"Peter Pan," particularly in its new restoration on Blu-Ray, is a visual treat. From its beginning in a well-to-do Edwardian household to Pan's flight over London with Wendy and the boys to the many different looks of Never Never Land, the hand-drawn backdrops are gorgeous. The character animation is silky smooth and appropriately graceful - Tinkerbell in particular is just a wonderful visual creation whether seen in long-shot or close-up.
However, watching it this time, it all felt narratively and emotionally flat. I say that as someone who loves and has always loved animation of all kinds and whose favorite movies include 'children's films' by Pixar, Ghibli and, yes, Disney. I never once felt like Peter or the gang were in any kind of real danger - Captain Hook's a cowardly buffoon, the crocodile is not so much his nemesis and the Tom to his Jerry and the relationship between Peter and Wendy never seems to go beyond surface-level affection.
Other than that, some of the songs (especially the pirate song) are great, some not so much (the 'red man' song the Indians sing feels particularly cringeworthy now). I love the moment where Wendy sews Peter's shadow back on him in the family nursery and Tinkerbell's jealousy of Wendy provides the film's best comedy (even if it's hard to really feel what she's jealous of, when the connection between Wendy and Peter feels so dull).
I like that the film gets in and out in a sleek 75 minutes and keeps pace from start to finish, but with a couple of moments and images aside, I found it easy to forget almost as quickly.
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