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Hook (film)

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Hook
File:Hook poster.jpg
Directed bySteven Spielberg
Written byJ.M. Barrie (book)
James V. Hart
Nick Castle
Produced byFrank Marshall
Gerald R. Molen
StarringRobin Williams
Dustin Hoffman
Julia Roberts
Bob Hoskins
Maggie Smith
Music byJohn Williams
Distributed byTriStar Pictures
Release dates
December 13, 1991
Running time
144 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million

Hook, a live-action movie treatment of the Peter Pan stories by J.M. Barrie, was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1991 and starred Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith.

Plot outline

Template:Spoiler After stressful years of clients, mergers and "big deals", Peter Banning (Williams) loses sight of the reason he became so engrossed in his work: his wife Moira (Caroline Goodall) and his children Jack and Maggie. Peter and family travel to London, after a ten-year lapse, to visit grandmother-in-law Wendy Darling (Smith), and while attending a banquet honoring Wendy and her work with orphans, the vengeful Captain Hook (Hoffman) intrudes upon the Darling home and kidnaps Jack and Maggie from their beds, leaving behind a dagger-bearing note informing Peter that his presence is necessary to retrieve his children. Granny Wendy sheds light on the ominous note by telling him that he is the legendary Peter Pan, after which a sullen Peter slips into a drunken stupor and is greeted via an open window by the pixie Tinkerbell (Roberts), who is adamant on getting Peter to face Hook and save his kids. Tink easily overcomes the hesitant Peter and carries him to mythical Neverland. From here, with the aid of Tink and the Lost Boys, he must retrace his past to revive the inner child that was once Peter Pan and prepare for the final confrontation with Captain Hook.

Story Line

Template:Spoiler

Peter Banning, a successful business man, becomes overly engrossed in his work. He goes to see his daughter in a play, and cannot pay attention because of interruptions from his work, along with missing his son's final baseball game.

The Banning family goes to London to visit the elderly Wendy Darling, Moira's grandmother, and to honor her for her orphanage program. While there, Peter once again is interrupted by his job, yells at his children, has an argument with his wife, and loses his cell phone. His wife tells him he needs to re-evaluate his life.

Back at the children's room, Wendy reveals a picture of when she was younger and how she met Peter Pan.

Peter takes Wendy to a banquet in honor of the orphanage program.

Arriving back at the house, the adults find the windows of the front door shattered and the electricity out. Peter and Moira find their children gone. Peter finds a note embedded with a wicked looking dagger. The note reads:

Dear Peter, Your presence is required at the request of your children. Kindest personal regards, J.A.S. Hook, Captain

The police come and say they'll look for the kids, but later, Wendy says they can't do anything. Wendy says that if Peter doesn't go back and find James Hook, he'll never rescue his children.

Peter meets Tinkerbell at this point, and takes Peter to Neverland.

In Neverland, Peter finds himself in Pirate Town. Peter is put into a pirate disguise by Tinkerbell, ends up on Captain Hook's ship, ditches his disguise, tries to rescue his children; but he fails. Hook doesn't believe that Peter is Peter Pan, but due to Tinkerbell's intervention, he schedules a war between himself and Peter. After being forced to walk the plank, Peter ends up in the Lost Boys village. After initial disbelief and some convincing, the Lost Boys take Peter in to help him get his kids back.

The Lost Boys do their best to get Peter into shape, learn how to fight with a sword, and to fly, which he has trouble with because he can't find one happy thought. Hook tries to make Peter's kids think that parents hate their children. Maggie, who's younger and is often looked out for more by their parents, says she doesn't believe Hook, but Jack, who holds anger in his heart for his father's broken promises finds some truth in Hook's words. After his day of training, Peter sits down for food, but when the pots open, he sees nothing but air, but apparently, everyone else sees food. Rufio insults Peter, saying he'll never become the true Pan like this. They both get into an insult challenge, but Rufio is confounded by Peter's intelligence behind his insults, and Peter wins the approval of the Lost Boys. Peter pretends that there is food in his dish and throws it at Rufio, but then, it turns into real food because he is finally using his imagination. Peter joins his little friends in the feast, but the Lost Boys decide to use another way to get Peter to become more like a kid: a food fight. Peter enjoys the fight, but suddenly, Rufio throws a hard coconut at him. A Boy tosses Peter a sword, and at the last moment, Peter spins, and neatly slices the fruit into two equal halves. There is dead silence everywhere, for only Peter Pan could have done that move. As a familiar crowing is heard in the distance, Thudbutt, the big Lost Boy, whispers the battle cry, "Bangarang!"

Later, Thud talks to Peter of Tootles, how he used to be a Lost Boy, and gives Peter Tootles' missing marbles. After realizing the joke, Thud and Peter laugh, until Thud says that this night has made him remember a happy thought, his mother. Peter says he never knew his actual real mother, and then hears singing in the distance. It's Maggie, singing a song her mother taught her. Jack remembers the song, but Smee pulls him back with the Never Spell, asking about baseball. Neverland, and all its inhabitants fall asleep as the twin moons set.

The next morning, Hook and Jack are still asleep, but Hook wakes up to a ticking sound that makes his moustache twitch. He thinks the crocodile has come back from the dead, but sees it's the watch Peter gave Jack. Hook raises his hook in anger, but Smee intervenes, saying it's not Jack's fault. Hook gets an idea and takes Jack to a "museum" with broken clocks. They arrive at the room full of broken clocks, but Smee has to smash several that still work to calm Hook down. Handing Jack a mallet, Hook tells him to think of a reason he hates his father, and he does that, destroying the watch. He then repeats the same ritual, and then breaks down and cries at how his father never tried to save him or be there for him. Hook says he can do what Peter cannot do, and hands Jack his long lost baseball, asking him if there's anything he can do for Jack.

Jack has taught all the Pirates about baseball, so Hook transforms the entire Pirate Town into a baseball stadium. As the game plays, Peter and several Lost Boys, disguised as pirates, sneak into town for one of Peter's biggest tests: to steal Hook's hook and crow like Pan. Peter is about to, but then sees Jack up at bat, so he decides to watch the game. Jack sees the sign "RUN HOME JACK!", and the Spell seems to wear off, but Hook has the sign reversed to "HOME RUN JACK!" Smee, as pitcher, throws the curve ball, but Jack, with new confidence, hits it and gets a home run. Peter is overjoyed, but is mortified when Hook yells, "My Jack!" Peter now sees that Jack sees Hook as a father to him, and now Peter is determined to do the impossible: to fly.

Peter still has trouble flying, but then is hit in the head by Jack's home run ball. He crawls to the small pond to where the ball landed, but when he does, he doesn't exactly see himself, he sees himself as a boy, when he was Peter Pan. Taking the ball, Peter tosses it, but then sees his shadow come to life, tossing its own ball. The shadow directs Peter to a tree covered in vines, and Peter rips them off to find a tree with a face; the Nevertree. He notices a circle carved by Tootles, with the names Peter, Wendy, Michael, and John on it.

He accidentally presses a hidden button, revealing a secret lair in the tree. Peter goes in and finds Tink in a ball gown and says this was the Hideout. Peter finds a sewing thimble on the ground and remembers it was Wendy's "kiss". He suddenly remembers everything as Peter Pan, including his real mother. Even as a baby, he knew his mother and father were already discussing his future, and Peter didn't want that. He knew that if he were to grow up, as his parents planned, he would have to grow old and die someday. So the wind blew him away from his parents, and he ran away. Tink found him and brought him to Neverland. He wanted to go home after a few years, but his parents forgot about him and had a new child. As a young man, he flew to other windows that weren't shut, until the day his shadow left and Peter first met Wendy. Peter would bring Wendy back during spring time, but Wendy kept getting older, until she was a grandmother. Peter saw her grandchild, Moira, asleep, and something changed in Peter: he fell in love. Tink understands why Peter can't fly, he has too many sad memories. But Peter finds his old teddy bear and remembers one thing, the one reason he didn't go back to Neverland: he wanted to be a father. He realizes this IS his happy thought, and finds himself floating a few feet above the Hideout.

