Hook (film)

Hook

Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on Peter and Wendy
by J. M. Barrie
Starring
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Dean Cundey
Edited by Michael Kahn
Production
company
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release dates
  • December 11, 1991 (1991-12-11)
Running time
 144 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $70 million[2]
Box office $300.9 million

Hook is a 1991 American fantasy adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg[3] and written by James V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Robin Williams as Peter Banning/Peter Pan, Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell, Bob Hoskins as Smee, Maggie Smith as Wendy, Caroline Goodall as Moira Banning, and Charlie Korsmo as Jack Banning. It acts as a sequel to J. M. Barrie's 1911 novel Peter and Wendy focusing on an adult Peter Pan who has forgotten all about his childhood. In his new life, he is known as Peter Banning, a successful but unimaginative and workaholic corporate lawyer with a wife (Wendy's granddaughter) and two children. However, when Hook, the old enemy of his past, kidnaps his children, he returns to Neverland in order to save them. Along the journey he reclaims his youthful spirit that unlocks the memory to his past.

Spielberg began developing the film in the early 1980s with Walt Disney Productions and Paramount Pictures, which would have followed the story line seen in the 1924 silent film and 1953 animated film. It entered pre-production in 1985, but Spielberg abandoned the project. James V. 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. It received mixed reviews from critics, and while it was a commercial success, its box office intake was lower than expected. It was nominated in five categories at the 64th Academy Awards. It also spawned merchandise, including video games, action figures, and comic book adaptations.

Plot


Peter Banning is a successful corporate lawyer living in San Francisco. As a workaholic, he spends little time with his wife, Moira, and children, 12-year-old Jack and 7-year-old Maggie, and even misses Jack's Little League Baseball game. They fly to London to visit Moira's grandmother, Wendy Darling, and attend a banquet ceremony at Great Ormond Street Hospital honoring her charity work. While they are away, Jack and Maggie are abducted mysteriously from the nursery, but an elderly Tootles, a former Lost Boy, tells Peter Captain Hook is responsible. Wendy informs him he is in fact the real Peter Pan, but he lost all of his childhood memories when he fell in love with Moira. In disbelief, he gets drunk up in the nursery, but Tinker Bell appears and takes him to Neverland to rescue his children from Hook.

Hook and his pirates confront Peter but become depressed when they realize he does not remember his former life and identity. Tinker Bell makes a deal with Hook that Peter will regain his youthful spirit in three days for a climatic battle. He is reacquainted with the Mermaids and meets the new generation of Lost Boys, led by Rufio, who refuses to believe that he is the real Peter Pan. They help him train, and in the process he regains his imagination and lost youth. One of them, Thud Butt, gives him marbles that were left behind by Tootles. Elsewhere, Smee talks Hook into manipulating Jack and Maggie into loving him to break Peter's will. While Maggie is not taken in, Jack comes to view Hook as a father figure.

Hook arranges a makeshift baseball game for Jack, which Peter watches as Hook treats Jack like his own son. Peter runs off and tries to fly, but is led to the old treehouse of the Lost Boys by his own shadow. Tinker Bell helps him remember his childhood and how he fell in love with Moira, and he realizes his happy thought is being a father. He flies up into the sky, returning as Peter Pan, and Rufio surrenders his sword and leadership back to him. The child-minded Peter returns to Tinker Bell who grows human-sized and kisses him, reminding him of his reason for being in Neverland. On the third day, he and the Lost Boys attack the pirates as promised, leading to a lengthy battle. He rescues Maggie and promises to be a better father to Jack. Rufio fights a duel with Hook but is mortally wounded and dies in Peter's arms.

Peter and Hook duel, leading to Peter's victory. Refusing to leave honorably, Hook attacks Peter, but the stuffed crocodile, whom Hook once feared, springs to life and devours him. Peter gives his sword to Thud Butt promoting him the new leader of the Lost Boys and leaves Neverland for good. He awakens in Kensington Gardens, meeting a sweeper who bears a strong resemblance to Smee and bidding farewell to Tinker Bell, who confesses her unrequited love to him before vanishing. He climbs up the drain pipe of Wendy's house, reuniting with his family and returning Tootles' marbles to him. Tootles discovers the bag contains pixie dust, and he flies out the window to visit Neverland. Wendy suggests that Peter's adventures are over, but he replies, "To live would be an awfully big adventure."

