What Do ‘Candyman’ and ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Have in Common? A Director Explains.

It was “ET the Extra-Terrestial” that made David Lowery a lifelong “Peter Pan” fan. Specifically, the scene where his mother reads a section about Tinkerbell’s possible death to her daughter while Tinkerbell is hiding in a closet. “Just seeing ET listen to that story was emotionally resonating and got me hooked on ‘Peter Pan’.

For the second live-action adaptation of the classic Disney movie, following “Pete’s Dragon” (2016), Lowery envisioned his own variation on Neverland. “Peter Pan and Wendy” Young actors Alexander Moloney and Ever Anderson played the lead roles, while Jude Law played the villainous Captain Hook. But initially Laurie underestimated the task.

“When I first got the job, I thought, ‘This is Peter Pan. How hard is that?'” He believes the difficulty stemmed from his desire to introduce new shades to the fairy tale while respecting the story’s legacy.

The original JM Barry novel and numerous film adaptations of Peter Pan and Wendy — Steven Spielberg’s “Hook,” PJ Hogan’s “Peter Pan,” Joe Wright’s “Bread,” and, of course, Disney’s 1953 animated renderings and more — all swirled in Lowry’s mind as he reimagined The Boy Who Never Grows Up.

In a recent video interview from Cologne, Germany, Lowery, 42, explained some of the less obvious influences on the reimagining of “Peter Pan & Wendy,” now streaming on Disney+.

peter pan flight at disneyland

To stay true to Disney’s “Peter Pan,” Laurie kept a close eye on one of Disneyland’s original rides, Peter Pan’s Flight, based on the 1953 film. The attraction, he said, “is a distillation of cinema into a physical experience.” Although surprisingly well-crafted, some of the animated film’s signature iconography, most notably the image of Captain Hook straddling the jaws of a crocodile, is one of Peter Pan’s immortalized in his third dimension in his flight. have a greater impact on younger audiences.

He was impressed that the old-fashioned theatrical illusions employed by the rides, such as the use of forced perspective on the London skyline, could still bring out wonder even in the age of digital effects. , taking the Peter Pan’s Flight while preparing to shoot “Peter Pan and Wendy,” and hearing the excited reactions of children and adults reminded me of how much the animated version was loved. “Seeing this film condensed into theme park rides made me realize the importance these stories Disney told had to popular culture,” he said.

“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Destiny”

Laurie first saw Steven Spielberg’s action adventures at the young age of seven. “It’s a real kitchen sink experience,” he said. “This is a musical, a drama, a romance, a horror movie.” For the approach, Laurie tapped into the eclectic tone of “Temple of Doom” and its youthful sense of humor.

When creating Skull Rock, a pirate lair, Raleigh sought to evoke the underground mines in which the film’s Temple of Doom was located, with its lava-lit, cave-like space. “There are also shots of Tiger Lily, Lost Boys and Wendy looking down, especially as John and Michael are about to be executed, and Indy, Willie Scott, and Short Round looking down at the temple as pathetic gentlemen. It’s a direct homage to the state of being about to be sacrificed to Carly,” Lowry explained.

Andrei Tarkovsky

Laurie tried to reconceptualize how Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are introduced to the Darling children. I wrote a sequence that haunted me all the way to Neverland before I woke up. Andrei Tarkovsky’s Surrealist “Mirror” (1975) came to mind. He added screen his grab of the moment to the lookbook and recreated it with Wendy.

“The Other Side of the Master and Commander World”

To distinguish his films from conventional pirate films, including Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Laurie turned to Peter Weir’s 2003 Tales of the High Seas and his tale of Captain Hook and his crew. I gave you my thoughts. More than just a rogue, Raleigh saw Captain Hook’s men as pirates playing as soldiers, and Hook himself as a corrupt version of Captain Jack Aubrey (played by Russell Crowe in “Master and Commander”).

“What if at some point Captain Hook requisitioned a Napoleon ship, executed all the other soldiers on board, and he and his pirates hijacked this ship and thought he was the Admiral of HMS Bounty?” I was. Raleigh said. To help the actors, the director brought in a consultant to actually teach them how to operate the ship. He has one unexpected synchronicity. John DeSantis, who played Bill his Jukes in Laurie’s fantasy, also appeared in Weir’s Oscar-winning film.

Captain Hook is frightened by the idea that he has grown up, so Lowery introduced the idea of ​​dyeing his hair. Inspiration comes from Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice”. In this Italian period drama, Dirk Bogarde plays an aging composer who dyes his hair and wears make-up to look younger. “Finally, when he was at the beach, hair dye started running down his face, revealing the deception at the heart of Bogard’s character,” Lowry said.

Bill the Butcher and “Candyman”

Regarding the image of Captain Hook, Lowery cites multiple sources. When he first pitched the project to studios, he had a picture of a mustachioed Daniel Day-Lewis in 19th-century attire as Bill the Butcher in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Edited the hand hooks to . “That became the Captain Hook I saw in my head while writing the script,” he recalls.

As for the hook itself, Lowery wanted to stay away from the precise, glossy devices used in other dramatizations like Spielberg’s “Hook.” What Jude Law wields in “Peter Pan and Wendy” had to look like a less sophisticated “instrument of gun violence.” Lowry presented the prop department with an image of actor Tony Todd in Bernard Rose’s 1992 horror film Candyman. “We want it to be rusty,” Rowley added.

“Rays Arizona”

Near the end of Laurie’s film, there’s a vivid montage showing Wendy’s adult life. She overcomes her nostalgia and embraces the possibilities that lie ahead of her. She “wanted to capture the idea that growing up could be a beautiful thing,” he said.This montage was a “future dream” of the quirky Coen Brothers comedy Raging Her Arizona. implies a sequence known as In particular, the kidnapper his HI McDonough (played by Nicolas Cage) finds himself and his wife in old age with their extended family gathered around the table. “For me, who is still growing up, seeing the characters look into the future with wonder and anticipation is really helpful on a therapeutic level,” Laurie said.