'Peter Pan and the Pirates' very quickly not only became one of my favourite animated shows but also one of my favourites ever. Of all the adaptations of 'Peter Pan', it's also my personal favourite.
All the characters are not only interesting but remarkably complex, especially Hook, even when not looking like Barrie's Hook all the character traits of the character are fully explored and expanded upon. The show is advantaged furthermore by good animation (with some exceptions here and there). Great music particularly the theme tune, one of the best of any animated 90s show. Remarkably good writing that had real maturity and a wide range of emotions rare in animated shows today. Gripping and imaginative stories that maintain the spirit of Barrie's source material while expanding on the themes, events and characterisation. And really excellent voice acting, for one of the most talented voice actors in the business and near-unequalled in villain roles Captain Hook contains some of the best work Tim Curry has ever done.
"Hook's Christmas" is one of the show's best from personal opinion, not just because it contains everything that makes me love the show so much but also it's Hook-centric and is an incredibly clever take on the famous 'A Christmas Carol' story, a timeless story adapted to death in all media but given a lot of freshness here.
Regarding the animation, there are some beautiful colours, well drawn characters (showing a pretty nuanced character design for Hook), meticulous and imaginative backgrounds and one is really immersed in the Neverland setting. The music is a great mix of lively, haunting and lush, the theme tune immediately sticks in one's head and never leaves it.
Writing is as mature, intelligent and emotionally complex as one would expect, never feeling dumbed down for adults or too complicated for children. The story has the spirit of both the festive season and the famous story while still maintaining the show's spirit as well. It's structured and told beautifully and the character writing is some of the show's best, especially for some of the richest development for Hook inevitably in the Ebeneezer Scrooge role, already a complex character but given a lot of insight here. Liked the choice of characters for the ghosts, Wendy for past, Smee for Present and Captain Patch for Yet-to-Come.
Peter, most of the Darlings, the lost boys and the pirates don't feature heavily but add a lot to the story when they do, especially the pirates. This is Hook's episode though and Tim Curry's voice work is a master-class. The ending was somewhat predictable but still done nicely.
In short, one of the show's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox