Peter Pan & Wendy is a live-action film adaptation of JM Barrie's novel Peter Pan and Disney's 1953 Peter Pan animated film. David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete's Dragon (2016)) directs.
As with the original film, the remake focuses on Wendy Darling (Ever Andersonnote ) and her brothers John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe) getting spirited to Neverland by the charming Peter Pan (Alexander Molony), while contending with Captain Hook (Jude Law).
The film also stars Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell, Jim Gaffigan as Mr. Smee, Alan Tudyk as George Darling, and Molly Parker as Mary Darling. It was released on Disney+ on April 28, 2023.
Previews: Official Trailer
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Tropes:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Wendy wasn't exactly cut out for combat in the animated film. Here, she's shown play-fighting with her brother John and in the movie is actually fighting off a few pirates and managed to fly on her own without any pixie dust and can be seen fighting Captain Hook himself in a teaser poster. Fitting, as she is played by the daughter and nigh spitting image of Milla Jovovich, who is best known for Action Girl roles.
- The crocodile is significantly larger than its appearance in the animated movie and has several harpoons lodged in its back which shows it has survived multiple battles. Additionally, unlike the original crocodile, this one actually has a body count as it explicitly eats a pirate offscreen.
- In the original film, Tiger Lily is a Distressed Damsel with no lines. In this film she's a skilled fighter and healer who's the Cool Big Sis and Hypercompetent Sidekick to Peter.
- Adaptational Diversity: The Lost Boys and the pirates, who consisted solely of white males in the animated film, are a wide variety of ethnicities and genders.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Tick-Tock the crocodile in the original animated film was only focused on eating Captain Hook, ignoring everyone else to the point he's relatively friendly to everyone who's not Hook. In this film, while the crocodile is still primarily after Hook, it's not above eating the other pirates and nearly went after Peter Pan and the Darling children had they not flown to safety.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- In the original novel and most adaptations, Tinker Bell is bitterly jealous of Wendy and even tries to kill and injure her on multiple occasions. Here, she shows no such feelings, and their bond gradually becomes so strong that Wendy is eventually able to hear Tink's real voice.
- Similarly, while he has always been something of an Anti-Villain since the original stageplay and novel, Hook is still far more sympathetically portrayed here than he usually is, complete with a tragic backstory and more complicated relationship with Peter Pan. He is not only Spared by the Adaptation, but even left in a better place emotionally with it implied he and Peter reconcile to be, at best, Friendly Enemies.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Peter has reddish hair in the animated film and black hair in the movie, and Tinker Bell also has black hair instead of blonde. Hook has pure black hair in the animated film but is greying in the movie. However, it's zigzagged with Peter, as his creator J.M. Barrie never described his appearance in detail, leaving it to the reader's imagination and the interpretation of whoever is adapting him.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: In this continuity, Captain Hook was the first Lost Boy, and Peter’s former best friend. After Pan banished him from Neverland, he grew up under Smee’s care and became the infamous pirate he is now.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- Unlike the 1953 film, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily do not have any romantic feelings for Peter.
- Due to the above, Wendy and Tinkerbell become close friends over the course of the movie since the latter doesn't have any reason to be jealous of the former.
- In the novel and most other adaptations, Hook is implied to have already been a grown man and experienced pirate before meeting Peter. This film reimagines them as childhood friends who had a falling out, after which a younger Hook left Neverland before returning as an adult, leading to their current rivalry.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Tick Tock the crocodile, like in the animated film, has a goofy grin on his face and makes some cartoonishly exaggerated movements. He's also enormous, eats people on-screen, and is shown to be virtually indestructible, thus returning him to his more frightening literary roots.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Downplayed. The film isn’t outright bloody, but it does avert Bloodless Carnage and gets away with some more violent moments. Hook manages to slash Peter a few times in combat (and nearly kills him the second time, giving him a huge gash on his chest), and during the final battle, one of the Lost Boys impales a pirate’s hand with an arrow.
- Canon Foreigner: The film has a few new members of the Lost Boys who weren't in the animated film.