Cast

Production

Inspiration

Spielberg found close personal connection to the Peter Pan story from his own childhood. The troubled relationship between Peter and Jack in the sequel echoed Spielberg's relationship with his own father. 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.[4] "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."[5] 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."[5]

Pre-production

J. M. Barrie considered writing a story in which Peter Pan grew up; his 1920 notes for the latest stage revival of Peter Pan included possible titles for another play: The Man Who Couldn't Grow Up or The Old Age of Peter Pan.[6] 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 eleven 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."[7]

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.[5] He also considered directing it as a musical with Michael Jackson in the lead.[8] He expressed interest in the part, but was not interested in Spielberg's vision of an adult Peter Pan who had forgotten about his past.[9] The project was taken to Paramount Pictures, where James V. Hart wrote the first script with Dustin Hoffman already cast as Captain Hook.[8] It entered pre-production in 1985 for filming to begin at sound stages in England. Elliot Scott had been hired as production designer.[5] 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."[8] Around this time, he considered directing Big, which carried similar motifs and themes with it.[8] In 1987, he "permanently abandoned" it, feeling he expressed his childhood and adult themes in Empire of the Sun.[10]

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."[11]

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 paid a $500,000 settlement.[11] Dodi Fayed, who owned certain rights to make a Peter Pan film, sold his interest to TriStar in exchange for an executive producer credit.[12] Spielberg briefly worked together with Hart to rewrite the script[5] 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 on February 19, 1991, occupying nine sound stages at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.[2] Stage 30 housed the Neverland Lost Boys playground, while Stage 10 supplied Captain Hook's ship cabin. Hidden hydraulics were installed to rock the setpiece to simulate a swaying ship, but the filmmakers found the movement distracted the dialogue, so the idea was dropped.[13]

Stage 27 housed the full-sized Jolly Roger and the surrounding Pirate Wharf.[13] 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 brought on 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.[2][14] 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."[14]

Soundtrack

Hook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Film score by John Williams
Released November 26, 1991 (1991-11-26) (original)
March 27, 2012 (2012-03-27) (reissue)[15]
Length 75:18 (original)
140:34 (reissue)
Label Epic Records (original)
La-La Land Records (reissue)
John Williams chronology
Home Alone Hook JFK

The film score was composed and conducted by John Williams. He was brought in at an early stage when Spielberg was considering making the film as a musical. Accordingly, he wrote around eight songs for the project at this stage. The idea was later abandoned. Most of his song ideas were incorporated into the instrumental score, though two songs survive as songs in the finished film: "We Don't Wanna Grow Up" and "When You're Alone", both with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

The original 1991 issue was released by Epic Records.[16] 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 film, but not on soundtrack

Video games

Several video games based on the film and bearing the same name were released between 1991 and 1993. An Arcade beat 'em up produced by Japanese company Irem was released in 1992, that allowed for single player and co-operative gameplay between four players. They can select to play as Peter Pan or one of four Lost Boys. A side-scrolling home console game was also released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Sega CD, Sega Genesis, and the handheld Sega Game Gear. It was originally developed by Ukiyotei for the SNES before being ported by Core Design (Sega CD and Sega Genesis) and Spidersoft (Game Gear). All versions were published by Sony Imagesoft. The Sega CD version received a European release in 1993. The adult Peter Banning is the only playable character.

Another side-scrolling platformer was released in 1992 for the NES and Nintendo Game Boy. It was developed by Ocean Software and published by Sony Imagesoft. Ocean Software also developed and published a separate point and click adventure game in 1991 for the Commodore 64 and Amiga followed by Atari ST and PC versions in 1992. Its main objective was to escape the Pirate City, reach the Lost Boys' hideout and try to become Peter Pan in order to fight once more with Captain Hook.

Reception

Box office

Spielberg, Williams, and Hoffman did not take salaries for the film. Their deal called for them to split 40% of TriStar Pictures' 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.[2] The film was released in North America on December 11, 1991, earning $13,522,535 in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $119,654,823 in North America and $181,200,000 in foreign countries, accumulating a worldwide total of $300,854,823.[17] It is the fifth-highest-grossing "pirate-themed" film, behind all four films in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.[18] In North America totals, it was the sixth-highest-grossing film in 1991,[19] and fourth-highest-grossing worldwide.[20] It ended up making a profit of $50 million for the studio, yet it was still declared a financial disappointment,[21] 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.[22]

