Walt Disney's Peter Pan
Uncle Walt’s fourteenth animated feature was also the last to employ the services of the the studio’s elite regiment of directors known as the “Nine Old Men.” Pinocchio notwithstanding, Disney had always fared better with fairy tale princesses than princely protagonists, and Peter is no exception. (Milt Kahl later confessed boredom while working on the boy who wouldn’t grow up.) The character is bland, flatly designed, and pretty much out-maneuvered by everything that surrounds him, most notably Captain Hook (drawn by Frank Thomas and voiced with snarling gusto by Hans Conried) and all that Pixie dust. According to the movie, the gold, glittery jetstream issued from Tinkebell’s wings quite literally grew on trees. Next to “Disney water,” the technique behind the trails is the studio’s best kept animation secret. See the film now before political correctness — savage Indians, you know — renders it extinct. Admission is free. — Scott Marks