Peter Pan is a legend that is open to a lot of scrutiny and has been looked at in many different ways until it’s become the belief that there aren’t a lot of ways left to go with the tale that people haven’t seen. Director Benh Zeitlin howeveris bringing out a new perspective that we might have thought about but haven’t really seen as much throughout the years, and it seems to fit the era we’re living in since he’s taking on the scope of Wendy and what her experience is with this classic kids’ tale. Peter Pan is a lot of things to a lot of people, be it a pleasing story or a state of mind, but one thing we should all be able to agree on is that we don’t get to see Wendy’s take on it all that much. As Kevin Burwick of MovieWeb points out the movie is set to appear in theaters this coming February 2020, so we should be seeing a trailer or at least a teaser coming soon.
It could be argued that we’ve seen a lot of Wendy in some of the Peter Pan movies and have seen her interact in a big way with Peter and the rest of the cast, but if one’s going to be honest she’s been a supporting cast member more often than not and has never really taken center stage until Peter is there to share it with her. In a big way this story is Wendy’s as much as it is Peter’s, but from a different perspective since she offers a new point of view on the whole process of never growing up and defying the passage of time. Wendy is by far one of the most grounding characters in the story that seems to serve as a linchpin, a necessary figure of sorts that is there to do one thing or another. If you look at the movies that have been made she’s often shown to be a damsel in distress, a mother figure to the Lost Boys, and even a storyteller that serves as a tempered and reasonable foil to the slightly childish and temperamental ways of Peter, who is in essence a big kid that doesn’t want to grow up and prefers a life of play and frivolity. Some might say that this is the way of boys, that we tend to want to simply exist in the series of moments that make us feel good and absolve us from responsibility. It might seem like a stereotype but it’s very real at times and, as has been seen in the past, girls and women like Wendy tend to be the grounding points that either bring such impulses to heel or are seen to further irritate those individuals that refuse to listen.
Creating a story centered around Wendy seems like a great idea since it not only offers a different perspective, but it’s bound to break the spell that Peter Pan is able to cast upon an audience that wants to believe in wonder and desires to simply break free of the fetters that we’ve put upon ourselves throughout the years. Wendy is the sense and reason to the wild passion and impulsive nature of Peter Pan, and it would seem that in a new movie this might be best served by showing things from her point of view. It does sound as though Zeitlin has been working on this project for a while now and was expected to reveal it this year, but given that he made such a success with his last film he’s been given a lot of leeway to do as he pleases and to make certain that his project is ready and capable of wowing the audience. So far it would seem that this movie is on track and will be coming on schedule as we’ve been told, but one still has to wonder over the subject and how it will be received. The story of Peter Pan is one that’s been told over and over in animation, live action, and has even extended to at least one of the supporting characters, Tinkerbell, who finally got to realize her own fame.
But taking things from Wendy’s viewpoint could be something new and enticing since it could give us a new version of the story that we haven’t seen before and could possibly embrace since it might be easier to relate to. When you look at the old Peter Pan movies they’re not all bad and they’re a lot of fun in certain areas and they tell a great story, but the magical nature of the story does leave a big gap between the reality we entertain and the fantasy we really want. In this manner Wendy might bridge that gap and allow us to enjoy the tale in a different way.
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