Captain Hook

**Captain Hook** is the main antagonist of Disney's 1953 animated feature film, *Peter Pan*. He is the bloodthirsty commander of the *Jolly Roger*, and the scourge of Neverland. Hook has long since abandoned sailing the high seas in favor of having revenge on Peter Pan for cutting off his left hand and feeding it to a crocodile, who has since been in constant pursuit of the captain. While a worthy opponent for Peter, Hook is destined to fail, sometimes because of Peter Pan's ability to fly, but more often through the bumbling actions of his first mate, Mr. Smee, who while unquestioningly faithful to the captain, is incompetent and flimsy. Hook's frustrations are understandable; he lost a hand to his opponent, is constantly pursued by the crocodile and cannot fly. These factors arguably make him one of the most sympathetic Disney Villains. His antics with the Crocodile are considered by many to be the funniest animated scenes ever created by Disney according to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in the book *The Disney Villain*. As one of the most recognizable and popular villains in Disney's animated library, Captain Hook is also a primary member of the *Disney Villains* franchise.

## Background

*Jake and the Never Land Pirates* reveals that Hook had a rather miserable childhood. As a young buccaneer, he was trained in the ways of piracy by his mother, Mama Hook, though he was pitiful at the craft. It was also revealed that James was heavily ostracized as a child, with his birthdays being particularly lonesome. Despite his negative upbringing, James saw occasional joy in the form of his stuffed bear (which he dubbed "Captain Cuddly Bear”), his prized trumpet, and his childhood babysitter, Nanny Nell.

In *The Pirate Fairy*, James mentions that he was educated at Eton College in England. The film also revealed that James once commanded a diverse crew, who were bent on sailing to various regions of the world to plunder national landmarks and wealthy cities. During an escapade involving the attempted theft of Pixie Hollow’s blue pixie dust, James lost his crew and became stranded at sea, just off the shores of Neverland. He would eventually be rescued by a kindly man named Mr. Smee.

Following his meeting with Smee, James came into the possession of *Jolly Roger*, of which he would command as captain with Mr. Smee as his first mate. With a new crew at his disposal, James would plunder and pillage the seas with pride. He would eventually cross paths with Peter Pan, a young boy from Neverland with the ability to fly. As a "childish prank", Peter cut off James's left hand and fed it to an enormous crocodile. James would replace his lost hand with an iron hook, but the crocodile enjoyed the taste of the captain so well that it followed the *Jolly Roger* ever since, hoping to devour the rest of James. Infuriated by the loss of his hand and the ongoing threat of the crocodile, a vengeful James—now known as “Captain Hook”—vowed to never leave Neverland's shores until he has killed Peter Pan.

### Personality

Captain Hook is emotionally vulnerable. Due to this, he has made a fool of himself quite often. On the contrary, he typically acts as a menacing and cunning villain who never gives up on his pursuits particularly his desire to get revenge on Peter Pan. He is also a murderous character, almost to an extreme extent, as at one point in the film, he callously shot and killed one of his crew members because of his annoying singing. Later in the film, he viciously threw one of his pirates overboard using only his hook. While comically and occasionally bumbling, Hook is a force to be reckoned with, both physically and mentally. With his temper extremely fragile, those around him are often at risk, with Peter Pan being the only individual truly skilled enough to take on the villainous captain.

Hook is extremely intelligent and manipulative and aided by his charming and suave personality. He is able to trick anyone even those who are more than aware that he is not to be trusted. Captain Hook also seems to have a tendency to find loopholes in agreements or contracts, or show obedience to the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of the law. For instance, when Hook was made to promise that he would not lay a finger or a hook on Peter Pan, he agreed, but instead he planted a bomb disguised as a present in Peter's hideout.

Captain Hook is one of few villains that view their sidekick as not only a minion but as a friend. While Hook is incredibly cruel, deadly, short tempered and shows no care for his crew, he seems to only tolerate the bumbling actions of Mr. Smee. It has been shown that Hook murders his crew members out of irritation and aggravation but despite the constant annoyance from Smee, Hook has never shown any desire to kill him (though he has attempted to pummel Smee for his stupidity, but he is always interrupted). Aside from this, Captain Hook also views Smee as his confidant, sharing personal thoughts with Smee as well being the first person he turns to when scared which is not common for a villain of Hook's acclaim.

