Hook (film)

''Hook'' is a 1991 American fantasy adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by James V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo. It stars Robin Williams as Peter Banning / Peter Pan, Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell, Bob Hoskins as Mr. Smee, Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy and Charlie Korsmo as Jack Banning. It serves as a sequel in a modern day setting to J. M. Barrie's 1911 novel ''Peter and Wendy'', focusing on an adult Peter Pan who has forgotten his childhood due to his high-powered lifestyle. In his new life, he is known as Peter Banning, a successful but career-minded lawyer who neglects his wife (Wendy's granddaughter) and their two children. However, when his old archenemy, Captain Hook, kidnaps his children, he returns to Neverland to save them. Along the journey, he reclaims the memories of his past and develops full emotional maturity.

Spielberg began developing ''Hook'' in the early 1980s with Walt Disney Productions and Paramount Pictures. It would have followed the Peter Pan storyline seen in the 1924 silent film and 1953 animated Disney film. It entered pre-production in 1985, but Spielberg abandoned the project. Hart developed the script with director Nick Castle and TriStar Pictures before Spielberg decided to direct in 1989. It was shot almost entirely on sound stages at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

Released on December 11, 1991, ''Hook'' received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly those of Williams and Hoffman), John Williams' musical score, and the film's production values, but criticized the screenplay and tone. The film also received five nominations at the 64th Academy Awards. Although the film was a commercial success and become the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1991, it failed to meet the studio's expectations. Since its release, ''Hook'' gained a strong cult following, and it is considered by many to be a cult classic.

Plot

Peter Banning, a workaholic lawyer fixated on success, has a strained relationship with his wife, Moira, and their children, Jack and Maggie, due to his constant absences and broken promises. During Christmas, the family travels to London to visit Moira's grandmother, Wendy Darling, who cared for Peter as an orphan. When Peter loses his temper with the children for interrupting a work call, Moira scolds him, reminding him how fleeting their time with the children is. During a dinner honoring Wendy’s work with orphans, the children stay home with her old friend, Tootles. Returning from the event, Peter and Moira discover the children are missing, with a note left behind signed by Captain James Hook.

Wendy urges Peter to return to Neverland and rescue his children because he is Peter Pan. Having no memory of his childhood, Peter does not believe her until the fairy Tinker Bell arrives and flies him to Neverland. In the pirate town, Peter confronts Hook, who fails to recognize his once formidable rival. Hook challenges Peter to fly and save his children, but Peter fails. Dismayed at how pathetic Peter has become, Hook orders his execution, but Tinker Bell convinces him to give her three days to train Peter for their final battle.

Peter is brought to the Lost Boys' hideout, now led by Rufio. They mock the grown man before them until the group ultimately recognizes him. They begin training Peter, urging him to abandon his uptight adult demeanor and embrace his imagination. Meanwhile, Hook's first mate, Smee, suggests turning Peter's children against him. Maggie resists, but Jack, hurt by Peter's broken promises and failure to save him, begins to side with Hook.

While infiltrating the pirate town, Peter sees Jack playing in a baseball game organized by Hook, who has taken on a fatherly role. Devastated, Peter returns to the Lost Boys' camp with renewed determination. His shadow leads him to the ruins of Wendy's house, where he remembers his past: as an infant in the early 1900s, he ran away from his mother, fearing growing up and dying, and was brought to Neverland by Tinker Bell. Visiting his family later, he found they had a new child and assumed they had forgotten him. Peter met Wendy, who fell in love with him, but as she aged and started a family, Peter fell for her granddaughter, Moira, and remained with her. Recalling Jack's birth as his happiest memory, Peter regains his powers and ability to fly. That night, a heartbroken Tinker Bell confesses her unrequited love to Peter.

The next day, Peter and the Lost Boys launch an attack on the pirates. While Peter rescues Maggie, Rufio is fatally wounded in a duel with Hook. Witnessing Rufio's dying wish for a father like Peter, Jack reconciles with his father. Peter prepares to leave Neverland with his children, but Hook demands a final battle, vowing to eternally stalk Peter's descendants if denied. With help from Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys, Peter subdues Hook, who feigns surrender. Hook tries to stab Peter, but misses and impales the taxidermied Crocodile that once ate his hand. The Crocodile appears to come to life, topples over, and consumes Hook. Tinker Bell then returns Jack and Maggie home while Peter bids farewell to the Lost Boys, appointing Thud Butt as their new leader. Thud Butt gives Peter a bag of marbles that belonged to Tootles, a former Lost Boy.

Peter awakens in London, where Tinker Bell tearfully bids him farewell. Transformed by his journey, Peter joyfully reunites with his family and discards his work phone. He returns the bag to Tootles, who sprinkles the pixie dust within on himself and flies off to Neverland. When Wendy observes that Peter's adventures are over, he replies, "To live will be an awfully big adventure."

