40 Years, 40 Disney Movies: Counting Down to Daddy’s Birthday Night 5 – Peter Pan

Hey everyone – time for yet another entry in the Daddy’s SUPER DUPER FUN TIME TERRIFIC MOVIE THINGY. Again, a new name should be coming soon…Nah, I’m jus playin.

And this week, we did a great movie and celebrated a great man. The movie – Peter Pan. The great man – me.

Obvs squad.

But yes, this Disney night took place on my birthday. This year, I turned [redacted]. And being [redacted] really gives me a lot of perspective. I have spent [redacted] years on this planet and they have been [redacted] great years. And I don’t feel a day over [redacted].

Wait, why was that last one redacted? Ah well…I mean you all know we are counting down to my 40^th next year so obviously I turned [redacted] this year.

So because it was on my birthday, this Disney night was well-attended. Because I am kind of a big deal. I have lots of leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.  People love me. Like, a lot.

But yeah, lots of people came – Nickie and the boys were there of course, and Steph (of course) with Mikey; plus, my mom (Joanne), Nickie’s mom (Sharon) and her husband (Alan), my brother Chris and our next door neighbors (Steph, Courtney and Emily) all came over as well. So, it was pretty much a par-tay. Pretty much.

Or should I say it was a PARRRRR-Ty. Like cuz of pirates.

The food

For food, the main entrée was pirate ship French bread pizzas. Typically, we buy the frozen kind but being that this was my birthday, we actually used real French bread. And sauce. And cheese. We pulled out ALL. THE. STOPS. Plus, we had a toppings bar where people could top their own pizzas.

We also had cannon balls (cheese balls for the layman), fruit skewers and breadstick swords. Oh and captain and Cokes for the adults. And for the kids when we weren’t looking. Just kidding. We were looking.

And for dessert, we had a treasure cake and some pixie sticks. Get it? Cuzza pixie dust. Eating themed food is fun!

Oh and during the movie, we had Pirate’s Booty. Heh, booty.

The activity

So usually for Peter Pan night, I put together a treasure hunt for the kids that leads them to some sort of prize based on clues that bring them to different areas of the house. Being that this was my birthday, Steph, Mikey and the kids put together a hunt for me. Which was a delicious twist.

And the clues led me to…

A 40oz. of King Cobra. Obviously. It was what I always wanted. Ever since I finished that last 40oz. of King Cobra. Yesterday.

 The movie

Since I know all of you have read and studied my introductory post, I know you know that Peter Pan is my absolute favorite Disney movie. What you might not know is this was not always the case. For the longest time, Pinocchio was my favorite (it still ranks near the top). But I would say about a year ago, we were watching Peter Pan and it dawned on me…this is the penultimate Disney movie. It has pretty much everything that makes a Disney movie great. It has…

..adventure..

…romance…

…magic…

One of the best villains ever…

And of course uncomfortably attractive cartoon characters.

Not to mention that every time I hear “You Can Fly” I instantly smile. Instantly.

But really what I love so much about this movie and why it has become my favorite is simple And it’s what makes it the ultimate Disney movie in my opinion. This movie IS why we love Disney so much. Why we do these Disney nights. Why we go to Disney World so much.

I also do not want to grow up. There. I said it.

I don’t mean that I don’t take my adult responsibilities seriously. I go to work every day. Take care of my kids. Be a loving husband. Get my oil changed. Wash between my toes. Drink martinis. Play video games.

Wait, scratch that last one.

But seriously, growing up completely is out of the question for me. And I think for my family as well. I refuse to only get bogged down in the day-to-day. The grind. The rat race.  I want adventure. And romance. And fun. And magic. Because once you stop believing in magic, what’s the point?

So that’s why Peter Pan is it for me. Because it reminds me of how full of magic the world really is if you just stop and take the time to appreciate it. Look at Mr. Darling. At the start of the movie, he is so worried about his “adult-ness” that he doesn’t appreciate the magic happening right before him. His children in that scene understand more than he does as they can literally see things he does not. But he is too busy looking for his cufflinks and cravat to appreciate how much better they are as buried treasure and a chalk-drawn map.

When he comes home and he sees the golden ship in the sky, he remembers.  And he smiles. And in that instant, you know he realizes how much more fun it might be searching for buried treasure than gold cufflinks. And I think we all need to be reminded of that once in a while.

Just remember…all it takes is faith and trust. And a little bit of pixie dust.