### Physical appearance

Captain Hook is a thin man with long black hair, a large hooked nose, a thin black mustache that angles upward sharply, and a large chin. He usually is clean shaven, but sometimes (even in the same movie) he sports a short beard which makes his chin look grey. He wears a frilly white cravat underneath a crimson coat with gold lining and crimson cuffs. Each of these cuffs sports two gold cufflinks. He also wears an orange sash over his right shoulder that holds his sword scabbard at his left hip. He wears rose pants and white knee-high socks, as well as black boots with a pink circle decorating each one. The tongues of his boots are enormous, reaching halfway up his shins. He wears a large crimson hat with a huge lavender feather stuck in it. He carries a rapier with a gold hilt and guard as a weapon. He has a hook on his left-hand, amde of silver or gold depending on the occasion.

It is rumored that Captain Hook's appearance is based on that of his animator, Frank Thomas. The actor Hans Conried not only provided Hook's gravelly voice but also performed extensive live-action reference for the character. Kathryn Beaumont, who voiced and performed live-action reference for Wendy Darling, enjoyed working with him, admiring his ability to be both comical and marvelously evil at the same time. Also, Hook's climatic scenes with the Crocodile were animated by Wolfgang Reitherman, in *Peter Pan*.

### Abilities

* **Swordsmanship:** Captain Hook is a skilled swordsman, rivaled only by Peter Pan. He is light on his feet and stealthy, making him a dangerous adversary. The use of his hook during duels tends to give him an occasional upper hand, as well.
* **Fluency in Fairy Language:** Hook is one of the few characters to exhibit the ability to understand and speak to fairies. In *Peter Pan*, he was able to communicate directly with Tinker Bell, while in *The Pirate Fairy*, he is seen conversing with Zarina as though she were speaking English, and translating for the rest of his crew.
* **Flight:** James briefly harnessed the power of pixie dust in *The Pirate Fairy*, allowing him to soar through the air. Though rocky at first, he got the hang of it fairly quickly, even being able to sword fight while in midair.

## Appearances

In the original film, Hook plays the main antagonist and is first seen on his ship, *The Jolly Roger*, trying to find the hiding spot of Peter Pan using a map. Hook suddenly gets the idea to kidnap the Indian Princess Tiger Lily and tells the idea to his faithful first mate, Mr. Smee. He plans to force her into revealing the location of Peter's hideout or be killed. While Hook is trying to concentrate on his scheme, he becomes annoyed when one of his crew members starts singing. Hook off-handedly shoots the man, causing him to fall into the sea. When Mr. Smee points out that what he did was not good form, Hook lashes out at him, reminding him of how Peter Pan cutting off his hand and throwing it to the crocodile wasn't "good form". Just then, Hook hears the sound of a ticking clock, causing his eyes and mustache to twitch in rhythm (with the music of "Never Smile at a Crocodile"). When he turns to see that the crocodile, who had eaten his hand, has come to taste more of him, he begs Smee to get rid of the creature, which Smee does. A little moment later, Hook receives a word from a pirate on a lookout that Peter is on approach. He orders Smee to rally up the pirates, then looks through the telescope to see Peter and three others, the Darling children, in company of him standing on the clouds. He and the pirates then set up the cannon and fire cannonballs up at Peter Pan.

Later, Captain Hook and Smee are seen rowing past the Mermaid Lagoon in a rowboat with a captive Tiger Lily, whom they take to Skull Rock. Unbeknownst to Hook, Peter Pan spots them and follows them to the cave, plotting to rescue Tiger Lily. Hook also doesn't notice that the crocodile who had stalked him earlier is following him. As Captain Hook forced Tiger Lily to reveal Peter's secret hideout to the point of shouting directly to her face, Peter spooks Hook by imitating a spirit. Captain Hook goes on an investigation to find out where the strange voice (Peter's imitation of Hook) is coming from.

