Nothing says creativity like repeating the same story over and over again without really having to come up with something new. So that is why we got “Peter Pan & Wendy.” What a great title. Really tells your audience that you have all the creativity of a vegan counseling seminar.

“Peter Pan & Wendy” is a reimagining of the classic children’s story by a Scottish author James Matthew Barrie about a young British girl named Wendy going on an adventure with a young swashbuckling hero and his gang of lost boys. This is a literary classic that pretty much changed the landscape of storytelling, telling an interesting and thought provoking story about the idea of aging and growing up, the loss of childhood innocence, belief in one’s imagination and ultimately moving on. 

But obviously this wasn’t enough for Disney. They needed to change it so it could fit their agendas. The idea of an only boy group was just too offensive for “modern audiences.” So in the trailer they reveal that it’s not just lost boys, it has girls as well. I’d like to point out that the original work was actually a subtle compliment to women. The reason why it was composed of boys was because they were immature and unwilling to grow up. To quote Peter Pan himself, “The lost boys were babies that fell out of their prams while girls were too smart to let that happen to them.” What’s more empowering than that? But clearly in this day and age we live in a time of short sighted idiots. 

Now in the original literature material, you will remember Wendy becoming a more maternal figure to Peter Pan and the lost boys, teaching them manners and ultimately how to really grow up. She wasn’t exactly the swashbuckler like Peter Pan. But she didn’t have to be. She represents a higher purpose and message – the ability to grow up from childhood ignorance and actually make a life for herself. 

But what we can see in the trailer is Wendy beating men twice her size without a care in the world, taking charge and displaying all the arrogance that would be displayed from an immature boy. It kinda takes away from the themes of the original and makes you wonder if they are gonna respectfully tell the same theme or just warp into something vile and dumb. 

Now let’s take a look at the most prominent stick of Disney and its dreadful pandering. One of the biggest gasp moments is Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell in the novels and sources have all had the same appearance, that being white and blonde. But just like they did with “The Little Mermaid” (2023), they decided the best course of action was to race swap the character. Studios think this makes them more money if they pander to minorities, but simply changing the melanin levels of a character doesn’t automatically solve world peace or add instant relatability. 

It seems nowadays they are intentionally hiring bad screenwriters and production managers on purpose. Hoping instead to stir up controversy and blame it on something else – which is the fans.  Calling them racist and hateful rather than realizing they are angry because they want to see good content. 

I think it’s fair to say this movie looks like it’s gonna flop, following the trends of Disney as of late. As much as I’d rather see good content, I’m kinda glad this is gonna be a bad movie because it will propel the idea into Disney’s head that this isn’t working, forcing them to have to change ships and hopefully make something new and better rather than rehashing the same story over and over again. 

If you wanna see Peter Pan but good, then watch the animated movie of 1953 or the dozen other cop-outs of it. 

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