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J.M. Barrie’s stage play and novel, “Peter Pan”, was an instant success with audiences far and wide; telling the tale of a young boy in a magical land who simply refused to grow up. The tale had everything from scurvy pirates to jealous pixies, from stern Indian chiefs to flying children...truly something for the child in each and every one of us. But if there was ever another man who truly understood Peter’s message, that in growing up we each lose an important part of ourselves, it was Walt Disney. Even at a very young age, Walt had a special appreciation for Barrie’s story. In fact, when his grade school put on the theatrical production, it was Walt who played the young elfin lead...and when his flying wire broke it was Walt who crashed into the audience! But those first rough days of his showmanship aside, it was all too soon that Walt was running his animation studio and planning the first stories he wanted to tell on screen. Having a soft spot for the story of Snow White, told over many dark nights by his grandmother at bedtime, it was decided that the fairy tale would be his first silver screen attempt. But, Walt wanted to tell his second favorite story, that of Peter Pan, in his second theatrical attempt. Production was begun in the 1930’s; everything from storyboards to sample character and location designs. This dream was not to be, however, as Walt ran into some early trouble getting the rights to the story and was forced to move on to other projects; but he never lost sight of that early dream. During the War years, Peter Pan was brought out of mothballs (the rights having been acquired some years previous) and put back into production...Walt’s dream could finally be realized! All of Walt’s focus went into the development of Peter, Tink and Wendy’s adventure and in 1953, audiences far and wide were transported back to a time of their youth...a time where anything was possible as long as you believed in it strong enough. The story of Peter Pan should not be a foreign one to anyone reading these pages; the characters of Peter, the feisty sprite Tinkerbell and Captain Hook being recognizable across the globe. Children of every generation alive can claim some exposure to the story which has now been delighting the young and the young at heart for over 100 years. But until this Platinum Edition 2-disc DVD set, no one has seen Walt’s version looking or sounding so great; nor have they had singular access to such a wealth of informative bonus materials. This release, like most Disney Platinum Editions, is the definitive version and is a must own for fans of classic Disney cinema and wonderful children tales alike. Let’s take a deeper look at the extra goodies... First and most notable is the extensive digital restoration of both sound and picture. The visuals are sparkling clean and brighter than ever, and the audio has been given the royal treatment with the now-legendary 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix. This is the sort of picture and sound that should convince you to upgrade you home media center like you’ve been wanting...and inexplicably...waiting to! With the lights turned low and the volume turned high, your entire family can enjoy a night at the movies in the comfort of your own home. And after the main feature, the viewing gets REALLY good! The bonus materials seem to start out simple enough with a few games for the young ones to play in Camp Neverland, but the games included show a higher level of design and more current appeal than most I have seen included on these releases. Starting things off by capitalizing on the current Japanese wordless crossword craze is “Smee’s Sudoku Challenge”. Like the other games, this trendy crossover has three levels of play difficulty, making it a lot of fun for many ages. Next is “Tarrrget Practice” which jumps all over the current pirate hysteria and the popularity of mini-games like those found in Disney’s very own Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK). An easy game for kids, but one they can play multiple times over, the arrow keys are used to throw stones and tomatoes at pirates, while avoiding the good guys. “Tink’s Fantasy Flight” is a similarly controlled game where players must follow Tink through the skies of Neverland avoiding the attacks of Captain Hook and his ship’s cannons. All in all, it is nice to see something a little more playable popping up on these releases. At this point the features really get going, starting with the Disney standby musical section. There is a look at a lost song titled “Never Land” which was originally written in 1940 and is now brought to life for the first time here in a mini featurette and fully produced music video. While the treat of hidden material is a nice one, the song itself doesn’t seem to be on par with the delightful songs of that era’s Disney films...perhaps an indication of why it has remained “lost” all this time. Also included is “The Second Star To The Right”, a music video from Disney band T-Squad. Your kids might like this one, but it wasn’t my cup of tea; I much prefer the featurettes I’ll tell you about now to the over produced pop of yet another Mouse Eared pop cutout. “The Peter Pan That Almost Was” is incredible, and I believe worth the addition of this release to your collection whether you own other copies of this film or not. Every frame of this feature is packed with info on the early development of Peter Pan in the 1930’s. You will be surprised at the changes made over the years, the directions that this film almost went, and the opinions of Walt Disney himself on the ideas and attempts of his story writers. Historically archived storyboards are brought out and assembled into the scenes that almost were, and each ones dynamic on the motion picture’s creation is explored and explained. There is so much information about the development of Peter Pan here that to know any more, you’d have to ask Walt... ...but you won’t have to thanks to the next featurette, “In Walt’s Words: ‘Why I Made Peter Pan’”. An uncovered article featuring Walt’s own words as to why this story was amongst his most cherished and why it simply had to be made into a feature film, is dramatically voiced in this reenactment. From his childhood memories to the green lit production, no influence is left unnamed. In addition, Disney historical buffs will enjoy the inclusion of the 1952 featurette “The Peter Pan Story”. While it may not feature much information not already presented elsewhere on this set, it certainly adds much in the way of completeness. As is usually the case with Platinum Edition DVD’s from the Walt Disney Studios, now is the time to pick up this film. Only released for a limited time before disappearing back into the infamous Disney Vault, this release of one of the studio’s very best works is a must have. You don’t have to follow any stars, and you sure don’t have to wait all the way until morning, but you can certainly fly straight down to the store and add this one to your shelves now...I’ve seen your DVD collection and while it has a healthy coat of dust...it can use a little more from a pixie to really get things going! -aaron-
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