Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Come fly with me....", 27 Feb 2007
NOTE: As of this moment, the Two-Disc Platinum Edition of Peter Pan is in limited distribution (I have seen it) and most of the reviews that appear now refer to an earlier version. The Two-Disc Platinum Edition version can be pre-ordered from Amazon and Borders and offers new special features which include a restored original theatrical soundtrack all-new digital restoration with enhanced picture and sound, "Camp Never Land: Explore Never Land" with all-new multi-level games, deleted songs, a feature during which Walt Disney explains "Why I Made Peter Pan," "The Peter Pan Story: 1952" featurette, a sneak peek of the all-new Tinker Bell movie, another feature "You Can Fly: The Making of Peter Pan," a T-Squad music video: "The Second Star to the Right," a Peter Pan virtual flight, Peter's Playful Prank DVD storybook, and a never-before-seen alternate opening.
Over the years, I have seen various versions of this delightful film and enjoy it at least as much now as I did when it was first released in 1953. On several occasions, I have also visited Disneyland and vividly recall the excitement of the ride when my companions and I departed the children's bedroom and flew above London at night en route to Neverland. The so-called "magic kingdom" is more a state-of-mind than a location because the genius of Walt Disney and his associates is that, in ways and to an extent no one else ever has, they activate and engage imagination. This is especially true of this film that, unlike most of the other animation features, involves a journey by air as well as by land. Literally, one's imagination soars above and beyond human concerns, at least for 77 minutes.
Unlike other Disney villains (e.g. Honest John and Stromboli in Pinocchio, the Queen/Witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Captain Hook is at least as amusing as he is threatening. The fate of the Darling children is never really in doubt. We know that eventually, theirs will be a safe return to their home and family. (I had no such confidence - as a child -- when first viewing Dumbo, Pinocchio, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.) Although for most of us, "there is no place like home," we enjoy and appreciate opportunities to travel far and wide - at least in our imagination - and become involve in adventures of various kinds, as the Darling children do.
Those who already have an earlier version of Peter Pan can continue to enjoy it, of course, but at least some of them will welcome this Two-Disc Platinum Edition because of all of its special features, previously unavailable. I only wish other DVDs offered special features of comparable variety, quality, and entertainment value.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
cherished childhood memories, 23 Nov 2007
I remember my fifth birthday more vividly than any other from my youth. It was on that birthday my godmother bought me peter pan and snow white on VHS. To watch this movie again is like revisiting so many happy memories of wishing peter would come and take me away. It is true Disney magic. It has all of disney's trademarks from the time, beautiful hand drawn animation (that has been colour graded to make it look even better) and catchy songs that have become part of everyday cultural knowledge. I would advise anyone to get this for their child or teen or better yet buy it for yourself and relive days gone by like i did.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A GREAT DISNEY FILM, 11 Oct 2007
If Walt Disney had never made another cartoon feature after BAMBI in 1942 he would still be remembered as the man who transformed the animated full length film into an art form. SNOW WHITE , PINOCCHIO , FANTASIA and BAMBI all belong on the list of the greatest achievements in American Film. Disney's next phase in full length animation took place after World War 2 and although these subsequent works may not match the brilliance and creativity of the earlier films, they still possess the superb craftsmanship the Disney artists are famous for. Missing from the new batch of films was the meticulous background detail that distinguished the earlier projects. Starting with Cinderella in 1950, the animators seemed to concentrate more on clean, uncluttered backgrounds but the drawing was just as professional as before , characters still brought to life with fluid, lifelike movements. Colors tended to be bright and splashy, but the cartoonists also knew when subtlety was called for, and scenes occurring at night were done with convincing atmosphere and shadows. The success of Cinderella confirmed that the movie-going public was still willing to be entertained and moved by a cartoon movie, and Disney and his artists forged ahead with an impressive array of animated features that to this day remain models of the Art Form. Perhaps the greatest of these was PETER PAN, first released in 1953. Based on J.M. Barrie's immortal play and novel about the little boy who doesn't want to grow up, PETER PAN had been a project stewing in Disney's mind for years. It wasn't until after the War that work on the film really took off. When the movie was completed and finally released to theaters, Disney seemed rather ambivalent about its achievement. He had a hard time defining who Peter actually was as a character but to millions of children in movie theaters all over the world, that didn't seem to matter. PETER PAN is not very deep story-wise. It lacks the heart and sentiment of the Barrie original, which to some degree is a good thing. Past stage versions and the spectacular 1924 Paramount film version could be cloyingly sentimental at times.
The Disney version is light and breezy and moves at a clip. The London sequence which opens the picture is spectacular in both the backdrops and the animation itself. When Peter, Wendy, John and Michael leap out of the Darling nursery window and fly over nighttime Edwardian London the viewer is treated to some of the most thrilling animation ever created for the movies. Later sections of the movie are equally enchanting, and the personage of the villainous Captain Hook is brought to great comic life by Disney animators and the marvelous vocal talent of Hans Conried. As with past Disney efforts, the song score is superb. "Second Star to the Right", "You Can Fly" and "Your Mother and Mine" are highlights in a tuneful soundtrack created by Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain.
PETER PAN holds a special place in my heart. It was the first movie I ever saw. As a 4 year old sitting with my father in an ornate, red carpeted movie palace in Cincinnati, Ohio, looking up at that big screen watching Peter and his friends swooping and flying over the roofs and spires of London was an overwhelming experience. I was hooked, so to speak, and it is an image that has stayed with me ever since. This is the film that initiated my love affair with movies. PETER PAN is one of the iconic films of the Baby Boom Generation
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