Fox was all about Saturday Morning Cartoons in the ’90s, launching a wide range of original or licensed based shows (see Animaniacs, X-Men, Tiny Toons, etc.). Not having cable and only one television, I forced my family to watch them all. One that we did enjoy was Fox’s Peter Pan and the Pirates. I recently stumbled upon this gem, having long forgotten it. Re-watching these episodes, I don’t know how I did.
A major emphasis for the show was adding the possessive Fox’s to the title, differentiating itself from other iterations of the character. Specifically, Disney’s. The show followed the outline set in J.M. Barrie’s classic. Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, the Darling siblings, and Tinkerbell had many adventures in Neverland, dealing with the Natives, the Ice King, and most of all, Captain Hook himself. While the characters were straight forward interpretations, their designs were the biggest differentiators.
Peter wore ragged brown clothes instead of the typical green tights he’s often seen wearing. Other character changes were mostly cosmetic save for Captain Hook, who was now wearing a white powdered wig. Honestly, he looks like an angry George Washington. This version of Hook is cunning, cruel, and not afraid of the crocodile that took his hand. Plus, he was voiced by Tim freaking Curry. The pirate crew of the Jolly Roger, typically not seen to be more than Hook and Smee, are fleshed out, given storylines and character growth.
The writers played with the mythology in different ways, as they had ample room to do so given its 65-episode run (syndication!). The show began in 1990, striking when the iron was hot as Hook was released the following year. There was also an NES game, based on the series. I remember renting it once. I played it for five minutes after coming home one Friday, then threw up all over myself and slept the rest of the weekend. It was terrible. The game that is. Being sick sucked, too.
Of all the garbage I made by family watch, this was one that we all enjoyed. If any episodes of it ever pop up (all on YouTube … various quality, though), I recommend watching it. There’s supposedly a few home releases, but good luck finding them. Normally, I like to delve deeper into my articles, but it’s Peter Pan. What more is there to say?
Do you remember this show? How many times did Bart Simpson dance across the screen (I remember weird things)? Comment below!
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Tony writes for his own site, thecredhulk.com, about comics, video games, movies, TV and more, six days a week. You can follow his updates on Facebook or Twitter. Drop by and tell ’em hi.
Tim Curry’s awesome.
