Many current Disney fans seem much more interested in the theme parks and the live-action films than Disney animated films, which were once the “hot” topic. However, even with all the supplemental material on DVD/Blu-rays and “Making of” books now easily available, there are still treasures yet to be discovered.
As frequent readers of this site know, I am a huge fan of Disney's Peter Pan (1953) and have often shared some background of that classic. Today, I am going to discuss three of the props in that film that you might have taken for granted when you watched it over and over.
Peter Pan's Pipe
On the eaves of the Darling family house in London, a mysterious shadowy figure lightly leaps to the window of the nursery that offers him easy access to the bedroom of the romantic Wendy, the studious John, and the rough and tumble little Michael Darling. During this dramatic moment at the beginning of the animated classic Peter Pan, the lush musical score for the film is briefly replaced by the sole haunting underscore of a pan flute.
These few lively notes are the audience's introduction to the mischievous hero, Peter Pan, and his familiar pan pipes.
Before the famous stage play and novel Peter Pan, author Sir James Barrie wrote a book in 1902 titled The Little White Bird, with several chapters introducing an intriguing new character. In that novel, this prototype version of Peter Pan made a set of pipes to play so that it would duplicate the sounds of nature, like the sound of a leaping fish.
The pleasingly harmonic pipes were an homage to Pan, a Greek mythological character who enchanted nymphs with a similar musical instrument fashioned from seven hollow reeds of different lengths.
When Barrie later evolved his character from the novel into Peter Pan, who is world renowned today, he kept the eerily melodic pipes as an important accessory for the playful boy who wouldn't grow up. The popular theatrical versions of Peter Pan, including the touring company version that Walt Disney saw as a young boy in Missouri, had the actress Maude Adams performing as Peter play the iconic pan flute during the play.
When Disney decided to animate the exciting adventures of Peter Pan, he knew that audiences would have certain expectations from the decades of popular stage productions and book illustrations including the fact that Peter must have his famous pipe.
Peter Pan's poster captures the spirit of youth and adventure, and a lot of props, just not the famous pan pipe.
Even the early concept sketches by artist David Hall from 1938 prominently feature proud Peter with his homemade set of pipes. Although as the film went through the pre-production process, the number of tubes multiplied from two to three and, finally, five. The famous statue commissioned by Barrie of the boastful and careless Peter, sculpted by Sir George Frampton, that first appeared in London's Kensington Gardens in 1912, shows Peter playing a pipe with only two long reeds. Walt Disney himself visited this landmark in his research for the film. Peter's pipe is often stolen from the statue, but it is always promptly replaced.
Frampton described his masterpiece: “The animals and fairies on the statue are listening to the Pipes of Pan, one of the mice is completing his toilet before going up to listen to the music, and the squirrel is discussing political matters with two of the fairies.”
One early Disney story sketch shows nonchalant Peter gleefully cleaning out the pipes with a fluffy feather, an action that never appears in the final film. An early approved temporary model sheet has nine different images of Peter in different poses and expressions as he gleefully plays the pipes. This attention to detail indicates how extremely important it was to Walt and the Disney artists to accurately recreate the well-known image of Peter and his pipes.
The non-stop adventure in the action-packed Disney animated feature unfortunately leaves Peter little opportunity to demonstrate his skill in playing his pan flute. This ability is first seen in the famous Darling nursery scene where smitten Wendy struggles to sew Peter's elusive shadow back on to his shoes. Finally feeling comfortable, the cocky Pan gently alights cross-legged on Wendy's inviting bed and begins to serenade her with his handmade treasure.
Unfortunately, this short moment of peace is soon interrupted by the awakening of Wendy's brothers, John and Michael, and the pan pipes disappear until Neverland. Peter uses them to signal his arrival to the beautiful mermaids lounging in the secluded lagoon. As he gracefully bounces down the tips of the sharp rocks on the shore to the small outcropping in the center of the lagoon where the mermaids bask themselves in the sun, he blows on his pan flute the same playfully alluring tune that announced his presence outside the Darling nursery window.
The pan flute or pan pipe is an ancient musical instrument usually consisting of five or more pipes of gradually increasing length and sometimes girth. The pipes are stopped at one end giving a note an octave lower than that produced by an open pipe of equal length. The pan flute is played by blowing horizontally across the open end against the sharp inner edge of the pipes, as Peter demonstrates in the film each time he plays his pipes.
It is a popular folk instrument that is considered the ancestor of both the more familiar pipe organ and harmonica. The pipes of the pan flute are typically made from bamboo or giant cane, although other materials have been used over the centuries including wood, plastic, and metal. An advanced player can play any scale and in any key. This simple instrument is also known as a mouth organ or Pandean pipe.
The pan pipe is one of the oldest musical instruments, preceded only by percussion instruments, and was originally made of plant reeds or animal bones. Peter has apparently constructed his pipes from plant material on Neverland island. It is obvious that Pan has a natural aptitude for playing this device, since the impatient Peter would never commit himself to the long frustrating hours of practice that most young people experience when learning to play a musical instrument.