Cast

* Robin Williams as Peter Banning / Peter Pan
** Ryan Francis as the 8-year-old Peter Pan
** Max Hoffman as the young Peter Pan
** Matthew Van Ginkel as baby Peter Pan
* Dustin Hoffman as Captain James Hook
** Hoffman also voices the Pan Am pilot's announcement as a nod to the dual role element of Captain Hook and George Darling in the original play.
* Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell
** Lisa Wilhoit as Tinker Bell in a flashback in which Peter is a baby
* Bob Hoskins as William Smee
** Hoskins also portrays a street sweeper at Kensington Gardens
* Maggie Smith as Wendy Darling
** Gwyneth Paltrow as the teenage Wendy Darling
* Charlie Korsmo as Jack Banning, Peter and Moira's son
*Amber Scott as Maggie Banning, Peter and Moira's daughter
* Caroline Goodall as Moira Banning, Peter's wife and Jack and Maggie's mother
* Geoffrey Lower as Brad, Peter’s co-worker
* Kelly Rowan as Peter's mother
* Dante Basco as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys
* Jasen Fisher as Ace
* Raushan Hammond as Thud Butt
* Isaiah Robinson as Pockets
* James Madio as Don't Ask
* Arthur Malet as Tootles
* Laurel Cronin as Liza, Granny Wendy's maid
* Phil Collins as Inspector Good
* Alex Zuckerman as Latchboy
* Thomas Tulak as Too Small
* Ahmad Stoner as No Nap
* Nick Tate as Noodler

In addition, a number of celebrities and family members made brief credited and uncredited cameos in the film: musicians David Crosby and Jimmy Buffett, actress Glenn Close, and former boxer Tony Burton appear as members of Hook's pirate crew; ''Star Wars'' creator George Lucas and actress Carrie Fisher play the kissing couple sprinkled with pixie dust; two of Hoffman's children, Jacob and Rebecca, both under 10 years old during filming, briefly appear in scenes in the "normal" world; and screenwriter Jim Hart's 11-year-old son Jake (who years earlier inspired his father with the question, "What if Peter Pan grew up?") plays one of Peter's Lost Boys.

Production

Inspiration

Steven Spielberg found a close personal connection to Peter Pan's story from his own childhood. The troubled relationship between Peter Banning and his son Jack in the film echoed Spielberg's relationship with his own father Arnold. Previous Spielberg films that explored a dysfunctional father-son relationship included ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' and ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. Peter's "quest for success" paralleled Spielberg starting out as a film director and transforming into a Hollywood business magnate. "I think a lot of people today are losing their imagination because they are work-driven. They are so self-involved with work and success and arriving at the next plateau that children and family almost become incidental. I have even experienced it myself when I have been on a very tough shoot and I've not seen my kids except on weekends. They ask for my time and I can't give it to them because I'm working."

Like Peter at the beginning of the film, Spielberg has a fear of flying. He feels that Peter's "enduring quality" in the storyline is simply to fly. "Anytime anything flies, whether it's Superman, Batman, or E.T., it's got to be a tip of the hat to Peter Pan," Spielberg reflected in a 1992 interview. "''Peter Pan'' was the first time I saw anybody fly. Before I saw Superman, before I saw Batman, and of course before I saw any superheroes, my first memory of anybody flying is in ''Peter Pan''".

Pre-production

The genesis of the film started when Spielberg's mother often read him ''Peter and Wendy'' as a bedtime story. He explained in 1985, "When I was 11 years old, I actually directed the story during a school production. I have always felt like Peter Pan. I still feel like Peter Pan. It has been very hard for me to grow up, I'm a victim of the Peter Pan syndrome".

In the early 1980s, Spielberg began to develop a film with Walt Disney Pictures that would have closely followed the storyline of the 1924 silent film and 1953 animated film. He also considered directing it as a musical with Michael Jackson in the lead. Jackson expressed interest in the part, but was not interested in Spielberg's vision of an adult Peter Pan, who had forgotten about his past.

The project was taken to Paramount Pictures, where James V. Hart wrote the first script, with Dustin Hoffman already cast as Captain Hook. It entered pre-production in 1985, with filming to begin at sound stages in England. Elliot Scott had been hired as production designer. With the birth of his first son, Max, in 1985, Spielberg decided to drop out. "I decided not to make ''Peter Pan'' when I had my first child," Spielberg commented. "I didn't want to go to London and have seven kids on wires in front of blue screens. I wanted to be home as a dad." Around this time, he considered directing ''Big'', which carried with it similar motifs and themes. In 1987, he "permanently abandoned" it, feeling he expressed his childhood and adult themes in '' Empire of the Sun''.

