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"Peter Pan" proves yet again that there's pixie dust in them there hills. After the numerous stage adaptions, television adaptions and two Disney feature films what else can there be left to tell in J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan"? Plenty. Unlike the Disneyized animated classic, P. J. Hogan's thoughtful and fun adaptation touches on a number of themes never realized or just hinted at in previous versions. Hogan's film adaptation also makes the most of the elements of satire hinted at in Barrie's classic children's story. Like the Grimm's Fairy Tales, Barrie's classic tale has been watered down so much over the years with revisionist retellings, that the important message at the heart of the tale became a bit water logged. This was and is about the passage from childhood to adolescence and the emotional difficulties associated with growing up and leaving behind "childish things". In a sense, Barrie's tale suggests that there is a way to move forward in life without forgetting who you were as a child.

As in previous tellings, Peter Pan shows up after a very theatrical storytelling session from Wendy to her two younger brothers. Her father Mr. Darling (Jason Issacs in a great, fun performance) seems intent on eradicating every last bit of her childhood. Her mother (Olivia Williams) doesn't want her children to let go of their childhood as they move on to adulthood. ***

When Wendy draws a picture of Peter floating over her bed, her prim and proper teacher writes a strongly worded letter to the girl's father. Wendy unsuccessfully tries to stop the letter from being delivered and embarrasses her father at work in the process. The result is that Mr. Darling demands that she be separated from her brothers and spend time with her aunt to focus on things more becoming of a young woman. Peter luckily returns and whisks Wendy and her brothers,over Tinkerbell's (Ludivine Sagnier) objections, on a trip to Neverland where Captain Hook (Issacs again) attempts to blow Peter out of the sky. Braving murderous Mermaids and a mischievous Tink, Wendy settles in playing mother to The Lost Boys while Hook continues to search for Peter in hopes of killing him. ---

"Peter Pan" pops out at you like a living storybook. The stunning visual effects that portray Neverland come alive with their cotton candy clouds and lush, tropical forests. Turn of the century London bristles with all the life we've come to expect from a major city but the convincing combination of CGI and sets bring it to life in a way never quite seen before. The glorious transfer breathes life into what could have been a flat, dull looking picture on DVD. ***

The beautifully rendered sound hooks you immediately with its detailed sound effects for Neverland. Faithfully reproduced in the 5.1 Surround mix, you'll feel as if you've been plopped into Neverland along with Wendy and her two brothers. The musical score by James Newton Howard sparkles with wit and imagination and is well represented by the nicely done mix. ---

A boatload of extras come on this single disc edition including one where actor Jason Issacs walks around with a camcorder shooting behind the scenes footage of the actors in make up, rehearsals and shooting on the set. We also get to board the pirate ship getting a peak at how the film was shot artfully combining CGI with sets. ***

The feature I enjoyed the most though was watching the "flying school" that Issacs and the rest of the cast attended to learn how to work on wires for their many flying shots. The actors bluntly complain about how painful and difficult it is to do the wire work while also pointed out how much fun it is to defy gravity. We get to see an artful blend of their live action work with and without the CGI effects that makes the sequences so convincing. ***

Duchess Sarah Ferguson hosts a short featurette on how Barrie created the story and the impact it's had over the years. We also get to see a very funny deleted scene where Mr. Darling is literally in the dog house as punishment for chasing the kids away. It's hilarious and its understandable why it was cut (it stops the movie cold) but here we get to have our cake and eat it, too. Finally, we get to see the alternate ending where Peter meets Wendy when she's all grown up with a daughter of her own. It's a touching (and unfinished) sequence that doesn't work quite as well as the ending that was chosen. ---