Captain James Hook

## **Character Biography**

   Captain James Hook was the captain of the pirate ship the *Jolly Roger* and the sworn enemy of Peter Banning/Peter Pan. He was known for a lifetime spent in the pursuit of vengeance, and his missing left hand, which was eaten by the Tick-Tock Crocodile and replaced by a hook.

### **Early life and losing his hand**

Main article: Captain Hook's hook.

Hook had been an enemy of the Lost Boys way before Peter Pan arrived at Neverland. However, when Peter became the first Pan, the title given to a leader of the Lost Boys, he united the orphaned boys, training them to become a formidable fighting force. Hook found it harder to attack their camp, and came to greatly dislike Peter Pan, who taunted him as he fought back the pirate forces.

Captain Hook's hook came into being in his first duel against Peter. One fateful skirmish, Hook engaged Peter in their first short-lived duel. The pirate captain greatly underestimated the young boy's skill and was quickly backed up near the lip of a cliff that overlooked Pirate Bay. Peter defeated Hook, causing the captain to fall into the sea.

The Tick-Tock Crocodile was waiting nearby, and when it saw Hook fall, it attacked the pirate. Hook swam for the Jolly Roger, but before his crew could pull him onto the ship's deck, the crocodile bit off Hook's left hand.

After that, Hook would fear the "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound of the crocodile, and the Crocodile itself apparently liked the way Hook's hand tasted, and would hunt him in the Bay.

### **Battle with Peter Pan**

Main article: The Battle of the Jolly Roger.

Hook concocted a plan to kidnap Wendy, John and Micheal Darling from the Lost Boys’ hideout. Hook then tried to force the children to walk the plank, into the waiting jaws of the Tick-Tock Crocodile below. Fortunately, Peter Pan and his band of Lost Boys launched a rescue mission, freeing the Darlings while Peter duelled Hook.

The duel ended when Peter pushed the captain off the side of the *Jolly Roger*, leaving Hook to the mercy of the enormous crocodile. The pirates, thinking their leader dead, threw down their weapons, and the Lost Boys won the battle.

### **Escape from death**

However, Hook proceeded to not only escape certain death but also to slay the Tick-Tock Crocodile. He hid out on Skull Island for over a decade, surviving only on scavenged meat.

During this time, Peter Pan left Neverland and became an orphan. He lived at an orphanage that was founded by Wendy Darling herself, though Peter’s memories of her had disappeared.

One day, Hook returned to Pirate Town, and once again assumed the mantle of captain. He began to lead his pirates on raids, targeting the Lost Boys camp and the Indian encampment. Though he killed many, his thirst for revenge at Peter Pan still burned.

### **Hook's revenge**

   Nearly four decades after the battle that nearly cost him his life, Hook travelled to Earth and kidnapped Peter’s children, Maggie and Jack, from their bedroom in Wendy’s house. When Peter, now known as Peter Banning, and his wife Moira returned to the house, they found a signed ultimatum from Hook on the bedroom door, stating that if Peter wanted to see is children again, he would have to travel to Neverland and satisfy the captain’s vengeance. Later that night, Peter was visited by Tinkerbell, who attempted to remind the now middle-aged man of his past. When that doesn’t work, Tinkerbell flies Peter to Neverland.

       In Neverland, Hook makes a speech to his pirates, revealing his plan. When Peter confronts Hook, demanding that the captain return Banning’s kids, Hook is surprised. It appears to him that Peter has basically become captain Hook. Angered by this, he prepares to make Peter walk the plank to his doom.

Peter would have died if not for Tinkerbell’s intervention. The fairy bargained with the captain, offering that Peter train for three days in order to learn to fly, fight and crow, and also to regain his lost memories.

Hook agrees to this, and with the help of Rufio, the new Pan, and the Lost Boys, trains to become Peter Pan again.

Meanwhile, Hook concocts a new scheme to make Peter’s children look to the villain as their father. When Peter, his memories and magical abilities restored, faces Captain Hook on the pirate ship with the Lost boys, Jack stands with Hook, having lost his memories of his real father.

### **Last battle and demise**

Main article: The Battle of Pirate Town.

A savage battle breaks out between the pirates and Lost Boys, and Peter rescues Maggie. Hook, meanwhile, duels Rufio.

Before Peter can reach Rufio, Hook strikes the Lost Boy down. Rufio dies in Peter’s arms. Hook then demands that Peter fight him. Peter refuses, and goes to leave, but then the pirate captain threatens to terrorise all of Peter’s descendants. Peter then draws his sword and fights Hook.

Peter and Hook’s second duel begins on the decks of the *Jolly Roger*, but soon spills out onto the streets of Pirate Town.

The duel reaches a close at the Tick-Tock Crocodile, the corpse of which Hook has had converted into a giant clock tower. Hook gains the upper hand against Peter, but then the Lost Boys produce stopwatches, which tick and chime. Hook, terrified, backs into the clock tower, which then collapses on top of him. This time, Hook does not survive. He dies in the jaws of the giant crocodile, bringing an end to a lifelong quest for vengeance and his life.

## **Actor Biography - Dustin Hoffman**

    **Dustin Lee Hoffman** (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, three Drama Desk Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Hoffman has received numerous honors including the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1997, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1999, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2012. Actor Robert De Niro described him as "an actor with the everyman's face who embodied the heartbreakingly human".

At a young age Hoffman knew he wanted to study in the arts, and entered into the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music; later he decided to go into acting, for which he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles. He soon starred in the 1966 off-Broadway play *Eh?* for which he received a Drama Desk Award. His breakthrough role was as Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols' critically acclaimed and iconic film *The Graduate* (1967), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. His next role was "Ratso" Rizzo in John Schlesinger's *Midnight Cowboy* (1969), in which he acted alongside Jon Voight; they both received Oscar nominations, and the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. He gained success in the 1970s crossing genres effortlessly in the western *Little Big Man* (1970), the prison drama *Papillon* (1973), and thriller *Marathon Man* (1976). He also played real life figures comedian Lenny Bruce in Bob Fosse's *Lenny* (1975), and journalist Carl Bernstein in *All the President's Men* (1976). Hoffman starred opposite Meryl Streep in the family drama *Kramer vs. Kramer* (1979), for which they both received Academy Awards.

After a three-year break from films, Hoffman returned in Sydney Pollack's show business comedy *Tootsie* (1982) about a struggling actor who pretends to be a woman in order to get an acting role. He returned to stage acting with a 1984 performance as Willy Loman in *Death of a Salesman* and reprised the role a year later in a television film earning a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1987 he starred in Elaine May's comedy *Ishtar*. He won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the autistic savant Ray Babbitt in the 1988 film *Rain Man*, co-starring Tom Cruise. In 1989, he was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for playing Shylock in a stage performance of *The Merchant of Venice*. In the 1990s, he acted in such films as *Dick Tracy* (1990), *Hook* (1991), *Outbreak* (1995), *Sleepers* (1996), and *Wag the Dog* (1997).

In the 21st century, Hoffman has appeared in films such as *Finding Neverland* (2004), *I Heart Huckabees* (2004), and *Stranger than Fiction* (2006), as well as *Meet the Fockers* (2004) and *Little Fockers* (2010). Hoffman has done voice work for *The Tale of Despereaux* (2008) and the *Kung Fu Panda* film series (2008–2016). In 2012, he made his directorial debut with *Quartet* starring Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2017, Hoffman starred in Noah Baumbach's critically acclaimed family drama *The Meyerowitz Stories*.