22pm

Hook was never supposed to be Barrie's vision of Captain Hook. It was supposed to be Spielberg's vision of what happens to Barrie's characters after the book.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/13/04 at 3:51pm

Yeah, I remember when HOOK came out. Much anticipation. The Christmas release of that year. The trailer -- all the stuff in the nursery, and wonderful Maggie Smith as the old Wendy -- was magical. But the movie itself was loud, leaden, long and long-winded. The decision to make the grown Peter an American daddy who'd lost touch with his inner child seemed more about Spielberg's inner director and favorite theme and far too little re the vestiges of Barrie's people. It kept feeling like a musical stripped of the musical numbers. It was ambitious and heartfelt, but to me, overproduced and exhausting. Hoffman, whom I would watch in anything, was basically doing a stunt turn as Hook, and wasn't all that successful. The character felt diminished.

Whereas Isaccs in the current film (am I right?) is almost a classic Hook, delivering the well-known lines as if never spoken before. He is funny without being campy, and manages to still be a threat, and ominous. Plus, he's damned sexy. Again, if anyone is a fan of the material, catch this while still on the big screen (though it'll likely look dandy on DVD.)