He finds Peter on the rocks and is about to lay his hook on him, but thanks to Wendy's warning, the captain's hook only catches Peter's hat as Peter slips away. Captain Hook engages Peter in a duel, eventually pushing him off the cliff's ledge. Upon realizing that he is standing on thin air, he struggles to keep himself from falling and manages to hang onto the ledge with his hook. Just then, Captain Hook hears the sound of a ticking clock, causing his eyes and mustache to twitch in rhythm (with the music of "Never Smile at a Crocodile") again; the crocodile arrives and attempts to eat Hook as it pulls him into the water. Captain Hook escapes from the crocodile's jaws and frantically swims back to his ship with the crocodile in hot pursuit.

Back at *Jolly Roger*, Hook sits in his room, sick and injured from the previous battle with Peter. He is bothered by Smee hammering up a sign asking to not disturb the captain but when he tries to attack Smee, he is smacked on the face with the hammer causing him to briefly lose consciousness. When Hook gets a visit from Smee, Smee tells Hook that Pan has banished Tinker Bell. This shocking news gives Hook an idea, so he orders Smee to capture her. He does so, and Hook uses her jealousy of Wendy (whom she thinks Peter is in love with) to get to Peter's hideout. As Captain Hook thanks Tinker Bell for her help, he locks her in a lantern, then he, along with Smee and the pirates, goes to Hangman's Tree to capture Wendy, Michael, John and The Lost Boys. As the pirates take them to the ship, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee set a time bomb (disguised as a gift of love from Wendy) in the hideout, since Peter is still there.

Captain Hook tries to convince the captured children to join his crew but they all refuse. Wendy believes Peter will save them but Hook reveals his plan to blast Peter away from Neverland forever, prompting Tinker Bell to struggle to break free from the lantern, which she manages to do so, and flies off to warn Peter. Peter and Tinker Bell are caught in the explosion anyway, but they both quickly recover and leave the destroyed hideout to rescue Wendy and the boys. Just as Hook, who has had sent Wendy off the plank (but she is rescued by Peter), is about to select the next person to follow her, Peter reveals himself and engages Hook in another duel. While dueling on the ship's deck, Peter launches himself from the ship's rope ladder like a slingshot and kicks Hook backwards, sending Hook flying to one of the ship's cannons, which (in a similar fashion to Smee's hammer from earlier) hits him hard on the head, knocking him unconscious.

After Hook recovers, he climbs up the rope ladder to confront Peter on the mast, calling him a coward for his tendency to fly away from the duel. Hook makes Peter promise not to fly and gains the upper hand by disarming Peter. Hook corners Peter at the edge of the mast and is about to stab him, but Peter, having noticed a *Jolly Roger* flag right above Hook, uses it to blind the captain and disarm him. Hook pleads for his life, declaring that he will leave forever and do anything Peter says. Peter orders him to shout loudly that he's a codfish; Hook does so, making the Lost Boys, Wendy, John and Michael sing "Hook is a codfish" and the crocodile dances in the sea to that song. Peter then allows Hook to leave and never return, but when his back is turned, Hook sees his chance and is about to lay his hook on Peter in revenge for cutting off his left hand as well as humiliating him. Thanks to Wendy's warning, Peter jumps out of the way, and Captain Hook loses his footing as he falls to the sea, where the crocodile is waiting to catch him. Captain Hook ends up being chased away from Neverland by the crocodile. He is last seen skipping along the water like a rock under a rowboat rowed by Smee and the pirates, with Smee calling for Hook.

Walt Disney insisted on keeping Hook alive, as he believed that the audience would come to like the villain and would not want to see him get killed. This insistence was supported with the release of the sequel, *Return To Never Land*.

### *Return to Never Land*

Captain Hook plots to destroy Peter once again and gain his treasure all at the same time. His first part of the plan is to kidnap Wendy to lure Peter to his doom, and thus he travels via his ship (which still had some of Tink's pixie dust) to London during the Second World War. Likely having lost the concept of the passage of time/aging due to his time in Neverland, he mistakenly takes Wendy's daughter Jane.

Fortunately for Hook, Pan arrives and Hook summons an undersea giant octopus to kill both Peter and "Wendy". Peter dives down to battle and is seemingly killed. Just as Hook begins to celebrate, Peter reveals to be alive and by using pixie dust, Tinker Bell boards the octopus onto Hook's ship. After accidentally swallowing Hook, the Octopus develops a taste and becomes another crocodile problem for the Captain. The Octopus pulls him out of the ship and into the water. Hook flies back onto the ship and gently asks Smee to fix the broken plank so he can "make him walk it!".