Meanwhile, Paramount and Hart moved forward on production with Nick Castle as director. Hart began to work on a new storyline when his son Jake showed his family a drawing. "We asked Jake what it was and he said it was a crocodile eating Captain Hook, but that the crocodile really didn't eat him, he got away," Hart reflected. "As it happens, I had been trying to crack ''Peter Pan'' for years, but I didn't just want to do a remake. So I went, 'Wow. Hook is not dead. The crocodile is. We've all been fooled.' In 1986, our family was having dinner and Jake said, 'Daddy, did Peter Pan ever grow up?' My immediate response was, 'No, of course not.' And Jake said, 'But what if he did?' I realized that Peter did grow up, just like all of us baby boomers who are now in our forties. I patterned him after several of my friends on Wall Street, where the pirates wear three-piece suits and ride in limos."

Many fans believed Tom Hanks was Spielberg's original choice for the role of Peter Pan. Hanks has debunked that rumour. Joseph Mazzello auditioned for the role of Jack Banning, but was turned down because he was deemed too young for the role. Mazzello was cast later as Tim Murphy in ''Jurassic Park''.

Filming

By 1989, Ian Rathbone changed the title to ''Hook'', and took it from Paramount to TriStar Pictures, headed by Mike Medavoy, who was Spielberg's first talent agent. Robin Williams signed on, but he and Hoffman had creative differences with Castle. Medavoy saw the film as a vehicle for Spielberg and Castle was dismissed, but he was paid a $500,000 settlement. Dodi Fayed, who owned certain rights to make a ''Peter Pan'' film, sold his interest to TriStar in exchange for an executive producer credit. Spielberg briefly worked with Hart to rewrite the script before hiring Malia Scotch Marmo to rewrite Captain Hook's dialog, and Carrie Fisher for Tinker Bell's. The Writers Guild of America gave Hart and Marmo screenplay credit, while Hart and Castle were credited with the story. Fisher went uncredited.

Filming began February 19, 1991, occupying nine sound stages at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Stage 30 housed the Neverland Lost Boys playground, while Stage 10 supplied Captain Hook's ship cabin. Hidden hydraulics were installed to rock the set-piece to simulate a swaying ship, but the filmmakers found the movement distracted from the dialogue, so the idea was dropped.

Stage 27 housed the full-sized ''Jolly Roger'' and the surrounding Pirate Wharf.DVD production notes Industrial Light & Magic provided the visual effects sequences. This marked the beginning of Tony Swatton's career, as he was asked to make weaponry for the film.

It was financed by Amblin Entertainment and TriStar Pictures, with TriStar distributing it. Spielberg hired John Napier as a "visual consultant", having been impressed with his work on ''Cats''. The original production budget was set at $48 million, but ended up between $60–80 million. The primary reason for the increased budget was the shooting schedule, which ran 40 days over its original 76-day schedule. Spielberg explained, "It was all my fault. I began to work at a slower pace than I usually do."

Spielberg's on-set relationship with Julia Roberts was troubled, and he admitted in a 1992 interview with ''60 Minutes'', "It was an unfortunate time for us to work together." In a 1999 '' Vanity Fair'' interview, Roberts said that Spielberg's comments "really hurt my feelings". She "couldn't believe this person that I knew and trusted was actually hesitating to come to my defense... it was the first time that I felt I had a turncoat in my midst."

Soundtrack

The film score was composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. He was brought in at an early stage when Spielberg was considering making the film as a musical. Williams wrote approximately eight songs with lyricist Leslie Bricusse for the project at this stage. Williams and Bricusse finalized it to five songs. Several of these songs were recorded, and some musical segments were even filmed.

Julie Andrews recorded one song, "Childhood", at the Sony Pictures Studios, so that Maggie Smith could lip-sync it on-set; it was meant to be sung by Granny Wendy to her grandchildren in their bedroom. Two additional songs, "Stick with Me" and "Low Below", performed by Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins, respectively, were also rehearsed. These three songs were ultimately cut from the film, and instead were incorporated into the instrumental score. Two remaining songs survive in the finished film: "We Don't Wanna Grow Up" and "When You're Alone", both with lyrics by Bricusse. The "Prologue" track later appeared in a commercial for the 68th Academy Awards in 1995, and in trailers for '' Matilda'' (1996), another film by TriStar.

The original 1991 issue was released by Epic Soundtrax. In 2012, a limited edition of the soundtrack, called ''Hook: Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'', was released by La-La Land Records and Sony Music. It contains almost the complete score, with alternates and unused material. It also contains liner notes that explain the film's production and score recording.
;Commercial songs from the film, but not on the soundtrack
* "Pick'em Up" – Music by John Williams and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
* " Take Me Out to the Ball Game" – Written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer

In November 2023, La-La Land Records announced a remastered and expanded three-disc ultimate edition of the film's score in its entirety, to be released December 1, 2023. The first disc includes the score presentation. The second disc features the additional musical tracks, and the third disc features alternate cues, source music, and Leslie Bricusse's songs.

