Peter Pan and Wendy

Since 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, Disney has been on a fairly consistent stint involving live action remakes of its most celebrated animated releases; in 2023, it’s now time for Peter Pan to receive such treatment.

The trailer begins with a clearly epic musical treatment, with minor key chord changes in the piano overshadowed by over-the-top epic percussion synched to each change in scenery as we’re given some establishing views of Neverland. Brass at 0:15 presages a blackout at 0:18 synched to another piano chord, preceding the reveal of the Lost Boys in live action form (and not without a small comedic one-liner about the Lost Boys including female members, maybe to help balance the traditional male bias, which explains the film’s title as well).

By 0:26 we hear a consistent rhythm in the strings as more character introductions are made, such as Michael and John, with a more adventurous harmonic progression in the lower strings. (The attentive listener may pick out in those low strings the four-note outline of the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars, undoubtedly a coincidental occurrence) This contrasts with the sense of awe and wonder that the music invoked previously. Notice how the first appearance of Peter Pan on screen at 0:34 is accompanied by a pause in the music. At 0:38 more epic percussion helps fill the space between monologue, performing a perfunctory role. At 0:48 the strings begin to re-enter, building anticipation around the famous flying scene at Big Ben.

At 0:58 the strings are back, fuller than ever before, alongside the title card for the release date, as we’re treated to scenes that reveal the magic of Neverland, such as flight and faeries. The drama and ramping tension in the soundtrack is reflected also by snippets of conversation between Wendy and her family. This underscores one of the main themes of the story of course: a fear of growing up, and what it means to do so.

As is typical of fantasy trailers, the final pause in the music at 1:22, which arrives through a dominant chord, is reserved for the reveal of the villain, Captain Hook—and notice how we hear his voice before he is fully, visually revealed. A final montage action sequence leads us out, complete with a “booj”-like sound effect at 1:36 as we see a truly epic wide shot of Peter Pan diving onto Hook’s pirate ship.

It’s very subtle, but notice also at the end, at the main title card, there’s a subtle ticking sound—unlikely to be an explicit reference to the fact that Captain Hook is known to hate clocks, but present nonetheless. Overall, the production music used is effective if not particularly tied to or emblematic of Peter Pan as a Disney franchise. This could be quite intentional, as with live action remakes, part of the intent is to modernize and present existing intellectual property in a relatively fresh way. On the other hand, while the music performs well in establishing the dramatic beats of the trailer, there’s very little to nothing about it that builds into the identity of the film in its own right.

Peter Pan and Wendy is set for release on Disney Plus on April 28th.

— Curtis Perry