With his happy thought, Peter happily flies through the trees out into the sky. The Lost Boys all look up and see the figure flying, and they are mesmerized, until Thudbutt cries, "PETER PAN!" Peter is now in a new set of leaf clothes and shows the Boys he has returned by playing all the games. Rufio, amazed at this sight, comes before Peter with the Pan sword, as if looking for a challenge. In dead silence, and to everyone's amazement, Rufio falls to his knees, and offers the Pan sword back to Peter. Peter takes it and draws the line. Everyone sides with Peter, and Rufio replies that Peter can fly, fight, and Peter ends it with a crow.

Later that night, the end of the third day, Peter finds Tink in her house. Peter is so caught up in his excitement that he forgot that he's a father and doesn't understand Tink's sadness. Tink has realized that now Peter is the Pan again, he'll rescue his kids and have to go back. Tink casts a spell that makes her the same size as Peter and in her gown. She says that she has loved Peter for as long as she's known him, and she kisses him. Peter realizes his true self and knows he must go and save his kids. Tink smiles and calls him by his nickname "you silly ass" and tells him to go.

The next morning, the Lost Boys are preparing their weapons and armor for the big war. At the Jolly Roger, Jack, dressed exactly as Hook, is about to receive his first earring. Before Hook can begin, someone cuts through the sail. Smee picks up the cutout and is startled to see what it is: someone wearing leaves. And, through the hole in the sail, Peter Pan comes through. Hook is excited, but even more thrilled when Peter demands his son back, because Jack stays near Hook. Hook draws his ceremonial captain sword, and Peter draws his sword, and the two enemies say their famous battle words they spoke years ago.

Hook: "Peter Pan, prepare to meet thy doom!" Peter: "Dark and sinister man, have at thee!"

Peter jumps down to the decks and manages to fight all the Pirates himself, and at the same time, tells Jack he was his happy thought. The Pirates trap Peter, and as Jack remembers his father, Peter cries, "Bangarang!", and the Lost Boys reply and come to the rescue. Peter amazes Hook and the Pirates with the weapons he and the Boys use, including shooting paint, eggs, blinding mirrors, and Thudbutt rolling himself into a ball and becoming the "Thud Ball." Rufio comes face-to-face with Hook, and though Hook is eager to fight Rufio, Peter stops the fight. Then he hears Maggie crying and flies to her rescue, and Hook draws his dueling sword to fight Rufio. Peter defeats the pirates and rescues Maggie, promising never to lose her again.

Rufio and Hook continue to fight, and the Lost Boys capture all the Pirates. As Rufio thinks he finally has Hook, he drops his guard and Hook runs him through. Peter stops in mid air, and in a gust of wind screams for Rufio. As Rufio dies in Peter's arms, he whispers his last words, "You know what I wish? I wish I had a dad... like you." As Peter prepares to face Hook, Jack, who has broken the Never Spell, says to Peter he wants to go home. Peter picks up his son and flies to Maggie and the Boys, but Hook says he will find Peter wherever he goes and kidnap his family until this war is over. Seeing no other choice, Peter flies to his longtime enemy, saying that Pan the Avenger is back. Ripping off his coat, Hook is ready to fight as well, and the battle of Hook vs. Pan begins. The two enemies fight, and Hook traps Peter at the sharpener. He says that this is all just a dream and that when Peter wakes up he'll just go back to his normal, unhappy life. But all the Lost Boys, his children, and Tink say they all believe in him, and Peter finds the strength to throw Hook off him. Hook is disarmed, but Peter gives back his sword.

Grinning, Hook takes his sword, but cuts Peter's arm with his hook. Peter is not distracted and continues the fight. The duel makes its way to the stuffed crocodile tower, where the Lost Boys bring out their final weapon: working clocks. This distracts Hook, and Peter cuts at Hook's long, black hair, which is a wig and falls away, revealing Hook as a balding man. Hook is disarmed, but he asks Peter to give him back his hair, his last shred of dignity. Peter obliges, and as he is about to kill Hook, Jack and Maggie stop him, saying Hook can't harm them anymore. Hook praises the children and puts his wig on.