Late at night, when the parents have long since gone to a dreamland often filled with horrendous adult challenges, small children listen intently in their beds for the faint sound of the pan pipes in hopes that it will mean Peter Pan will soon appear to take them off on a wondrous adventure.
Captain Hook's Cutlass
“Surrender or taste the deadly bite of cold steel” threatened the legendary pirates of yore as they menacingly waved their razor sharp blades high above their heads.
Murderous pirates favored short-range hand-held weapons, like the cutlass, sword, and dagger for hand-to-hand combat in epic battles that captured the vivid imagination of rapt listeners.
In the Disney animated classic, the beloved film begins with the two Darling brothers, studious John and impulsive Michael, vigorously recreating one of those brutal sword fights between the villainous Captain Hook and the heroic Peter Pan. As they leapt from bed to bed, the clack of the boys' crudely fashioned homemade wooden facsimiles echoed the interaction of the actual weapons made of fire-forged steel.
Deceitful Captain Hook's famous cutlass is actually a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a gleaming straight blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a golden hilt featuring a solid cupped guard. That type of curved guard offered additional protection for a hand, something of very special importance to the one-handed Hook. Only the evil Hook wields such a stylish weapon aboard the Jolly Roger pirate ship, while his motley crew must settle for a variety of other choices of steel weaponry from curved scimitars to deadly daggers and dirks.
Hook's distinctive cutlass is clearly a symbol of his authority as captain of the ship, and he displays it proudly whenever he is formally leading his crew of cutthroats. Hook is only truly defeated when agile Pan finally grabs the shining blade away from him and uses it to negotiate a complete and humiliating surrender. Symbolically, the icon of leadership has been surrendered.
At the end of the film, as the victorious Peter guides the pixie-dusted pirate ship through the cloudy night skies back to London, it is clear that he is the one in full command, because Hook's sword dangles prominently at his side as he shouts out his orders.
Author Sir James Barrie always claimed that the crafty Hook attended the prestigious British Eton College, known for its outstanding fencing classes that produced many champions over the decades. In the book on which the film is based, one of Hook's final taunts to Peter is that the young boy displayed “bad form” when it came to his thrusts and parries. Obviously, Hook was quite familiar with the proper techniques of swordplay and demonstrated those skills when he wielded his firm cutlass with the grace of a rapier.
For centuries, cutlasses were famous for being used by pirates. Legend has it that the cutlass evolved out of the long knives used by the early buccaneers to butcher their meat. Blood thirsty pirates favored the weapon because it was robust enough to hack through heavy ropes, canvas, and wood but also short enough to use in relatively close quarters. Many famous pirates from the real Captain Kidd to the fictional Captain Jack Sparrow wielded such a well-known blade.
Villainous Hook is at somewhat of a disadvantage using a cutlass because the impish Peter Pan sliced off the elegant pirate's hand in self defense and tossed it to a hungry crocodile. In the classic book, it was Hook's right hand that became a reptilian meal because it held the lethal cutlass that was slashing much too close to the boy who never grew up.
The Disney animators felt that a right hand was more expressive in showing emotion so, for the first time in history, they depicted Hook's left hand being replaced with a hook instead. However, that missing appendage results in Hook being not properly balanced when battling the flighty Pan and accounts for his not being able to utilize the cutlass as effectively as he might given his obvious professional training.
Hook's cutlass hangs by his left side dangling on the top of his blood red coat from an over-the-shoulder golden sash attached to a sturdy brown leather scabbard. It is located at just the right angle so that one swift move by the crafty captain frees it immediately from its holder to make it a deadly threat.
Dishonorable Hook is so comfortable with his sharp cutlass that it becomes an extension of his own hand. Almost unthinkingly, he uses it to point out to his men what direction to go to re-capture the escaping Lost Boys. Inside the gloomy interior of Skull Rock, the sturdy cutlass serves as a graceful support when Hook shoves the ever-helpful Mr. Smee's boat back into the murky lagoon. Later, when Pan bounces on it, the sword is so finely attuned that its extreme vibration causes Hook's entire body to mimic the shaking movement.
The might of the cutlass is vividly demonstrated as it easily chops into the main mast when Hook tries to cleave the flying lad. Amazingly, the force of that blow does not dull its sharpness in the process. A remaining massive triangle of missing wood is the only evidence of its power and quickness. Later, Hook must hack deeply into the mast several times to free his trapped hook but the gleaming steel retains its killing point despite splintering the thick mast into rough-hewn slivers.
Despite being an experienced swordsman with a magnificent blade, Hook is still no match for the skillful ability of the persistent Pan, even when the eager boy willingly forsakes the ability to fly away. In the end, even the most favorite weapon of seafarers worldwide is only as good as the man who wields it, and Hook finally found himself on the wrong end of its finely honed point when he went up against Peter Pan.
