Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy

[Dani1923]

I’m not too confident that this will be a good adaptation of the play or novel, but I will watch it out of curiosity when it does come out.

Here’s the teaser trailer:

https://youtu.be/xwyCT0IHaF8

[andrew]

Never having seen Disney's original, I wouldn't know what to expect ...

[Brutus]

I don't think I'll watch the new film either, as I was never a fan of the first one. But Disney will most probably sanitise the references to Native Americans and make their portrayal more politically correct (quite rightly). Also, I bet Wendy will be more feisty and less "motherly" than in the animated version. Moving with the times!

[Hannah Grippo]

I never liked the Disney version, even as a child when I loved the idea of Peter Pan (without knowing who Barrie was). It's not really good on it's own (and yes, like most old Disney films it enjoys being quite racist). The sequel Return to Neverland was actually a little better and had a couple nice ideas, but I wouldn't say it was good.

I wouldn't expect much out of ANOTHER Disney remake. The company is spitting them out nonstop these days, and there's just really no effort or heart to any of them. Disney knows people who grew up with the 2D animated films will go see them, and take their kids to see them even if they suck. I even played along with my family who excitedly thought I would love to experience new and nostalgia, but I really thought each was rubbish. I understand people who don't like the old 2D animated films...I mean, I like some of them fine, but the only one I'd considered an excellent film is the 1991 "Beauty and the Beast". They made a remake of that one too in 2017, and it was GOD-AWFUL!!!! I doubt they'll put any thought beyond unimaginative CGI and popular cliches into this new Peter Pan, but maybe I'll be proved wrong.

[Dani1923]

Hannah,

I actually like the Disney Peter Pan. I know it’s just barely accurate to the book and play, but considering it’s a Disney animated movie, it’s one of the most accurate movies to its source material, so you can take that for what it’s worth. It is the first Peter Pan anything I was exposed to, so I do like it for nostalgia reasons, but I legitimately think there are good things about it, even if some of those things are inaccurate! And it could definitely have been a lot worse! They are some dark elements in it like Hook shooting that one pirate without looking and Hook trying to drown Tiger Lily! But they do leave out a lot of things which is disappointing now that I know more about the Peter Pan story as Barrie wrote it, but like I said, the movie could have been worse!
But of course that’s me, and I definitely understand why you and other Pan Fans might not like this version!

I 98% agree with you on the Disney remakes! I don’t think they’re all terrible, I found Jungle Book and Pete’s Dragon to be the best of them so far, but that’s not saying too much either! But yes, most of them are ATROCIOUS!!! But they make money, so they are not going to stop coming anytime soon!
The director of Pete’s Dragon is actually directing Peter Pan and Wendy which gives me a speck of hope that it won’t be as atrocious as Beauty and the Beast and Lion King, but I’ve come to realize with these remakes, the directors are not really in charge, it’s the Disney executive suits, and they want these movies to be a certain way and check the boxes that they know will get butts in theatre seats (or these days butts on couches and clicks on streaming services) and make money. Whether the movie is good or not, and with this mentality it usually isn’t!

So I do have some idea on what this movie will probably be based on the previous remakes. Wendy will probably be another attempt at being a strong female protagonist, but will just come off as bland, forgettable, and possibly a Mary Sue. There will be some good CGI and some not so good. Like Brutus said, the Native Americans will be more politically correct, which is a great thing!

Also with all that being said, I don’t think that the adaptation will be God-awful either! At worst, it will be just like the original Disney version, which I’ve said I’m fine with, but depending on who you are you might not be, with the characters, especially Wendy, being blander. I’ve yet to see an adaptation of the main Peter Pan story (not a prequel or sequel) that is awful!

I was, and sort of still, secretly hoping that this time the movie will be darker and be more true to Barrie’s beautiful words, but since this is a Disney Live-Action Remake, I highly doubt it! When it comes out, I’ll just have to watch it and find out!

[Hannah Grippo]

I'm glad you liked it. I'm sure it's brought you and many other fans lots of good memories and current imagination. I can't share the same opinion though.

You know, I did hear good things about the new Pete's Dragon, though I've never seen it (or the original for that matter!), but trailer for the new one was a bit intriguing (the old one looked pretty silly). I will say I did like The Jungle Book remake far more than the Disney cartoon (I know it's Disney's last film, so people hold it dear, but I hated it as an adaptation). I'm a Jungle Books fan, but never saw a film that really captured its spirit (I had high hopes for the Andy Serkis one, but was disappointed).

I don't really care about a film translating a book word for word. I like to see differences (I love the film Mary Poppins, for instance, but care for the stories as well). Sometimes I like films way better than books too. When it's a source I like though, or love for that matter, I'd hope to see a film capture a spirit of the original. I remember being so disappointed with Disney's Alice in Wonderland because the cartoon made Alice quite an airhead and the remake made her sooo boring (I loved her in the book though). I didn't like what Disney did with Peter's character (why is he an elf, I mean really! Why is he typical, why is he even a teen?).

But if this director tries to say something different, new (and yet old) about Peter, I might watch it when it comes to Disney+. We'll see.

[Dani1923]

The only thing new I really hope they put in this new movie is to have the adult Wendy and Jane ending scene and we can FINALLY have that scene in a big-budget Peter Pan movie!
I know technically they filmed this scene for the 2003 movie, but it was cut and put on the DVD extras, but that only half counts because the scene wasn’t finished (you can see the bluescreen and wires) and it wasn’t in the finished theatrical released product.

[Dani1923]

I just found out that the girl playing Wendy in the Disney remake is Milla Jovovich’s daughter!

Milla was Anno Birkin’s girlfriend!

Maybe her daughter being Wendy is a sign that the movie will be at least a decent adaptation?

[Brutus]

Somehow, I doubt that will make any difference to Disney's version. The new film will just be a live action reboot of the animated film, updated in places to be more politically correct.

[Dani1923]

Actually for this particular remake, it might not be a live-action carbon copy of the animated version like Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.

The director of this movie, David Lowery, directed the Pete’s Dragon remake, and that was about 95% different from the original 70’s movie!

The original movie had songs in it and the remake did not, and the remake had a much more serious tone than the original (the original was what people would call the sugary sweet Disney that people usually mocked).

So my hope is that Lowery does the same thing for Peter Pan! No songs! A more dark tone like the book, and include Barrie’s beautiful words, be true to the characters, emphasize the motherhood aspect of the story like the book, and include the book ending with adult Wendy and Jane.

[Dani1923]

I just re-watched the Pete’s Dragon remake after not seeing since I saw it in the theatre 4 years ago, and I have some confidence that Peter and Wendy’s relationship will be solid. The relationship between Pete and the little girl in the movie was pretty good and the young actors were good overall so David Lowery can direct children well and write good child characters.
But admittedly there were huge problems with most of the story. I won’t go into too much detail because that’s not what this forum is about, but I will say that I wish they made the dragon imaginary and that he was a representation of Pete’s fear but eventual acceptance of wanting to live a normal life.
But no, they decided that the dragon was real and the lesson was not only about the importance of family, but also about believing in magic... I guess? And unfortunately the dragon being real plot took over most of the movie’s runtime! But there were good parts between the boy’s relationship with the dragon and the family he meets, and like I said, I WISH that was more of the focus!

But back to Peter Pan! There are Peter Pan elements in this film, like a young boy who’s free in the wild with Elliot being a sort of makeshift family, but he secretly wants a real family, and there’s a nice connection between Pete and Bryce Dallas Howard’s character and she becomes a surrogate mother to him. So I think as long as Lowery follows the book and does the things I’ve already mentioned in the previous posts, it should be a fine adaptation! I hope!