The Borrowers

The Borrowers was written in 1952 by Mary Norton. It tells the story of Arrietty Clock, a miniature “borrower” who along with her family borrow items from the “human beans” so that their family can survive. They live under the floorboards of near the clock, thus their name. When Arrietty is “seen” by the Boy. They actually start up a friendship, but the evil cook decides to get rid of the borrowers by fumigating the house, the Clocks manage to escape and have many more adventures.

The Borrowers (1997)

When the Lender family move into their aunt’s home they find that it appears that she didn’t leave a proper will behind. Her lawyer, Mr. Potter, wants to demolish the house and tells that they have until Sunday to move away. Pete Lender has struck up a friendship with Arrietty Clock and tells them that they will have to move as well. Arietty and her brother PeaGreen fall out of their transport and go back to the house finding out that Potter lied about the will. They then start on a quest to retrieve the will and get the house back to the Lenders and the Clocks. This was one of my favorite movies growing up.

A fun fact, three of the actors in the Borrowers went on to play characters in the Harry Potter franchise: Jim Broadbent, Tom Felton, and Mark Williams. 

Darkwing Duck (1991-1992)

Darkwing Duck is an egotistical superhero who protects St. Canard from the strange and bizarre criminals that haunt it. He does this with the help of Lauchpad McQuack (a crossover with DuckTales) and Gosalyn, his adopted daughter. The story is a good one that plays not only on Disney’s genius at making humanoid animals, but also the idea of superheroes and super villains. He is the terror that flaps in the night!

Neverland

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrrie

Peter Pan first appeared as a character in 1902. This is the boy that will never grow up. He lives in a magical place called Neverland with pirates, mermaids, and fairies. One day he takes a normal girl, Wendy and her two brothers to live with them so that they too can experience the joy of never growing up. But the Darlings decide to return to the real world, leaving Peter Pan alone.

Peter Pan (1953)

Disney’s foray into the classic tale; it is actually fairly close adaptation of Barrie’s original story. One thing I love is the ending where Mr. Darling says he remembers seeing Hook’s ship before.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

An origin story of Peter Pan and the first of the Starcatcher series. In it Peter discovers extraterrestrial gold “star stuff”. It is this that gives him the ability to fly and keeps him a child. He has to keep it out of the hands of nefarious people who would use the star stuff for their own personal gain. It is really a charming series.

Peter Pan (2003)

Following the plot of the play a little more, Peter in this version is displayed as a sort of demigod of Neverland. When he is away from Neverland everything becomes cold and wintery. He is also able to get people to magically say they believe in fairies when Tinker Bell lies dying. (In the original play this is accomplished by Peter breaking the fourth wall and asking the audience to clap if they believe in fairies). A good adaptation of the original story.

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine

One of the many authored Disney Fairies of Pixie Hollow books, Levine introduces us to Prilla. As a fairy she seems to be a failure, acting more like a human than any proper fairy should. But Prilla does have a Talent that only she possesses and when Mother Dove is threatened, it is Prilla who has the power to save the day.

Hook (1991)

This movie brings up an interesting concept, where Peter has grown up and doesn’t remember who he is. When Hook kidnaps his children, Peter is forced to go back to Neverland and reclaim his legend in order to save them. Robin Williams plays Peter to perfection.

Neverland (2011)

Another origin story. Peter is an orphan in the back streets of London. He thieves for his mentor James Hook. When they magically get transported to Neverland, Peter suddenly has to decide who he can really trust in this strange new world. 

Magic Island (1995)

One of those movies I would watch whenever it came on TV. It stars Zach Tyler from Home Improvement as Jack, a 13 year old boy who is convinced by his nanny to read a book entitled Magic Island. As he reads the story he is literally sucked into the world of the book and he has to join forces with Prince Morgan and his crew of Buccaneers in their search for hidden treasure in order to return to the real world. There are also evil pirates led by the infamous Blackbeard that they have to defeat and a mermaid named Lily who becomes a friend/love interest for Jack. I love this movie and wish I could find it!