Later on during a massage, the Captain is again attacked by the octopus, who is shooed away by Smee. This encounter angers Hook even more to the point where he gathers the pirates to sail to the island to find and kill Peter. While searching, they witness the girl they kidnapped is not Wendy but her daughter Jane and that she is desperate to return home, giving Hook yet another plan. That night, he tricks Jane into working for him; if she can find his treasure, he'll give her a ride home on his ship. He also gives Jane a brass whistle to alert him once the treasure is found. Jane then finds and manipulates Peter and the Lost Boys into assisting her via a game of "treasure hunt". Eventually, the treasure is found but she changes her mind, having gradually warmed up to the boys throughout the course of the game, and throws the whistle to summon Hook into the waters. It is however found by Lost Boy Tootles who curiously blows it, accidentally calling the pirates. An ambush follows resulting in Peter and the boys being captured and taken to The Jolly Roger.

Back in the ship, Captain Hook prepares to watch Pan's death but is interrupted by Jane and Tinker Bell. A battle follows and in during which Pan is set free. Hook's anger and frustration are targeted for Jane who is the cause of his failure. Just before he is given the chance to murder her, Peter saves the day by cutting the rope in which Hook then falls through the ship with an anchor and into the ocean. attracting the octopus. It chases Hook up and through the ship, now sinking. Hook and the pirates are then chased away altogether.

However, Diesel 10 soon met Hook and told him that he was aware of his exploits, and offered him to join him and his evil allies in exchange for helping him get his revenge on Peter Pan. Hook accepted, and Diesel 10 with his villain allies' help rose the Jolly Roger from the sea.

### *Jake and the Never Land Pirates*

In this preschooler-age series, Captain Hook and Smee are the main antagonists that Hook's pirate rival Jake and his young crew outwit while searching for treasure. After Peter and Tinker Bell left Neverland for outside adventure, Hook stayed behind instead of following his nemesis to dominate Neverland during Peter's absence. However, Peter left a small crew of pirates to keep him at bay. Usually, Hook can be found searching for treasure. While he searches for treasure every now and then; he usually intends to steal someone else's instead. Instead of his previous crew, Hook's latest crew consists of himself, Smee and two new pirates known as Sharky and Bones. Along with the new crew, Hook's bond with Smee has definitely grown stronger, as their friendship is often explored throughout the series.

As mentioned, Hook's main objective throughout the series is to collect as much treasure as possible, even if it means stealing it from someone else. To achieve this goal, Hook often uses one (or more) of his special hooks, created for treasure hunting. Some of the hooks include a propeller hook to give the captain flight, a plunger hook to grasp treasure, and even a butterfly net hook. Hook's mother, known as Mama Hook, made a special appearance in the series, later becoming a recurring character. The episode "Hook and the Itty-Bitty Kitty" introduced Red Jessica, a swashbuckling pirate gal that Captain Hook fell in love with, though she is apparently unaware of his affections (until he helped her find a heart-shaped treasure in the episode "Hooked"). Whenever something goes wrong, Hook would exclaim "Blast!"

Throughout the series, it is also revealed that Captain Hook is rather infamous throughout the seven seas (harking back to the lyrics in his trademark song, *The Elegant Captain Hook*). As several characters are encountered by the series' protagonists, they all seem to have some history with the villainous captain, though it's always a negative one. Various other pirate characters such as the daring Captain Flynn and the regal Pirate Princess all have shown to have a hatred for Hook proceeding their respective debut episodes. Interestingly enough, Hook himself never seems to recognize them. Hook is also given a rival villain known as Beatrice Le Beak, a French pirate gal who plunders and pillages citizens of the NeverSea, as well, even villainous pirates such as Hook.

