My favorite childhood movie

My favorite movie growing up was Peter Pan. I am pretty sure the Peter Pan I loved so much is not the one you are thinking of. It is not the Disney one. In fact the Disney one isn’t even one I particularly care for from what I remember. I haven’t seen it in a very long time. My favorite Peter Pan is the one with Mary Martin. I believe it came out in the 70’s. I love that version. The characters are so much better. The music is awesome. It is so fun to watch. I highly recommend it. I have probably seen it a trillion times. I know all of the words and songs by heart. Of course they sing I won’t grow up and I’ve got to crow. My favorite song is Ugga Wugga Wigwam.

The story is also different. Captain Hook tries to poison Peter Pan twice, once with a cake and once with Peter’s medicine. Tink is represented by a flickering light. Then you have the animals that dance randomly in the Forrest. It is quality entertainment. I had it on VHS when I was little and wore it out I watched it so much. The tape broke. That was a very sad day for me. I am sure I cried.

This Peter Pan is really hard to find. I found it on DVD on Ebay. I happily bid on it. Less than a day later, the seller said I won before the auction was over. I was so excited but then I noticed that they had another copy listed shortly after. Who in the world has more than one copy of Mary Martin’s Peter Pan on DVD? Then I remembered what my mom always says, If it sounds too good to be true than it probably is. I decided not to send the seller the money. Had it ever been released on DVD? I know that is bad on my part since it is a contract.

I went on my little way wanting so much to watch my childhood favorite plus Noah was born before this and I desperately wanted to share the movie with him. The movie has been a big part of my life. I have many fond memories of watching it and running around singing the songs with old friends. About a month after I “won” the DVD that I never paid for. For the record this is the only time I ever didn’t pay. I got an email from Ebay. My heart sunk I was thinking oh no I am in big trouble. The email said that this seller is a scammer and stop payment or whatever. I thought that I was glad I didn’t send it. It was only 30 dollars but that’s still money.

I started watching it on You Tube. I thought that I would look again. I think this time I tried Amazon for the VHS. At the time I had a DVD-r VHS combo thing. So I could watch it. This time it came and I made a backup copy with my machine for my viewing pleasure since the tape is easily over years old and was used. I am excited to share this movie with my son. I am sure he will love it as much as I do.

What are some of your favorite movies as a child to watch? I am interested in hearing your responses.

What will you give me for a basket of kisses?

I don’t know if I have told you guys or not but I hate scary movies. My favorite scary movie is not scary at all. However at the time it was a very scary movie. It was made in the 1950’s though. It was about something that no one thought about. I randomly stumbled on this movie at the library when I was with my old best friend. We were bored and were picking out movies to borrow. We always watched weird movies together; like Mary Reilly and we got it just because we could. We watched it and I ended up loving it. I got really excited when I found it on DVD at Borders. I of course had to snag that up since I would watch it every time it was on Turner Movie Classics which was not often.



The movie is called The Bad Seed. It is about a little girl named Rhoda Penmark and when she’s good she is very good and when she is bad she murders. She will kill anyone who stands in her way. I really don’t want to give away any of the movie. I had my cousin Dan watch it and he really likes it. It’s not gruesome at all. Movies back then were not allowed to be. The Motion Picture Production Code was enforced on this movie. It basically means crime cannot pay and you can’t get away with it and you must be punished so they had to change the ending in the movie from the books ending. No one in the 1950’s would ever imagine that a child could be a murderer. That is way it was scary. All of the actors are amazing too.The movie is in black and white and I think that it gives it an eerie effect. It is really believable.

So, be on the lookout for The Bad Seed on TCM. It is usually on at night normally pretty late. Also check your local movie rental place. It is definitely worth it. Rhoda’s manipulative behavior will make the hair on your neck stand up. Let me know what you think or if you have seen it. It one of those rare gems that not too many people have seen.