#hoffman hook

Long Live the Hook!

Part 3: Steven Spielberg’s Hook

Not gonna lie—visually, Hook is one of my favorite versions of the character because both the captain himself and his living space are just so incredibly over-the-top with lots of attention to detail. The costuming and set designers really went all-out on this one.

Dustin Hoffman’s Hook has a ship like no other! His Jolly Roger leaves absolutely no doubt from the second you lay eyes on it that it is a pirate ship and throws all sense of practicality out the window in favor of lavish decadence fit for a king. From the outside, the cabin itself is reminiscent of a large skull wearing a bicorn hat with two large windows serving as the eyes. Perhaps most interestingly, the very center of the hat bears what appears to be a slightly altered version of the Eton crest with a skull and crossbones over it. This “knock-off” Eton crest (which was probably altered in the film for legal reasons) or one similar to it, shows up in multiple places inside the cabin as well.

If you look closely and zoom in on the two images above, you’ll notice one (not colored) crest over the piano, one on the desk, and one over the fireplace (which, by the way, does not seem practical on a wooden ship). Some other neat details I noticed in these shots include what looks like gramophones on the desk, images of fencing stances on the wall, and that the bottom of the bed which lowers down from the ceiling appears to be painted. I don’t know for certain but believe that the painting is meant to be this image used for promotional material but not ever actually visible in the film. (Thanks to the HookPosting community on Facebook for the image.)

Interestingly, it still features the hook on the right hand. Perhaps that’s why it was never shown in the film. If this godlike portrayal is how Hoffman’s Hook sees himself, it borders on pathological narcissism.

Back to the cabin itself… When the camera pans over to the other side of the room, we see another mock Eton crest in the background. In another, closer shot, we can clearly see the words “Good Form” over this one. This guy is Eton OBSESSED! (Which, to be fair, is pretty canon.)

We get a few more interesting views of the cabin in the scenes where Hook is attempting to teach Jack and Maggie. There is another self-portrait—though this one is a bit humbler and more realistic. Again, narcissist much? But what’s especially intriguing to me is the fact that if you zoom in close, you will notice that below the painting, there are black and white photographs. Now, so far, everything else about this Hook screams 17th century with the one odd exception of the gramophone(s) on his desk. But one might explain that away as something he picked up while visiting the outer world. But to have photographs would seem to imply that he (or someone he cares about) is from a much later time period. The one seems to be a photo of a young man (Perhaps Hook himself?) while the other is, I think, a couple (His parents? A younger Hook and his former love?). There is another black and white photo, too, that you can see in a shot behind Jack and Maggie that looks like it might be of a sports team… Might this be a team photo from his time at Eton? Unfortunately, without better quality close-ups on these images and input from the set director, there is no way to know for certain, but it certainly is intriguing…and it might explain Hook connecting with Jack over his love of sports.

Ah! Thank you for the recommendation! That’s one I wasn’t familiar with before. (It came out when I was a toddler and computer games have progressed so quickly since then that I imagine that’s why I hadn’t heard of it.)

Hook’s Costume & Cabin

Spielberg heard that Hook canonically resembles Charles II and went all out with it! Hoffman’s Hook, more than any other, looks like a gentleman straight out of the 1700s—the glorious red and gold coat, the fancy buckled shoes, the long curled wig tied with with ribbons and bows. The detail that went into his costume is amazing and I love how beautiful it is.

Everything about this Hook is over the top. Like royalty, he refuses to step down from his “throne” above the crew without Smee literally rolling out the red carpet for him. It’s very clear this Hook revels in finery. I mean look at his cabin. The man has not only the standard trappings of any 18th century nobleman’s home but even a miniature model of the island and a dang fireplace!

Is this ridiculous opulence in any way practical for a pirate? Absolutely not. Is it 100% accurate for Hook’s aesthetic and personality? Heck yes!