- Character Development: Peter Pan starts off as an arrogant, reckless boy who insists that he's always right and always wins, with defeat never really crossing his mind even when asked. He even won't admit he needs help from others when he brags about his achievements. But after nearly dying to Hook in their second encounter and then rescued by Tiger Lily, Peter learns humility and not only does he credits his friends for making him strong, but he now understands how badly he mistreated Hook and tries to make amends with his former friend rather than continuing the feud.
- Similarly, Hook is obsessed with killing Peter Pan and exacting revenge upon him for all the wrongs the boy has committed against him. After it seems like he's succeeded, he realizes that Victory Is Boring and that he's been left with nothing, and that all the pain he feels wasn't at all healed by the death of his nemesis / former friend. He's genuinely happy to see Peter alive again, remarks that Neverland is better off for having both of them in it, and although he doesn't yet accept Peter's apology the ending hints he has begun to forgive him.
- Child Hater: Hook hates all children, not just Peter Pan. He hates them so much that he made a rule stating there shall be no children in Neverland, which pretty much means execution for any child they caught.
- Cool Big Sis: Tiger Lily to Peter and the Lost Boys. She even calls Peter "Little Brother."
- Culturally Sensitive Adaptation: This adaptation does away with the stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans as seen in the animated film. Here, Tiger Lily's tribe is portrayed realistically and respectfully, and the song “What Made the Red Man Red?” is omitted entirely.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to the animated film. While not without its whimsical moments, this version adds more dramatic elements like a higher body count, more violent fight scenes, and a much more personal animosity between Peter and Hook. This adaptation isn’t a full-on musical either, though there are some diegetic songs thrown in (mainly Mrs. Darling’s lullaby and some shanties for the pirates).
- Decomposite Character: Hook and Mr. Darling are a rather unusual variant involving decomposite casting. The two are usually played/voiced by the same actor, but in this version they're played by different actors.
- Demoted to Extra:
- While Tiger Lily plays a more prominent role as an unofficial member of the Lost Boys, her tribe are only briefly seen.
- In the original text and especially the animated film, Tick-Tock the crocodile was a persistent threat who constantly pursued Hook. Here, the crocodile only appears in one scene during the fight in the cave, and doesn't even take part in the climax, though Hook is still shown to fear him throughout the film.
- A group of mermaids had a notable scene in the 1953 film interacting with Peter and Wendy. Here, they are only briefly glimpsed swimming in the ocean when Pan, Tinker Bell, and the Darling children arrive to Neverland.
- Disney Death: Both Peter and Hook undergo these - Peter from being slashed across the chest by Hook and falling from a long height, and Hook from falling from the Jolly Roger when it's high up in the air. Both manage to survive.
- Fairy Sexy: Tinkerbell, per the norm, is played here by a very attractive actress.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: The film bravely avoids Bloodless Carnage by having Hook slash Peter across the chest. And unless you pay very close attention, you can see it grow.
- Foreshadowing: Unlike most adaptations, Captain Hook and Mr. Darling are portrayed here by separate actors. This is a subtle clue that Captain Hook was once a Lost Boy himself.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Hook addresses Wendy as "Wendy Moira Angela Darling" when asking her for Peter Pan's whereabouts, as an Ironic Echo of how she introduced herself during their first encounter in the cave.
- Growing Up Sucks: This is the default mindset of Peter, Wendy, and the Lost Boys have to the concept of growing up, but ironically the person who thoroughly believes this as passionately as Peter himself is the adult Captain Hook. For Hook, growing up made him old, cruel, and bitter about everything, especially after seeing his former best friend become his Arch-Enemy. When Wendy hears the full story of Peter and James, she realizes that Hook's problem isn't growing up, it's growing up wrong.
- HA HA HA—No: Captain Hook reacts this way when Peter snarks at him during their fight.Hook: Just like old times.
Peter: All your times are old, Captain.
Hook: HA HA! (attacks Peter) - Hypercompetent Sidekick: Tiger Lily to Peter. She's a fighter, healer, and Cool Big Sis to the Lost Boys. Wendy points out that whenever Peter gets in trouble, Tiger Lily bails him out.
- I Miss Mom:
- Hook reveals to Wendy that his falling out with Peter happened because James missed his mother, and he left Neverland to try and find her again. Sadly, he never did, and he's clearly still distraught over it.
