Infinitely more than did "Alice in Wonderland," James M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" proves a perfect subject for Walt Disney's magic pot of cinematic paints. Unlike Lewis Carroll's sophisticated fantasy, Barrie's sentimental classic doesn't have to be handled with classically kid gloves. Lovers of "Alice" didn't want the book touched by any hands other than those of the author and his illustrator, Sir John Tenniel. But the time has come, in the opinion of many people who have gotten around to growing up, when Barrie's determinedly elfin whimsies could benefit from a healthy dose of Disney's broad comedy. This has happened without any loss to the play's perennial charm. The result is Barrie and Disney at their best — and appropriately released in New York during the week of St. Valentine's Day (see cover).
Although the film was three years in the making and is the most expensive cartoon feature to date (cost: approximately $4,000,000), Disney's story men didn't find it necessary to tamper with the plot. Once again Tinker Bell, the green-eyed little fairy, and Peter Pan, the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, invade Mr. and Mrs. Darling's nursery, outwit the shaggy dog Nana, teach Wendy, Michael, and John to fly (song cue: "You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly"), and soar off over London to Never-Never Land. […]
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If "Peter Pan" is good news for the Disney studio, that is only part of a well deserved success story.[…]
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This potential includes, importantly, the "True-Lite Adventure Series" of 30-minute shorts of which, so far, "Seal Island," "Beaver Valley," "Nature's Half Acre," "The Olympic Elk," and "Water Birds" have been released. These amazing studies of wildlife represent Disney's agreement with Shakespeare that the world's a stage and the men and women in it merely players, with the addition that "so also are the birds, the animals, the insects, and the flowers of the universe." His only reservation is that these films must not be called "educational" — a word he regards as poison: "Educational films try to supplant textbooks. I don't think you can do that. If I can get my kids interested through one of these films, then they'll go to the library and read books on it."
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