Peter Pan, the 1911 novel by JM Barrie, has been a popular read for over a century. During its one hundred and six years of existence, it has inspired numerous film adaptations, stage adaptations and other works. Film adaptations include titles such as Hook (2013) and Peter Pan (2003), but the best-known adaptation is undoubtedly Disney's Peter Pan (1953). According to Deborah Cartmell “the ambition of a Disney adaptation is to usurp its source. . . so that the cinematic adaptation triumphs over its literary original and, for most spectators, it is the film rather than the text which is the original” (169); Peter Pan has a reputation as a true Disney classic. Disney productions take immense liberties with the texts they adapt and do not hesitate to omit, replace or significantly modify characters, to replace sad or realistic endings with happy endings or to adapt the plot to correspond to the views and objectives of the Disney company. Although Barrie's novel is often described as a children's book, it contains dark subject matter that might not be suitable for (all) children; for example, Peter is mentioned to “thin” his lost boys when they “seem to be growing” (59). The character of Peter is not quite the good, innocent hero that one would expect from a children's story. Janet Wasko identifies a clear distinction between hero and villain as one of the key elements of Disney films, linked to ensuring good always triumphs over evil (ch. 6); in this case, Peter defeats Captain Hook. Barrie's characters, compared to those in the Disney adaptation, are more ambiguous in nature and behavior. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayTransposing the medium leads to inevitable changes from the original work: according to Linda Hutcheon, “a novel, to be dramatized , must be distilled, reduced in size, and therefore, inevitably, complexity” (36). In the cinema business, we simply have less time to elaborate on the details of the characters. Additionally, unless certain forms of storytelling are used, it is more difficult to convey the character's thoughts, which novels can accomplish through stream-of-consciousness storytelling, or their secret backgrounds and motivations, usually revealed through an (omniscient) narrator. In Barrie’s novel, this narrator, for example, tells us that Hook “was not entirely evil; he loved flowers. . . and soft music. . . ; and, let us admit it frankly, the idyllic character of the scene deeply moved him” (149). Even if liking flowers and music does not seem to be a significant factor in measuring the degree of wickedness of a person, and this sentence can therefore be interpreted ironically, the reader's attention is nevertheless drawn to the diversity of characters; the villain is more like us than we might want to believe. Nothing like this happens in the animated film: there is no omniscient narrator to enlighten the audience. However, as mentioned, there are certainly cinematic devices that can achieve the same effect, but Disney also makes no attempt to convey this side of Hook visually: the only times when Hook is not depicted as threatening, he either is afraid of the crocodile, or acting as comic relief by, for example, losing half of his outfit while fighting with said crocodile (00:44:22). Simplifying the character of Hook is therefore a deliberate choice and cannot be entirely attributed to the transposition of the medium; he must be unquestionably wicked, and place him inComic situations where he is the victim reaffirms that villains should not be taken seriously. The role and importance of animated films, with children as the target audience, are multiple; however, increasing pressure is placed on their function of educating young people in values ​​and morals (Giroux 66). The idea that good behavior will always be rewarded and evil will perish, at all times.at least ultimately, is a constant theme in Disney's many films. In the battle of good and evil, the two sides must be clearly distinguished, leaving little room for ambiguity or complexity; “good always triumphs; facing defeat, failure, or injustice is not generally explored in the Disney world” (Wasko ch. 6). Everything seems to work out for the protagonist, who is always the hero and therefore the winner. Peter's ambiguous traits are simply left out of the Disney adaptation; no mention is made of him killing anyone, nor does he harm any of his enemies on screen. This can also be attributed to another characteristic of Disney films, namely the avoidance of excessive violence and not explicitly displaying bodily injury or blood. However, the two factors seem to play together when comparing the pirates' weapons to those of Peter and the Lost Boys: in the film, only Peter carries a sharp weapon, namely a small dagger, while the rest of the boys carry wooden swords. and other blunt weapons such as slingshots. In the novel, the Lost Boys use a bow and arrow as well as real swords (Barrie 72, 174), while the pirates use sharp swords in both versions of the story. Captain Hook has the most impressive weapon, his hook, in the Barrie version as well as the Disney version. By making the good guys relatively harmless but nonetheless victorious, Disney avoids excessive violence, affirms their roles as good or bad characters, and shows that good will triumph even if bad seems to have the upper hand. It could be argued that Disney's portrayal of the pirate Smee, however, highlights the character's ambiguity. He is Hook's right-hand man, but although his role is that of an evil pirate, his character in the film is typically "good": he is caring, funny, not very intelligent, wears glasses and never makes a mistake. harm to children. In the novel, his character is nowhere near as gentle: "Smee had pleasant names for everything, and his cutlass was Johnny Corkscrew, because he twisted it in the wound." There are many adorable traits that could be mentioned about Smee. For example, after killing, he wiped his glasses instead of his gun” (Barrie 67). Although he still performs typically feminine actions such as sewing, and is described as being "infinitely pathetic" (156), there is an element of villainy in him. In the novel, Smee is sent to drown Tiger Lily and only succeeds because he is obeying what he thinks are Hook's orders. Disney conveniently chose to let its main villain Hook do the dirty work while Smee hangs on to the boat (00:40:21). It seems like a good-natured pirate doesn't fit into the typical Disney universe, but as long as Smee isn't actively participating in evil activities, he's the perfect example of a good person caught in a bad situation. In the final battle between the pirates and the lost boys, the pirates are beaten and humiliated; all except Smee, of course. All he does is put supplies on the lifeboat during the fight (1:10:30), and since he does not participate, his behavior is not punished. Disney simplified Barrie's characters, in part to. 2017.