Disney’s 2-disc Platinum edition of Peter Pan is just as fresh as it was in 1953, as is the memory of Kathryn Beaumont, the actress who brought Wendy to life.
By Jake Friedman
*Originally published in the April, 2007 issue of Animation Magazine.
If you notice something sparkling in DVD stores this month, it’s some half-century old pixie dust flying off the shelves as Disney releases a special two-disc edition of Peter Pan featuring remastered video and a new 5.1 enhanced audio.
First released in theaters in 1953, Peter Pan is especially noteworthy for being one of the few features to have had all of Walt’s esteemed Nine Old Men perform as lead animators. In addition, while the novelty of television production dispersed Walt’s focus towards other media, it was Peter Pan that returned his attention to the feature department as it had been prior to World War II, during the making of films like Snow White and Fantasia. For Walt, Peter Pan was one of the stories that personally touched him, and it’s no wonder that this creative energy reaches the audience even today.
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