Peter tells Hook to leave and never come back to Neverland, but as he walks away with his children, Hook pulls a short sword from his sleeve and pins Peter to the crocodile. As Hook lifts his hook to deliver the final blow, Tink stops the hook and Peter rams it into the crocodile's stomach. The crocodile seems to temporarily come back to life for one last chance to eat Hook. Terrified at his greatest nightmare, Hook stumbles backwards, but is unable to escape his fear. As he cries his final words, "I want my mommy!", the crocodile drops and Hook disappears into its jaws as it crashes to the ground.

Peter celebrates with the Boys, but when he sees his kids he realizes he has to go back. Tink sprinkles them with dust and Peter teaches them to fly. Tink leads the kids home as the Lost Boys try to make Peter stay, thinking that he might forget them if he leaves, but Peter says that after all this, he could never forget the Boys. Taking out the Pan sword, Peter passes it to Thudbutt, telling him to take care of everything smaller than himself. Peter flies off towards London, but says, "Thank you for believing!"

Jack and Maggie arrive to their room where Moira has been sleeping. They pretend to be asleep, and as Moira wakes up and Wendy joins her, they jump out of bed and embrace their mom. Wendy can only look out the window, knowing exactly what happened. Outside, Peter is in his old clothes, unconscious, but is awakened by the sound of Tinkerbell, which is nothing more than bottles and cans being swept by a groundskeeper who looks like Smee. Tink appears and says she'll always have a place for him in her heart. Peter finds his ringing cell phone and tells his associate, Brad, a little about his adventure (Brad does not believe him), and then tells him he has to go climb the guardrail to the window of the nursery. He embraces his family, and even cries with Wendy, saying every tear is a happy thought. He gives old Tootles his bag of marbles, and Tootles reveals the true secret of the pouch of marbles, a handful of fairy dust, enabling him to fly. As Tootles flies towards Neverland, Wendy says to Peter that his adventures are over, but Peter replies, "Oh no. To live will be an awfully big adventure."

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Cast

David Crosby, Jimmy Buffett, Glenn Close, Carrie Fisher, and George Lucas make cameo appearances.

Trivia

File:Hook teaser poster.jpg
A teaser poster for the film Hook.
  • Tom Hanks and Kevin Kline were originally considered to play Peter Pan.
  • Due to Dustin Hoffman being regarded as a difficult actor to work with directors, there was a sense of tension on set between them. As a joke during filming, Hoffman and Bob Hoskins added a homosexual subtext between Captain Hook and Smee, much to the horror of Spielberg.
  • The role of Captain Hook was once offered to Robert DeNiro and David Bowie.
  • After leaving for Paris with Jason Patric two weeks before principal photography began, Julia Roberts was set to be replaced by Michelle Pfieffer. In a 60 Minutes interview, Spielberg stated that he would never again work with Julia Roberts, and to this day he has kept his word. [citation needed]
  • The original "Peter Pan" included only six Lost Boys (Slightly, Tootles, Nibs, Curly, and the unnamed Twins). The unnamed twins appear in the imaginary food scene.
  • Uncredited George Lucas and Carrie Fisher portray the kissing couple when Tinkerbell carries Peter in Neverland.
  • A popular indie Pop-Punk band Rufio takes it's name from the lost boy of the same name.
  • The family flies to England on Pan Am. Coincidentally, Pan Am had already ceased operations just a week before the movie was released.

