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Sixty years ago, Disney's Peter Pan had its theatrical premiere, and to celebrate, they've released the film in a special 60th Anniversary Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack with, as usual, additional features to serve as purchase incentives.
When my son Christopher was in preschool, Peter Pan was his favorite film, probably because of my habit of "flying" him around the house before putting him to bed. When Disney sent me a copy of the new 60th Anniversary Diamond Edition of Peter Pan, it seemed only obvious that a father-son review was in order. Chris is 22 now, and though he says he likes to re-watch all the Disney classics at least once a year, it was clear early on that he hadn't seen this one in a while.
Peter Pan is in many ways a product of its times, both the Victorian era in which the original play was written and the early 1950s when the Disney version was made; the result is several scenes and plot-points that are rather jarring to modern sensibilities. Not just the racially insensitive portrayal of the native Americans, either; the attitudes and relationships among the female characters are very unflattering, from Tinkerbell's homicidal jealousy to the mermaids' casual abuse of Wendy, and Wendy's resentment of the exotic Tiger Lily, who alternates between the two traditional roles for native American women in film: stoic plot device and fantasy sexpot. It barely passes the Bechdel Test. Chris' comment: "Wow, there's a lot of stuff I totally missed when I was a kid."
His first big reaction was to the song "Following the Leader." When the Lost Boys sing the lyric, "we're off to fight the injuns, because he told us so," Chris looked at me and said "Oh, THAT's a good idea! Go start a fight because somebody told you to?" I was so proud, knowing one of the lectures I keep in heavy rotation had actually sunk in. I often quote the great philosopher Bruce Springsteen, who once said "blind faith in your leaders will get you killed."
The really awkward scene is of course the song "What Made the Red Man Red?" It's a thoroughly appalling song, arguably more racist than anything in the notorious Song of the South, and I was curious to see what Chris would say. He didn't disappoint. "Wow! That's racist!"
It would be easy to just list all the ways in which Peter Pan is outdated and offensive, but there's more to it than that; it's also exciting and colorful, with great flying sequences and exciting pirate fights and a lot of incidental comedic bits. There's also a lot of really beautiful production design, including several scenes that are obviously the work of Mary Blair. If you can accept that the appalling racist and misogynistic elements are artifacts from a less-enlightened period and disregard them, what's left is a lot of fun; Smee, the pirates and the Lost Boys all engage in little character bits that do little to advance the plot while providing some laughs. (At one point, when Smee is doing some schtick, my daughter Kate, age 17, said, "I figured it out; Smee is Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic!" They both wear blue clothes with a red hat! They both have white hair!") The opening scene with Wendy's father trying to get dressed is one extended slapstick sequence that serves to establish the characters and setup in a very entertaining way.
Peter Pan has a deliberate pace and a lyrical quality, taking its time in unfolding the story, slowing down to watch the characters' shadows flow over the landscape as they fly to Neverland, letting the pirates engage in a knife-throwing competition, following the crocodile as he continues his campaign to dine on Captain Hook, letting the Lost Boys engage in pre-adolescent nonsense. If nothing else, Peter Pan may help teach your kid to slow down and enjoy the ride instead of expecting every second of a film to be a nonstop assault on the senses. It's literally a fairy tale, and it plays out like one.
We also watched the "deleted" material, which is presented as storyboards set to a voice track, showing how a couple of scenes would have played out had they been animated; we agreed that cutting them was a wise choice, as they added nothing to the story and were actually tedious and talky sequences that attempted to explain things that don't need explaining and wrap up plot points that don't need to be addressed. They are interesting for the animation student and historian, but nobody is going to watch them and say "I wish those scenes were in there."
After we finished the film, I asked Christopher what he thought. He replied, "So much racism! I can't believe all that went right over my head when I was a kid! Still an awesome movie, though. Still a favorite. It's Peter Pan!" I expect that the objectionable parts of the movie will likewise either go right over your kids' heads, or they may say "hey, that's not okay!" Either way, it's not going to turn them racist or sexist. They're just seeing a story about a flying kid taking some friends on an adventure, and there's nothing wrong with that. When they're older you can talk about the problematic stuff.
