What about the version from CBS Television that is available on DVD starring Mary Martin as Peter Pan. I thought that it is very magical. But my favorite is still the Disney version.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
I've only seen the Disney, CBS/Mary Martin, and 2003 versions, along with Hook, which I don't really classify as a version of the Peter Pan story (it's more of a sequel, or at the very least, a standalone movie that has its roots in the Peter Pan mythos). My favorite will always be the Disney version, as that's the one I grew up with and am most familiar with. But I think the 2003 version did the story justice as well. Our cousins had the Mary Martin version on VHS years ago, and I remember watching it a few times on the Disney Channel of yesteryear. It's since become a very rare and hard-to-find out of print DVD, but I'd love to see it again, if only for nostalgic purposes.
Albert
WIST #60:
AwallaceUNC: Would you prefer Substi-Blu-tiary Locomotion?
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TheSequelOfDisney: Damn, did Lin-Manuel Miranda go and murder all your families?
The Disney version, of course! My friend dragged me to see the 2003 one with her & her nephew, and it wasn't bad, necessarily, but it can't compare to the Disney one...that's the version that I know and love. In kindergarten, we watched the Mary Martin version, and I think I was confused, because I only had known of the Disney version...and because a lady was playing Peter Pan, lol.
The Mary Martin version holds a special place for me, because my grandmother loved it so. Managed to get hold of the DVD--it was actually one of the first movies I bought when I upgraded to DVDs nine years ago. Needless to say, it's a real prize now because copies have been known to fetch as much as $200.
My DVD was bought for the princely sum of US$9.95 (list price) from Amazon!
Even though I love the Disney and Mary Martin versions, the 2003 Universal film is my favorite. I love how it captured the tone and spirit of the book (something the Disney and Mary Martin ones don't exactly do), and it explored certain things that gave the film some weight. It also actually gives Wendy something to do since, considering how vital her role is n the story, she usually is an afterthought in other versions. I'll admit, though, that everytime I think of Peter Pan, I think of the Disney version, but Universal's is a superior film.
The original book of Peter Pan (as in Barrie's own novelization of his own play) is technically the best, but I'd say that Disney's Peter Pan follows in a close second (and a very, very, very close second at that), for it is not only a well made film but a pure piece of whimsical escapism and (despite not exploring the themes deeply and avoiding some of the darker aspects of the original) faithful in tone to J.M. Barrie's original. The 2003 version is also fairly good (it got played a lot last Christmas on some of the supplementary ITV channels in the UK), but I haven't seen the Mary Martin version and I haven't seen Hook in years, so I can't comment on those two adaptations.
