Peter Pans
Dec. 5th, 2014 04:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveSo Dad randomly decided he wanted to record the live Peter Pan broadcast, because the girl playing Pan is the daughter of Brian Williams. We watched some of it later and are saving the rest for later today, probably.
I've gotta say, I was lukewarm about the whole thing. Once has kind of soured me on Peter Pan, after I was already exasperated with the character even as he's traditionally portrayed. But actually watching the production, I was impressed that the actress made him somehow endearing in spite of things like not remembering. He did say "What good is remembering, anyway?" but he didn't act like he was forgetting on purpose because he didn't care. That was nice.
I still think it would be a curse to never be able to grow up. Watching the animated Peter Pan and the Pirates show, I found myself shaking my head at Tinkerbelle telling him, "You were never meant to grow up! You're the Eternal Youth!" I wouldn't like never growing up. (Growing old is another matter.) Becoming an adult wouldn't have to mean abandoning the fun and wonder of childhood. And on the other hand, keeping that wonder wouldn't mean believing every strange thing that came along, either.
Back to the stage show, some things about it were definitely silly and ridiculous. Peter saying he ran away on the day he was born ... pah! I know Barrie wrote a story where Peter was seven days old and doing things. That is just pushing the boundaries of believability, even in a kid's story. At least make him old enough to walk! My word.
And Hook's song and dance with the pirate crew ... oh LOL. I really don't like most villain songs in shows. It seems like they're either too preposterous or too dark. Hook's was definitely the former. I was definitely rolling my eyes that he would say how he wanted to kill Pan and in the next breath talk about a pirates' school for boys. So he wants to kill one kid and perform his form of "service" for other kids. How logical. [/sarcasm.]
I've gotta say, though, I felt a lovely burst of nostalgia as soon as I saw the pirate crew. It made me remember happy times of watching Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates. Man, I wish that series would get a DVD release. I still watch the available, cut-up episodes now and then, but I wish for nice, uncut episodes on DVDs.
And it felt really, really good to see Peter Pan with all the characters in their traditional roles, honestly. I never liked the idea of Once making Pan a villain. The only reason I was willing to accept it was it made for further character development for Rumpel and led to him sacrificing himself, something I've wanted to see since season 1. (I just wish they hadn't started screwing the show and Rumpel over after that. They've made such a horrible mess out of his character by now that I just don't think they can ever fix it. I can't bear to consider anything beyond 3A as canon.) And I don't like Once's Hook, either. I tried to; I even genuinely did for a little while, but that didn't last. There's just so many things wrong with the way they suddenly changed him from being a jerk to being good, or at least, trying to convince the audience that he's good. If there had really been development all along the way, it would have been different. But it seems like they just threw it at everyone and tried to pretend that the bad things he'd done hadn't happened.
I've gotta say, I was lukewarm about the whole thing. Once has kind of soured me on Peter Pan, after I was already exasperated with the character even as he's traditionally portrayed. But actually watching the production, I was impressed that the actress made him somehow endearing in spite of things like not remembering. He did say "What good is remembering, anyway?" but he didn't act like he was forgetting on purpose because he didn't care. That was nice.
I still think it would be a curse to never be able to grow up. Watching the animated Peter Pan and the Pirates show, I found myself shaking my head at Tinkerbelle telling him, "You were never meant to grow up! You're the Eternal Youth!" I wouldn't like never growing up. (Growing old is another matter.) Becoming an adult wouldn't have to mean abandoning the fun and wonder of childhood. And on the other hand, keeping that wonder wouldn't mean believing every strange thing that came along, either.
Back to the stage show, some things about it were definitely silly and ridiculous. Peter saying he ran away on the day he was born ... pah! I know Barrie wrote a story where Peter was seven days old and doing things. That is just pushing the boundaries of believability, even in a kid's story. At least make him old enough to walk! My word.
And Hook's song and dance with the pirate crew ... oh LOL. I really don't like most villain songs in shows. It seems like they're either too preposterous or too dark. Hook's was definitely the former. I was definitely rolling my eyes that he would say how he wanted to kill Pan and in the next breath talk about a pirates' school for boys. So he wants to kill one kid and perform his form of "service" for other kids. How logical. [/sarcasm.]
I've gotta say, though, I felt a lovely burst of nostalgia as soon as I saw the pirate crew. It made me remember happy times of watching Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates. Man, I wish that series would get a DVD release. I still watch the available, cut-up episodes now and then, but I wish for nice, uncut episodes on DVDs.
And it felt really, really good to see Peter Pan with all the characters in their traditional roles, honestly. I never liked the idea of Once making Pan a villain. The only reason I was willing to accept it was it made for further character development for Rumpel and led to him sacrificing himself, something I've wanted to see since season 1. (I just wish they hadn't started screwing the show and Rumpel over after that. They've made such a horrible mess out of his character by now that I just don't think they can ever fix it. I can't bear to consider anything beyond 3A as canon.) And I don't like Once's Hook, either. I tried to; I even genuinely did for a little while, but that didn't last. There's just so many things wrong with the way they suddenly changed him from being a jerk to being good, or at least, trying to convince the audience that he's good. If there had really been development all along the way, it would have been different. But it seems like they just threw it at everyone and tried to pretend that the bad things he'd done hadn't happened.
