Evening star., 1953-02-12
Peter Pan, Bear Country
Truly Delight at Keith's
By Harry Macarthur

sOssy
Sir James M. Barrie is the best
scenarist Walt Disney has come
across In some time. The best
next to Nature. that is. The two.
Sir James and Nature, have pro-
vided the old master with see
narios for his latest twin enter
tainment. peter Pan" and Bear
Country" and there isn't a more
enchanting set Of films around
right now.
There seldom is, for that mat.
ter. Keith's should be echoing
for some time to come with the
squeals of delight of the very
young and the happy laughter of
all the young younger than go {.
Using Barrie's imagination to
inspire his own is one of the best
ideas the movies pen-and-pastel
man ever had. peter Pan" is
Disney at his best. The cartoon
medium, Of course. Is the ideal
one for such a fantasy as this.
Here, Wendy and her brothers
really can fly off with Peter Pan,
out the window and over the
London rooftops to Never-Never
Land. Authentic mermaids can
loll in Mermaid Lagoon. Tinker
Bell, the fairy jealous Of Peter
Pans every glance at another
girl, can come alive in proper
size. (And a most delectable
morsel she isl
Disney has added a lot of his
own fine slapstick to the famed
story of Wendy's last night OF
childhood imagination in the
nursery before she has to start
to grow up. He also has been
mindful of current complaints
about entertainment whic n
frightens children.
The Disney Capt. Hook is an
out-and-out villain, all right.
The hook which replaces the
hand Peter Pan fed to the Croc-
odile is a sharp one, and the
Captains thirst for revenge is
gigantic. He is such a comic,
craven and bumbling figure.
however, that he is likely to in
spire laughter rather than terror.
The Crocodile is quite a clown.
too, more reminiscent of Dis
ney's Pluto than of any beast
which ever scared anybody. Some
of the funniest slapstick pas
sages of this picture are the
bouts between Capt. Hook and
his seagoing pursuer, which has
tasted that sample and wants
the whole meal.
A lifting and listenable musi-
cal score accompanies the Peter
Pan" action. A ditty called
"What Makes the Red Man Red
probably gets the fullest treat
ment. You also will hear "You
Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can
Fly" "A Pirates Life, "The Ele-
CANT Captain Hook" /" Tee Dunn,
Tee Dee" and Never Smile at a
Crocodile"
Some talented live actors give
voice to the enchanting Disney
figures in the film, among them
Bobby Driscoll as Peter Pan,
Kathryn Beaumont as Wendy
and Hans Conreid as Capt. Hook.
They and the others get fully
into the spirit Of fun.
"Peter Pan" is also quite q
visual treat. Disney and his
artists have taken full advantage
of Technicolor to make virtually
every frame of film a vari-hued
pictorial delight.
4 y \ ~
The addition of Bear Coun-
try" makes the Keith's fantasy
and-fact bill a must" This il
the latest Of Disney's featurettes
delving into the private life oi
our wild life. The wild life ir
this case is the American black
bear, which used to inhabit the
entire United States before civil.
ization pushed It largely to- the
Rockies.
Some truly wonderful closeup:
of bears and their neighbors al
large in their natural habitat
have been caught by the long
distance color cameras covering
the cycle of the bears life. It's
q happy one from the moment
he backs out of his den in the
spring, to the first SHOWS, which
start him on the search for q
new spot for the winter nap.
The narration. at the same
time, covers the two-year train
ing period, during which the
cubs remain with their mother
The first lesson Is obedience and
the cubs soon learn to scramble
up q tree at mothers warning
At the end Of the two years. she
takes advantage of this by bark
ing them up q tree and taking
H MUZAK
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