On Feb. 5, 1953, RKO released Disney’s 14th animated feature, Peter Pan, based on the 1904 play by Sir James M. Barrie. The seeds of the film began in 1935, when Walt Disney expressed interest in adapting the story as the follow-up to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. By 1939, a story reel was completed. Following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, Disney turned to training and war films, and Peter Pan was put on hold. After the war, work resumed, but Disney then gave priority to Cinderella, again delaying Peter Pan until 1949.
The final creative team included Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske (direction), Milt Banta, Bill Cottrell, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Erdman Penner, Joe Rinaldi, Ted Sears, and Ralph Wright (screenplay), Oliver Wallace (music), Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain (songs), and Donald Halliday (editing). Below is the main title song, Cahn and Fain’s “The Second Star to the Right.”
The song list went through several iterations. Composer Frank Churchill wrote songs (including “Never Smile at a Crocodile” with lyricist Jack Lawrence) for early versions of the film, as did Charles Walcott and Eliot Daniel. The final song list was by Cahn and Fain, with score composer Wallace contributing two songs: “A Pirate’s Life” (with Erdman Penner) and “Following the Leader” (with Winston Hibler and Ted Sears). Below is a sing-along version of Cahn and Fain’s song “You Can Fly!”
https://youtu.be/hoUH9b6xHyg
The cast included Bobby Driscoll (Peter Pan), Kathryn Beaumont (Wendy), Paul Collins (John), Tommy Luske (Michael), Hans Conried (Captain Hook, Mr. Darling), Heather Angel (Mrs. Darling), Bill Thompson (Mr. Smee), and Candy Candido (Indian Chief), with Mel Blanc (Nana) and June Foray (Squaw). The ensemble included Lost Boys (Stuffy Singer, Robert Ellis, Jeffrey Silver, Johnny McGovern) and mermaids (June Foray, Connie Hilton, Karen Kester, Margaret Kerry). The Mellomen (Thurl Ravenscroft, Bill Lee, Bob Stevens and Max Smith) provided backing vocals, and Tom Conway the narration. Below is Oliver Wallace’s song “A Pirate’s Life,” featuring the vocals of The Mellomen.
During the film’s initial 1953 theatrical run, Peter Pan was released as a double feature with the True-Life Adventures documentary short Bear Country. It was also entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. New York Times critic Bosley Crowther lamented the film’s lack of faithfulness to the original play, noting it “has the story but not the spirit of Peter Pan,” while Variety found “the songs are less impressive than usually encountered in such a Disney presentation.” Most reviews though were positive, with Harrison’s Reports declaring it “another Walt Disney masterpiece.”
Disney rereleased the film in 1958, 1969, 1976, 1982 and 1989, ultimately earning $87.4 million at the box office, against a $4 million original production budget. Disney also produced the Return to Never Land sequel in 2002, the Tinker Bell series of direct-to-DVD prequels in 2008, and the animated TV series Jake and the Never Land Pirates in 2011. Spinoffs in other media include the 1953 board game Walt Disney’s Peter Pan: A Game of Adventure, the 2005 Disney Fairies book series, a 1989 Disney on Ice adaptation, the 2002 Peter Pan: Adventures in Never Land video game, and 2013 stage show Disney’s Peter Pan Jr.