### *The Pirate Fairy*

Set some time before the events of *Peter Pan*, a young Captain Hook, then known as simply James, meets a roguish, talented pixie-dust fairy named Zarina that has betrayed Pixie Hollow, the homeland of Tinker Bell and the fairies of Neverland, and left to live amongst the pirates, befriending James once she does. James, himself, poses as a benevolent lad who appreciates Zarina, unlike the rest of her former friends. Zarina is known to be one of the most intelligent fairies in Pixie Hollow, and despite being a dust-keeper fairy (a fairy who harvests and nurtures fairy dust for other fairies to use) she proves to be an amazing innovator, figuring out ways to make various colors of pixie dust each with its own unique magical properties, such as the powerfully dangerous ability to switch fairy talents, as well as create her very own pixie dust tree, though that trick requires the use of the mystic blue pixie dust. Zarina steals the blue dust and brings it to James and his crew as part of a plan to create their own Pixie Dust Tree, thus giving the pirates an endless supply, enabling them to fly and plunder the Seven Seas to become fabulously rich.

However, though she's able to escape most of Pixie Hollow, including the wise Queen Clarion, Tinker Bell and her friends (Silvermist, Fawn, Vidia, Iridessa, and Rosetta) travel to James' ship and are nearly able to foil Zarina's plot, but the pirate fairy is able to outwit her former friends, and the plan is set back into motion. Eventually, at their Skull Rock home base, a replica of the Pixie Dust Tree is created, and James, as well as his crew, soon find themselves with an endless supply of dust, thus completing the first part of their scheme. With that done, James no longer has any use for Zarina, leading him to double-cross and imprison her in a lantern, revealing himself to be a ruthless villain who only looks out for himself. With Zarina and her friends captured, James and the crew prepare themselves for the voyage. Tink and the others manage to escape and grab the blue pixie dust, but before they fly out of Skull Rock, James arrives, threatening to drop Zarina into the sea if the fairies don't return the dust; Tink, who still cares about Zarina, hands it over. James soon covers the ship with the golden fairy dust, enabling its flight and setting off to the Second Star to the Right to enter the mainland in order to begin their plundering. He puts Zarina's teardrop-shaped vial full of blue pixie dust around his neck and throws her into the sea anyway, despite his promise to Tink. Tinker Bell and the others save Zarina, reuniting and teaming up with her; they eventually catch up with the ship and challenge James and his crew to battle. James accepts and he and Zarina engage in a duel.

After a swordfight, the ship falls sideways, causing James' crew to fall overboard into the sea and the pixie dust is released into the ocean. James falls, tries to savor the dust, only to plummet to his apparent death. However, he survives and with the ability to fly, no less. With his new powers, he battles Zarina once more, but it again ends in the captain's humiliation. Zarina overuses the dust on James and he went flying. James then flies into a wave, and falls into the water. His ship is then stolen by Zarina, Tink, and the others. As James curses the fairies for their heroic efforts, a small crocodile begins snapping at him, believing he's a codfish, causing him to swim away in fear, leaving his crew behind, although they're amused of their captain's misfortune. Little did James know that small crocodile would one day grow up to become his nemesis Tick-Tock the Crocodile.

Some time afterward, James finds himself stranded at sea, only to eventually be rescued by a fellow by the name of Mr. Smee, meeting his soon-to-be most trusted assistant for the first time.

