Wickedpedia
Register
Advertisement


Captain James Bartholomew Hook is the main antagonist in Peter Pan. The captain of a crew of pirates, James Hook has long since abandoned sailing the high seas in favour of having revenge on Peter Pan, who cut off Hook's hand and fed it to the Crocodile, considering it a playful prank. Ever since swallowing the captain's hand, the Crocodile has developed a taste for Hook, and is costant pursuit of the remainder of the pirate's body. While a worthy opponent for Peter Pan, Hook is destined to fail, sometimes because of Pan's ability to fly, and often though the bumbling actions of his bo'sun and first mate, Mr. Smee, who is unquestioningly faithful to the captain, but is incompetent and dim-witted. Hook invariably ends up fleeing for his life from the Crocodile, of whom he is understandably terrified. Hook's frustrations are understandable; he lost a hand to his opponent, is constantly persued by the Crocodile, and cannot fly. These factors arguably make him the most sympathetic Disney Villain, and one of the most popular. His antics with the crocodile are considered by many to be the funniest animated scenes ever created by Disney[1].

He embodies the Deadly Sin of Wrath for his fearsome breath on Peter Pan.

Captain Hook spotted number 7 in the Top 30 Disney Villains (One better than Hades but one under Cruella De Vil).

Behind the Scenes

Captain Hook was voiced by the late Hans Conried and animated by Frank Thomas. Hook's scenes with the Crocodile were animated by Wolfgang Reitherman.

Character Development

At the beginning of the story development stage for Peter Pan, the story department wrote an analysis of Captain Hook for the film, suggesting that he be a fop, but mean to the point of being murderous; one of the directors, however, imagined him as a 'complete heavy', considering any foppish traits to distract the audience from his villainy. The character was only completely pinpointed long into the animation stage, as it proved difficult to create a menacing villain whose character would not be diminished by the scenes with the Crocodile. Eventually, the character settled on was a black-hearted man who tried to put on airs and pretended to be a gentleman of good taste and. It was realised that Hook would become likeable to the audience, and, as a consequence, it was decided that the character should not be killed in the film:

"Maybe with the crocodile and Hook - the crocodile is waiting for him - then have a funny chase - the last you see is Hook going like hell. That's better than having him get caught... the audience will get to liking Hook and they won't want to see him killed" - Walt Disney, in a story meeting[1]
Captain Hook from Peter Pan

In Disney's Villains Revenge, Hook faced Peter Pan as an old man and tries to kill him, but the player challenges Hook to a duel and after killing some pirates, the player gained the advantage and send Hook to his doom and changed Peter Pan back into a boy. They meet for a second time in the final battle of good and evil along with the other villains, the player sank Hook's ship and Hook tries to kill the player with a cannon ball but the

Captain Hook

player deflects the cannon ball shot at him, and Hook gets sent to the moon saying " I hate happy endings".

Design and Animation

It is rumoured that Captain Hook's appearance is based on that of his animator, Frank Thomas.

Actor Hans Conried not only provided Hook's gravelly voice but also performed extensive live-action reference for the character. Kathryn Beaumont, who voiced and performed live-action reference for Wendy Darling, enjoyed working with him, admiring his ability to be both comical and marvellously evil at the same time[2]. [[File:|thumb]]

Trivia

  • The late Hans Conried (who later acted as a live action model reference for King Stefan and supposedly served as the uncredited voice of Lord Duke in Sleeping Beauty) also provided voice and live-action-reference for George Darling, remaining faithful to the theatrical tradition that Captain Hook and George Darling be portrayed by the same actor.
  • Surprisingly, Hook is shown to be a moderatly strong character, as shown when he lifts Tiger Lily into the air while she has an anchor tied to her.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, "The Disney Villain"
  2. Peter Pan as a Pal
Advertisement