Alice In Wonderland - 7.6/10
This is one that, while I did see as a kid, it was so long ago that I
don't even really remember anything from it. I hadn't even counted it
among my "seen films" on ICheck and IMDB as a result. Watching it now, I
think I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have then. There's so much
going on, and while I suppose kids might appreciate the random
silliness, there's a lot of subtlety to the nonsense that you need to be
older to understand, I think. I only wish Disney hadn't been so
conservative. They were still making visible efforts to infuse some kind
of coherence, and I think the film would have worked even better
without that.
The animation was still pretty good, and I love how calmly Alice accepts
so many of the insane things that are going on. The only real problem I
had with it was that Kathryn Beaumont, the voice of Alice, didn't
really have much talent for singing. They actually pointed this out
once, so even that doesn't bug me as much as it otherwise would.
Peter Pan - 8.1/10
Another one I loved growing up, though Tinkerbell often annoyed me and
to this day I don't understand her popularity. She's not "sassy", she's
homicidally jealous. There's a big difference.
Anyway, this film is a lot of fun, and easily the best part is Hook and
Smee. They are hilarious yet frighteningly dangerous at the same time.
Hook is not a comic/cartoon villain, despite his slapstick with the
croc; he is a legitimate threat. He is also the first Disney villain to
murder a man (one of his own men, no less) in cold blood in his first
minute of screen time. The scene where he's lowering the bomb into Pan's
hideout ("Captain Hook never breaks a promise") is one of the most
classic evil villain moments in the Disney canon, as far as I'm
concerned.
I also always get a laugh out of George Darling, the father (who is of
course portrayed by the same actor). Everything else is fine. A couple
of the songs are catchy, the animation is good, and aside from
Tinkerbell's bitchiness there isn't really anything annoying about the
movie. I liked it as a kid and I like it now.
One thing that has struck me about Peter Pan as an adult is the blatant in your face racism. I was shocked the first time I watched it as an adult! I understand the context, but it's amazing to see what was ay-okay back then. If that came out today, I can't even imagine the uproar. Oh and I totally hear you about Tinker Bell.
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