## Trivia

* Hans Conried also provided voice and live-action-reference for George Darling, remaining faithful to the theatrical tradition that Captain Hook and George Darling are portrayed by the same actor.
* Captain Hook's outfit consisted of a red coat, a pink shirt, white cravat, a red sash and purple pants.
* Captain Hook is briefly mentioned in the *DuckTales* episode "All Ducks on Deck", when the Phantom Blot is comparing himself to other villains: "Compared to me, Doctor Doom is a wimp, and Captain Hook is about as dangerous as a plastic coat hanger!"
* Captain Hook makes a cameo in the 2011 novel, *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom*. Although he was only mentioned as "James" in the novel, several characteristics prove that "James" and Captain Hook are one and the same. This was further proven by the confirmation of the book's author A.C. Crispin. One of the early concept arts of Pirate Lords for *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* showed a pirate with a hook in place of his left hand.
* Bruce W. Smith, an animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, used Captain Hook as a reference when creating Doctor Facilier.
* He can play the piano despite having a hook for a hand, as seen in *Peter Pan*.
* Hook is briefly mentioned by Timon in the *Timon & Pumbaa* episode "Ocean Commotion".
* He is similar to Cutler Beckett as they are both cruel to their henchmen and despite their villainy they are able to persuade allies to the protagonists into helping them. Another similarity that Hook has to Beckett is that they both have murderous personalities. Ironically, Hook was a pirate, and Beckett was a lord and official who ruthlessly hunted down pirates.
* Captain Hook is arguably one of the funniest Disney villains ever made.
* Cary Grant and Robert Newton were both considered to voice Captain Hook.
* Captain Hook actually made more appearances than any of the Disney film villains combined.
* Although he is the main antagonist Captain Hook does not interact with Peter Pan once until the duel at Skull Rock.
* Hook's backstory in *Once Upon a Time* is constantly inconsistent. According to the film Hook had Peter Pan cut off his left hand and fed to Tick-Tock, explaining the pirate's hatred against the boy, as well as how he got his hook in the first place. Some promotional media, however, claims that Tick-Tock simply bit off Hook's hand.
* Despite his skinny and frail appearance, Hook is actually physically much stronger than he looks, shown when he lifts the rather corpulent Smee and throws Starkey off the ship, both using only his arm with the hook as well as lifting Tiger Lily with only his arm with the hook while she was tied to an anchor.
* The scene of *Return to Neverland* where Hook asks Smee who is the most evil, clever and impressive pirate of all times and where Smee answers "Blackbeard" is possibly a reference to the fact that in the original book, Hook is said to have been Blackbeard's boatswain before having his own ship.
* In *Jake and the Never Land Pirates*, it is revealed that Hook occasionally gets seasick (on sea as well as while crawling backwards) despite being a pirate captain.
* Part of Colin O'Donoghue's inspiration for the character is Dread Pirate Roberts from the movie *The Princess Bride*.[2]

* While making *Treasure Planet*, Glen Keane used Captain Hook to study the movement of the mechanical arm for John Silver.
* In the book Captain Hook is eaten by the Crocodile but like his Disney film counterpart, he still survives and returns in the sequel novel *Peter Pan in Scarlet*.
* Most Disney Villains die at the end of their film, but Hook is one of the few villains who survive their battle with the protagonists allowing them an opportunity to reappear in sequels.
* After an encounter with the crocodile or octopus, Hook usually gets his clothing torn up.
* Because Hans Conried was right handed, the hook was switched, as in the book, Hook wears the hook on his right hand and is left handed: this inversion is common in many *Peter Pan* adaptations.
* Hook did not have a mustache in the original book.
* Captain Hook becomes Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's enemy in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle Meets Peter Pan.*
* Captain Hook, along with Mr. Smee guest star in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures Series to get revenge on Thomas, Twilight Sparkle and their friends for foiling their revenge on Peter Pan.
* Captain Hook is the secondary villain of *Norman and Spud's Treasure Adventure.*

## Gallery

Captain Hook in the original Peter Pan.Captain Hook sings "The Elegant Captain Hook".Hook fleeing the jaws of the crocodile.Captain Hook in Return to Never Land.Captain Hook in Mickey's House of Villains.Captain Hook as he appears in Jake and the Never Land Pirates.James in The Pirate Fairy.Captain James after revealing his true colors.A washed up James grumpily demands Smee's assistance, foreshadowing the relationship the two will soon share.Captain Hook with his first mate, Mr Smee.Captain Hook fighting Peter PanCaptain Hook fighting the CrocodileHook's defeatCaptain Hook fighting the Octopus in Return to NeverlandCaptain Hook defeated again with his crew chased away by the octopus"Boys?"Captain Hook visualized as a codfish by the OctopusCaptain Hook fighting with Peter PanHook attacking JaneHook snatching Mickey MouseCaptain Hook with Hades and Cruella De VilHook with MaleficentHook with his rival, Beatrice Le BeakHook with Red JessicaHook with Jake.Captain Hook with his old enemy Peter Pan, Smee and Jake and his crewCaptain Hook with his mother, Mama HookCaptain Hook claiming the treasure chest from Don Karnage in Raw ToonageHook in House of Mouse introCaptain Hook with Jafar, Iago, Cruella De Vil and Ursula