Continuity/Editing Errors

This list of continuity and editing mistakes is the result of a deadline Steven Spielberg and crew had to meet in order for a toy deal with Mattel to pull through. If not for this deadline, Spielberg, his film editor Michael Kahn and their continuity supervisors may have had more time to address these problems with proper editing and reshoots. [citation needed]

  • The bedsheet tent in the nursery is knocked down as the children are kidnapped, but set up by the time Peter has a drink.
  • When Capt. Hook sees the pocket watch that Jack has, it shows 7:42. A few seconds later, it shows 7:39. Time runs backwards, and at a variable pace, in Neverland.
  • When Peter leaves Neverland in the charge of one of the Lost Boys, he takes out his sword twice.
  • When Nana (the family dog) buries Peter's cell phone after being thrown out a window, the antenna is out and the phone is open. When Peter digs it out after returning from Neverland, he pulls out the antenna and opens it to take the call.
  • During the food fight, some food is thrown onto Tinkerbell. The food is the same size as it was when it was thrown at the Lost Boys, even though she's roughly 1/18th their size.
  • When Hook drags his hook across Peter's arm during the fight, the tip appears to bend. Also, when Hook slices Peter's arm, the hook is pulled down across his arm one way, yet in the next shot, the blood shows the cut to be at a different angle.
  • When Peter is hit in the head with a baseball he falls to the ground. When he lands his head is upon green-colored ground, in the next shot his head is upon brown-colored ground.
  • When Peter Pan is watching the baseball game in Neverland, the size of his earring changes between shots.
  • Jack's hair changes a few times going from messed up to swept back under his baseball cap just after Jack smashes his father's watch.
  • When Hook is attempting suicide, his coat is resting on his shoulders. After a close up of him cocking the pistol, the coat disappears.
  • In J.M. Barrie's novel, "Peter and Wendy" (the original book), Peter states that he cut off Hook's right hand, forcing him to fight southpaw. However, in this film, Hook is missing his left hand (due to Hoffman being right-handed).
  • When Peter visits Tinkerbell in her house, he asks her "are you sad?" Tink responds "no, I'm neither. Please go away." Peter then says "oh you're sick." Peter should have said "are you sad? oh you're sick" and THEN Tink would've responded "no I'm neither..."

Box office

US Gross Domestic Takings: US$ 119,654,823 Other International Takings: $181,200,000 Gross Worldwide Takings: $300,854,823

Musical score

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The score for Hook was composed and conducted by John Williams. Williams' music is considered in some ways superior to the film it accompanies. It is certainly a fine example of a richly theme-driven, colorful score for a fantasy film, in many instances surpassing the overall cinematic execution and belying the success of the film. Its influence on subsequent Hollywood scores of the fantasy genre, including on Williams' own Jurassic Park and Harry Potter scores is also significant.

As in many of his fantasy-adventure scores, Williams makes extensive use ofleitmotifs (musical themes related to characters, emotions and actions), using one or more themes in each song to describe on-screen story and interaction. In fact, Hook may have one of the most leitmotivically-dense scores of all time, with some 20 odd autonomous melodic ideas recurring through the movie. An incomplete sample, just from the officially released soundtrack, which omits about half of the written score:

  1. "Prologue" (Hook/Pan confrontation theme/Peter Pan theme #1)
  2. "We Don't Want To Grow Up" (Tinkerbell theme( *
  3. "Banning Back Home"
  4. "Granny Wendy" ((Childhood theme, Wendy's theme)
  5. "Hook-Napped" (Prologue Theme, James T. Hook theme)
  6. "The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland" (Tinkerbell, Childhood)
  7. "Presenting the Hook" (Pirate theme, Captain Hook theme)
  8. "From Mermaids to Lost Boys" (Mermaid theme, Neverland Theme, Lost Boys)
  9. "The Lost Boy Chase" (Lost Boys theme #1)
  10. "Smee's Plan" (Smee and Hook theme)
  11. "The Banquet" (Lost Boys theme #2)
  12. "The Never-Feast" (Lost Boys #2, Childhood, When You're Alone)
  13. "Remembering Childhood" (Children, Childhood, Neverland, Prologue)
  14. "You are the Pan" (Pan Theme)
  15. "When You're Alone* (When You're Alone)
  16. "The Ultimate War" (Prologue, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, Hook & Smee, Childhood, Lost Boys 1+2)
  17. "Farewell Neverland" (Neverland, Lost Boys, Wendy, and Tinkerbell themes)

*Tracks 2 and 15: Music composed by John Williams/lyrics written by Leslie Bricusse. "When You're Alone" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1992.

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