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 30% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 40 reviews, certifying it "Rotten", with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's consensus states: "The look of Hook is lively indeed but Spielberg directs on autopilot here, giving in too quickly to his sentimental, syrupy qualities."[23] On Metacritic, the film has a 52 out of 100 rating, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[24] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated that "The sad thing about the screenplay for "Hook" is that it’s so correctly titled: This whole construction is really nothing more than a hook on which to hang a new version of the Peter Pan story. No effort is made to involve Peter’s magic in the changed world he now inhabits, and little thought has been given to Captain Hook’s extraordinary persistence in wanting to revisit the events of the past. The failure in Hook was its inability to re-imagine the material, to find something new, fresh or urgent to do with the Peter Pan myth. Lacking that, Spielberg should simply have remade the original story, straight, for the '90s generation."[25] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine felt it would "only appeal to the baby boomer generation" and highly criticized the sword-fighting choreography.[26] Vincent Canby of The New York Times felt the story structure was not well balanced, feeling Spielberg depended too much on art direction.[27] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post was one of few who gave it a positive review. Hinson elaborated on crucial themes of children, adulthood, and loss of innocence. However, he observed that Spielberg "was stuck too much in a theme park world".[28]

The film was nominated for five categories at the 64th Academy Awards. This included Best Production Design (Norman Garwood, Garrett Lewis) (lost to Bugsy), Best Costume Design (lost to Bugsy), Best Visual Effects (lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Best Makeup (lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Best Original Song ("When You're Alone", lost to Beauty and the Beast).[29] It lost the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film to Aladdin, in which Williams co-starred,[30] while cinematographer Dean Cundey was nominated for his work by the American Society of Cinematographers.[31] Hoffman was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (lost to Williams for The Fisher King).[32] John Williams was given a Grammy Award nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media;[33] Julia Roberts received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress (lost to Sean Young as the dead twin in A Kiss Before Dying).[34]

In 2011, Spielberg 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."[35] Spielberg gave a more blunt assessment in a 2013 interview on Kermode & Mayo's Film Review Show: "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."[36]

References

  1. ↑ "HOOK (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. January 17, 1992. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Joseph McBride (1997). Steven Spielberg: A Biography. New York City: Faber and Faber. p. 411. ISBN 0-571-19177-0.
  3. ↑ "Hook". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  4. ↑ McBride, p. 413.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Ana Maria Bahiana (March 1992). "Hook", Cinema Papers, pp. 67—69.
  6. ↑ Andrew Birkin (2003). J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09822-8.
  7. ↑ McBride, p.42—43
  8. 1 2 3 4 McBride, p. 409.
  9. ↑ http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2011/12/04/michael_jackson_was_steven_spielbergs_
  10. ↑ Myra Forsberg (1988-01-10). "Spielberg at 40: The Man and the Child". The New York Times.
  11. 1 2 McBride, p. 410.
  12. ↑ Medavoy, Mike and Young, Josh (2002). You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (p. 230). New York City: Atria Books
  13. 1 2 DVD production notes
  14. 1 2 McBride, p. 412.
  15. ↑ "HOOK 2CD Set Includes 'Over 65 minutes of Music Previously Unreleased'". JWFan. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Hook - John Williams". AllMusic. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Hook". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  18. ↑ "Pirate Movies". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  19. ↑ "1991 Domestic Totals". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  20. ↑ "1991 Worldwide Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  21. ↑ Dretzka, Gary. "Medavoy's Method." Chicago Tribune (December 8, 1996).
  22. ↑ Medavoy, Mike and Young, Josh (2002). You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (p. 234-235). New York City: Atria Books
  23. ↑ "Hook". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  24. ↑ "Hook reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  25. ↑ "Hook". Roger Ebert.com. 1991-12-11. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  26. ↑ Peter Travers (1991-12-11). "Hook". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  27. ↑ Vincent Canby (1991-12-11). "Hook". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ Hal Hinson (1991-12-11). "Hook". The Washington Post.
  29. ↑ "Hook". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  30. ↑ "Past Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards.com. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  31. ↑ "7th Annual Awards". American Society of Cinematographers. Archived from the original on November 9, 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  32. ↑ "49th Golden Globe Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  33. ↑ "Grammy Awards of 1991". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  34. ↑ "Twelfth Annual RAZZIE Awards". Golden Raspberry Award. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  35. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (December 2, 2011), "Steven Spielberg: The EW Interview", Entertainment Weekly.
  36. ↑ "Steven Spielberg interviewed by Kermode and Mayo". 26 January 2013..

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