1953 vs. 2010

One evening during our Christmas Break, we decided to let the boys have an impromptu movie night. That evening’s showing was the Disney classic “Peter Pan”. At a crisp 77 minutes, it was about the perfect length to hold our guys attention span without risking restlessness.

It had been many, MANY years since both Rebecca and I saw it, so we decided to hold off on chores/cleaning and tried to take in as much of it as the guys. I had forgotten how much of a jealous b***h Tinkerbell was, and how flimsy that sword that Peter Pan was fighting with.

However, the biggest surprise was the extensive collection of scenes that you could get away with in 1953 but in no way could today (unless you’re making a movie for Oscar consideration). Here’s a small sampling of scenes from Peter Pan that I think would not make the cut today:

- Numerous scantily clad mermaids virtually throwing themselves at Peter Pan in a lagoon.
- Blatant mocking and misrepresentation of Native Americans.
- Hook’s sidekick drinking and belching from an open tub of alcohol.
- Parents leaving for an evening out on the town without securing a babysitter or reviewing emergency protocol with Wendy. It was as if they snuck out to have their own fun instead of making sure someone responsible was watching out for the younger kids.
- A lost boy smoking a peace pipe.

Imagine for a minute if the internet and blogs were around 57 years ago in 1953. This movie would never have made it a week in theaters!

On a related note, I’m not a big fan of reshooting or editing an existing picture without changing a previous “objectionable” scenes. Case in point:

- The replacement of guns with walkie talkies in the ET re-release. I only wish ET would have turned around and laughed at the cops pointing their walkie talkies at ET and Elliott before they took off in the bike.
- Editing the cantina scene in Star Wars IV (the original “first one”) to show Han Solo shooting a bad guy only after the alien missed him at point blank range.

C’mon Hollywood, not every movie needs to be politically correct! Otherwise you’d not have a classic scene like this: