HOOK

Draw of the Hook

Why would a 6 year old want to see a movie about Peter Pan?

What a retarded question, right? Peter Pan has been one of Disney's most successful franchises and has appealed to kids all over. Not only that, but it features Robin Williams, a man known for his comical attitude and kid-friendly movies. Combine those and you should have a sure-fire kids move hit, right? Well, you might think so, especially from the trailer for the movie:

After seeing the movie, you can see the darker twist of the film in this trailer, but as a kid, it looks like an appealing Disney Live-Action movie with some actual good action and mystical qualities. What's not to love? Well...

Initial Hook-Line-Sinker

The scene, as I remember it, envisioned a window closed by an actual Pirate's Hook. I remember seeing that open and the windows flying open. Besides that, the only other thing I remember is the parents coming home and seeing scratch marks all over the house and a dagger that stuck a note to the door detailing the kidnapping of the kids. Since then, I've had a fear as a child of being taken while I was asleep. I kept look at the windows, waiting for someone to come by...

New Age Thought (Image Credit to Draka Dracula's 'Peter Pan Room')

In seeing the movie now, it must have been really frightening for a 6 year old. Coming from the old Disney cartoons, I always knew that whatever was happening in the cartoon was a fictional story. But looking at a live film adaption brought that make-believe world into being for me. Take a look at this clip to see what I mean:

As you can see, what Spielberg does for this movie is flashy and would be seen by adults as mere special effects, but for a 6 year old, it's entirely different. Think for a second what this scene entails (SFX).

Then there's the great dialogue and acting.

Too Close to Home?

The party scene was a big hint to me. It told me as a child that my parents would have no clue if something like the movie happened to me until it was too late.

Also, earlier in the movie, we see Robin Williams' character miss his son's biggest baseball game due to work. I played baseball as a kid, too, and my dad was always at the office and we didn't see him that much. Too many commonalities made it quite real in my eyes.

Post-Traumatic HOOK FEVER!

As mentioned a bit in the Post-Traumatic section, I can connect some of the portions of this discourse to my Career Discourse. The fact that I have done a complete turnaround to what has plagued me in the past will help me to push boundaries in filmmaking.