By Jim Korkis
As this year marks the milestone 70th anniversary of Walt Disney’s animated adaptation of Peter Pan, and as a live-action Neverland is now captivating fans through the new Disney+ Original Movie Peter Pan & Wendy, I thought this would be a good time to share some fun tidbits about the animated classic – the last Disney-animated feature led by all nine legendary “Nine Old Men” as directing animators.
Think of a Wonderful Thought: When Walt Disney was a student at Park Elementary School in Marceline, Mo., he and his older brother Roy broke into their piggy banks to get enough money to see a touring theater production of Peter Pan with actress Maude Adams, the first American Peter Pan. Walt recalled, “Shortly afterward, Peter Pan was chosen for our school play, and I was allowed to play Peter. I actually flew through the air! Roy was using a block and tackle to hoist me. It gave way, and I flew right into the faces of the surprised audience … When I began producing cartoons, Peter Pan was high on my list of subjects. In fact, Roy and I bought the rights with the idea of making it the second full-length animated feature for our company.”
Peter Pan Premiere: Walt Disney’s Peter Pan was featured at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, where, as reported by the New York Times, the festival jury awarded Walt a special prize “for the prestige he once more brings to the festival.” The resulting buzz spread through the city, drawing a line that extended down the street from New York’s Roxy Theater for the film’s 8 a.m. showing on opening day.
The original Tick Tock star: While the film’s comedic crocodile isn’t officially named, the company retroactively dubbed him “Tick Tock” in reference to the ticking alarm clock swallowed by the rascally reptile. In 1940, famed Disney songwriter Frank Churchill wrote the song “Never Smile at a Crocodile,” with lyrics by Jack Lawrence, for an earlier version of the film. While those song lyrics weren’t used in the eventual animated film (which featured only an instrumental rift), the song became a popular novelty record for comedian Jerry Lewis and was later recorded over the years by other performers, including the Muppets.
Painstaking pixie dust: Created before the age of computer-generated graphics, Tinker Bell’s pixie dust was brought to life under the leadership of special effects animator Ed Aardal and through the incredible efforts of the studio’s Ink and Paint artists, who painstakingly painted Ed’s intricate pencil artwork, tiny dot by tiny dot, onto cels.
Artful approaches: While it took 70 years for the Disney library of films to feature Peter Pan in both animation (the 1953 animated classic) and live action (the 2023 Disney+ Original Movie), both almost happened simultaneously. Among the early treatments for the film was one from Disney Legend Joe Grant, who in February 1948, called for an unseen female narrator to open a book and begin telling the story. At the end, the film would’ve revealed that the woman was a grown Wendy reading to her daughter. Walt seriously considered telling the story of Peter Pan through a blend of live action and animation before settling on the animated version we know today.
Tolerably American: Disney Legend Frank Thomas, directing animator for Captain Hook in the film, shared a story Walt told him when the film was playing in the United Kingdom. “Walt was walking down the street in London, and he passed by a theater where Peter Pan was showing,” Frank recalled. “Two old ladies were going along, and one of them said, ‘Have you seen it yet? I hear it’s terribly Americanized.’ And the other one replies, ‘Well, yes, but while you’re watching it, you really don’t mind it.’”
For more Peter Pan treasures, look for Jim’s latest book Off To Never Land: 70 Years of Disney’s Peter Pan wherever books are sold.