- Peter himself reveals to Wendy that he ran away to Neverland after an argument with his own mother. By the time he returned home to see her again, she was long dead and someone else was living in their house.
- Lampshade Hanging: Over the fact the Lost Boys include Lost Girls... note Wendy: Are you...?
Tootles: (interrupting) Lost Boys.
Birdie: Every last one of us.
Wendy: But you're not all boys.
One of the Twins: So? - Lost in Imitation: In keeping with the animated film, Nana is a St. Bernard instead of a Newfoundland like in the play.
- Mythology Gag:
- The title is an homage to an alternative title to the original play, Peter and Wendy.
- Peter and Hook have the following exchange, taken straight from J.M. Barrie’s text — only this time, it’s reversed a bit.Peter Pan: Dark and sinister man, prepare to meet thy doom.
Captain Hook: Proud and insolent youth, have at thee! - The screaming Hook standing on Tick-Tock’s snout, just inches away from getting swallowed up, is reminiscent of the many slapstick moments between the two in the animated film.
- Non-Indicative Name: The "Lost Boys" don't consist entirely of boys this time around, something Wendy is quick to point out.
- Not Growing Up Sucks: Like many adaptations of Peter Pan before it, this film explores the downside of not growing up with Peter Pan being immature and sure of himself, and Wendy witnessing first-hand on how Peter's reckless nature can lead to real, dangerous situations. It reaches to its logical conclusion when Hook manages to fatally wound Peter during their second fight, and then reveals how he and Peter used to be best friends until they had a bitter fallout over mothers. By the end of the film, Peter learns to accept that he has to grow up a little to end his destructive rivalry with Captain Hook, though he admits he's not ready to fully grow up like Wendy is.
- Pet the Dog: Hook might be a Bad Boss to his whole crew, but he's genuinely grateful to Smee for saving him as a child.
- Prehistoric Animal Analogue: The crocodile seems to be based off a Sarcosuchus given its size and long, pointed snout.
- Race Lift: Among the Lost Boys, Tootles is Black and the twins are Black girls. Tinker Bell is also shown to be Black and Iranian, and Peter himself is Ambiguously Brown. All those characters were white in the animated film. Much like Adaptational Dye-Job, this is zigzagged with Peter due to J.M. Barrie never describing his appearance in detail, leaving it to the reader's imagination and the interpretation of whoever is adapting him.
- Suddenly Speaking: Wendy can’t understand Tinker Bell, so whenever Tink communicates with her, she sounds like jingling bells. At the end, we finally hear Tink’s true voice when she and Wendy part ways.
- That Man Is Dead: At one point, Smee calls Hook "James", leading him to shout at him to not call him that, insisting "I am Captain Hook!"
- Truer to the Text: A minor example: Hook's Hook Hand is his right one, just like in the original play; in the animated film and other adaptations such as Hook, it's his left hand instead.
- Victory Is Boring: Hook manages to beat Peter Pan when he ambushes him in his hideout, giving his former best friend a deep wound across his chest that would certainly be fatal without immediate medical attention. But instead of feeling joy, he feels empty and unsatisfied. When a fully recovered Peter announces his return, Hook admits he's glad that his arch-nemesis is alive because it gives his life meaning.
- Villain Song: The pirates sing two sea shanties in the film: “Behemooth”, which is sung as they take John and Michael to Skull Rock, and “Ode to the Falling”, a more foreboding number that’s sung when Wendy walks the plank.
- We Used to Be Friends: It's revealed that as a child, James Hook was Peter's best friend and "the very first Lost Boy", but Peter banished him after James got homesick and began to miss his mother. James left Neverland and was raised by Smee and the pirates, and eventually returned as an adult to see his old friend again, only for Peter to cut off his hand in anger at how much he'd changed.
- Wham Shot: Tinker Bell leads Wendy to Peter’s room, where she finds a name crossed off of the door. The name is that of a former Lost Boy: James, as in James Hook.
- Would Hurt a Child: Hook's Rule 44: No children in Neverland. A pirate's way of saying "Kill any child you've encountered or captured”.
- You Don't Look Like You: Unlike most traditional depictions of Wendy Darling in a nightgown, this one
wears two-piece pajamas and a blue bathrobe as her main outfit.