Video games

A video game based on the film and bearing the same name was released for various game consoles in 1992. Another game was released for personal computer and Commodore Amiga, and is a point-and-click adventure game.

Reception

Box office

Spielberg, Williams and Hoffman did not take salaries for ''Hook''. Their deal called for them to split 40% of TriStar Pictures's gross revenues. They were to receive $20 million from the first $50 million in gross theatrical film rentals, with TriStar keeping the next $70 million in rentals before the three resumed receiving their percentage.

''Hook'' was released in North America December 11, 1991, earning $13.5 million in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $119.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $181.2 million in foreign countries, accumulating a worldwide total of $300.9 million. It is the sixth-highest-grossing "pirate-themed" film, behind all five films in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. In the United States and Canada, it was the sixth-highest-grossing film in 1991, and fourth-highest-grossing worldwide. It was the second-highest-grossing film in Japan, with theatrical rentals of $22.4 million. It ended up making a profit of $50 million for the studio, yet it was still declared a financial disappointment, having been overshadowed by the release of Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'', and a decline in box-office receipts compared to the previous years.

Home media

''Hook'' was released on VHS and LaserDisc on July 21, 1992, and on DVD in the United States on March 21, 2000 by Columbia TriStar Home Video. It was released on Blu-ray disc on November 1, 2011, and on 4K UHD on October 9, 2018 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Critical response

''Hook'' received mixed reviews upon release. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 29% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 4.70/10. The site's consensus states: "The look of ''Hook'' is lively indeed, but Steven Spielberg directs on autopilot here, giving in too quickly to his sentimental, syrupy qualities." On Metacritic, the film has a 52 out of 100 rating, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.

Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' wrote: Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine felt it would "only appeal to the baby boomer generation", and highly criticized the sword-fighting choreography. Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' felt the story structure was not well balanced, feeling Spielberg depended too much on art direction. Hal Hinson of ''The Washington Post'' was one of the few who gave it a positive review. Hinson elaborated on crucial themes of children, adulthood and loss of innocence. However, he said Spielberg "was stuck too much in a theme park world".

John Williams's musical score was particularly praised, and is considered by many as one of his best. Filmmaker Jon M. Chu cited the film as a source of inspiration for the visual aesthetics of his two-part film adaptation of the musical '' Wicked'' (2024-2025).

Spielberg's assessment

In the years since its release, Spielberg has admitted in interviews that he was not proud of the film, and disappointed with the final result. In 2011, he told ''Entertainment Weekly'', "There are parts of ''Hook'' I love. I'm really proud of my work right up through Peter being hauled off in the parachute out the window, heading for Neverland. I'm a little less proud of the Neverland sequences because I'm uncomfortable with that highly stylized world that today, of course, I would probably have done with live-action character work inside a completely digital set. But we didn't have the technology to do it then, and my imagination only went as far as building physical sets and trying to paint trees blue and red."

Spielberg gave a more blunt assessment in a 2013 interview on ''Kermode & Mayo's Film Review'': "I wanna see ''Hook'' again because I so don't like that movie, and I'm hoping someday I'll see it again and perhaps like some of it." In 2018, Spielberg told ''Empire'', "I felt like a fish out of water making ''Hook''... I didn't have confidence in the script. I had confidence in the first act and I had confidence in the epilogue. I didn't have confidence in the body of it." He added, "I didn't quite know what I was doing and I tried to paint over my insecurity with production value," admitting "the more insecure I felt about it, the bigger and more colorful the sets became."

Accolades

See also

* List of films featuring miniature people

References

Bibliography

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hook (Film)
Peter Pan films
1991 films
1991 comedy films
1991 children's films
1990s English-language films
1990s adventure comedy films
1990s fantasy adventure films
1990s fantasy comedy films
1990s Christmas films
1990s American films
1990s children's adventure films
American children's adventure films
American adventure comedy films
American fantasy adventure films
American fantasy comedy films
Compositions by Leslie Bricusse
Films scored by John Williams
Films about amnesia
Films about amputees
Films about child abduction
Films about fairies
Films about lawyers
Films directed by Steven Spielberg
Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy
Films produced by Frank Marshall
Films set in London
Films set in San Francisco
Films set on airplanes
Films shot in California
Films shot in London
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films about mermaids
Amblin Entertainment films
TriStar Pictures films
Films produced by Gerald R. Molen
Films adapted into comics
American swashbuckler films
Films about families
American Christmas films
Films about father–son relationships
Pirate films
English-language fantasy adventure films
English-language fantasy comedy films
English-language adventure comedy films
English-language Christmas films