Michael's Teddy Bear
The bravest and most dangerous animal in Neverland was also the smallest…Michael's teddy bear.
Michael Nicholas Darling is approximately 4 years old, making him the youngest of the three children in the Darling family. The adventuresome Michael was inspired by the antics of the real life Michael Llewelyn Davies, who author Sir James Barrie knew well and loved dearly, and—like his fictional counterpart—that Michael also carried around a stuffed bear.
Being the youngest by several years and the smallest of the children, energetic Michael Darling found a suitable comforting companion in his stuffed brown bear with small black eyes and nose. Michael's beloved bear had no defined paws, but merely soft rounded stumps for arms and legs with a hint of shiny pink silk on the ends, as well as the interior of the ears. That deceptive soft exterior hid a unique courage and adaptability.
Stuffed toy bears had been available to children since the late 1800s, when Steiff first registered a patent for two different designs. Over the decades, of all the variety of stuffed animal toys available, teddy bears have proven to be the most popular. Early teddy bears were made to look like real bears, with slightly extended snouts and beady eyes, which accounts for the genuine surprise by the real bear in the animated classic when it first encounters the toy doppelganger bouncing gaily atop little Michael's tiny shoulders in the high underbrush of Neverland's forest.
The teddy bear quickly developed a reputation as a cuddly companion that made children feel safe and secure. Children would drag their teddy bears everywhere they went to share in their adventures. It was common for children to take the popular toys to bed with them because their parents would assure them that the stuffed bruin would protect them and keep them safe while they slept. The teddy bear soon replaced the well-known security blanket.
In fact, the first time the audience catches a glimpse of Michael's bear, the cute child is hugging it tightly next to him with a contented smile as he drifts off to dreamland after he has been tucked into his bed. The last glimpse of Michael's bear at the end of the film is it being a comfy makeshift pillow behind the sleeping boy's head. Mrs. Darling gently lifts it up and places it carefully by Michael's side so that it will be there to offer instant reassurance if Michael suddenly awakes during the night.
Even in the exhilarating excitement of flying off to magical Neverland for the very first time, Michael insists on grabbing hold of his precious toy comrade to join him on that incredible journey. However, in his childish eagerness, Michael briefly loses his grip on his furry friend high in the night sky over London and has to desperately scramble to rescue it before the non-pixie dusted object plummeted to its doom.
Once in Neverland, it is clear that Michael thinks of the bear as a living thing because, as the Lost Boys start off on a follow the leader exploit to capture the Indians, Michael says, “C'mon, bear” to invite it along. In fact, throughout the film, the bear is treated as very much alive, but simply stoic and unable to move on its own without the assistance of Michael.
Michael's bear is extremely versatile, with clever Michael using it as a device to help slide down a long vine, and later as a tool to smack the rear end of a Lost Boy to try to warn him of the approaching danger of the Indians.
Amusingly, when the Lost Boys are captured by the Indians, the largest brave is the one assigned to tie a rope to the tiny bear and bounce it along the dirt trail as it is dragged to the Indian camp as if it were another live captive. Once it arrives, it is tied securely with large rope to a single arrow embedded on a stack of logs and dry grass silently awaiting its fate to be burned at the stake just like its owner.
When the Lost Boys are welcomed into the tribe, the diminutive bruin is as well and is dressed accordingly with a headband and a single red-tipped feather common to the young braves. However, even Michael realizes that the raucous celebration might be too much for the always compliant bear and deciding the bear is too young for the wild ceremony, hands it over to the one person besides his mother that he trusts completely, his sister Wendy. “Squaw, take 'em, papoose!” he orders and even though she is so angry that she is leaving the camp, understanding Wendy takes the bear knowing that it is for the best that she keep that special treasure safe.
When Wendy sings about what a mother is, the bear sits on the makeshift bed and seems to listen intently to her song as she puts Michael to bed next to his friend. For the first time in the film, the audience can see the upturned mouth of the bear that seems to be wistfully smiling.
When daring Peter Pan cuts him free from the mast, Michael immediately grabs his prized possession and pops forward the head so that he can put a large blue cannonball inside the toy making it a deadly weapon, and once again demonstrating its versatility.
This added weight makes it nearly impossible for his brother John to drag Michael and the bear up the ship's rigging to the safety of the crow's nest. However, the effort is rewarded when Michael swiftly smacks the lone remaining henchman clutching the crow's nest on the top of his head with the full force of his cannonball laden bear and the last villain is defeated.
Tommy Luske, the son of Peter Pan director Hamilton Luske, did the original voice for Michael in the film. He also made a live appearance as Michael on the Disney television special Walt Disney Christmas Show (1951) where, attired in footed pajamas like his animated alter ego, Luske held precariously in one hand a huge upside down teddy bear nearly half his size by one of its furry feet.
While it is true that a dog may be man's best friend, in Peter Pan it is very clear that a teddy bear is a boy's best friend.