Neverland Bleeding into Reality

In stories like Peter Pan where there is both a “real world” setting and a magical realm, it’s always fun to look for little Easter eggs tying the two together so the audience is never quite sure how much is real and how much is imaginary. Neverland seeps into life in London in several places in this film. For example, on the plane, the voice that comes over the PA system and announces, “This is your Captain speaking…” is actually Hook himself—Dustin Hoffman.

Then there are some shots like this one, where Tootles, hearing Nana bark in the yard, recognizes that Hook is back. You probably noticed the ship in the bottle which is a replica of the Jolly Roger but did you catch the teddy bear?

Presumably we are looking at John’s top hat and glasses and Michael’s teddy bear from the original trip to Neverland…but if that wasn’t already meta enough, this same teddy bear shows up again later in the burnt out remains of the home underground when Peter is remembering why decided to grow up.

And this one might be a stretch but…early on in the film when we are getting a look at the pirate ship, we see a broom head beside a bottle that Tink is hiding behind.

Later, near the end of the film when Peter wakes up in Kensington Gardens and hears what he believes is Tink’s jingling, we see it’s actually Mr. Smee (Or is it?!) sweeping up some glass bottles that are clinking together.

Play-Acting and the Metaverse

Speaking of meta…this film has so many nods to the original. There’s the opening play with Maggie in the role of young Wendy, the painting of Hook in the dinghy that graces the bedroom wall, the latch on the window in the shape of the iron claw, Granny Wendy reading from the novel, and the whole Great Ormond Street Hospital scene. It’s nuts. (And by that I mean I love the attention to detail.)

But more than that, the entire film is set up like a sort of play. For example, when Peter arrives on the island, he is wrapped up in the sheet/parachute and his first view of Neverland is revealed when he pokes a hole in the sheet with his finger and begins ripping it apart. He’s literally parting the curtain for the audience here.

And everybody in Neverland is playing at being someone they are not. Tink plays dress-up and is very briefly the woman of Peter’s dreams—the woman she wishes she was but knows she really isn’t. Rufio is playing at being a fierce warrior who doesn’t need any parental figure—until he lays dying in Peter’s arms and admits that he wishes he had a father like Pan. And when the wig comes off, Hook—who in his usual attire comes off as an intimidating and dashing pirate captain—is reduced to little more than a pitiful old man who is past his prime.

Even Neverland itself is set up like the background one might see during a set change in a play with a giant compass rose and map lines visible in a flyover shot.

Hook and Pan’s Role Reversal

Another really intriguing aspect of this film to me is the way it totally flips the original on its head. Peter, who in the original is the fun, mischievous boy who steals away the Darling children, has become the workaholic adult who has no time for childish nonsense. That much is rather obvious but what is a bit subtler is that Hook’s role is somewhat reversed too. In most versions of the original, Hook and Mr. Darling are played by the same actor—Hook being a sort of fictionalized counterpart to Wendy’s rather serious and sometimes hotheaded father. Here, Peter has taken on the role of Mr. Darling as the “boring” adult and Hook, after stealing the children, becomes the “fun” father figure—to Jack, at least.

Theme of Belief

Last but not least, there is the theme of “believe hard enough and it will come true.” Much like in the original, flight requires belief for it work and the Lost Boys’ imaginary food is only actually filling if you believe it’s there. But what’s interesting to me here is that it isn’t just positive things that one seems able to believe into existence in this Neverland. For a long time, I thought Hook’s death in this version of the story was a bit of a cop-out. It seemed like having the (long-dead) crocodile come back to end Hook’s life was simply a way for the writers to avoid having Peter get his hands dirty. But then it occurred to me…if belief could brink Tink back from the point of death, why couldn’t it bring back the crocodile? Fear is an incredibly strong emotion that can often make the most rational among us have very strong irrational beliefs… I have now come to the conclusion that, in the moment when Hook heard all the clocks going off, his fear level was so amped up that he actually believed he was going to die the way he always thought he would—gobbled up by the giant ticking crocodile—and in a land of make-believe where anything is possible, that belief was strong enough to bring the crocodile back from the dead just long enough for it to do exactly what the captain expected it to. Ironically—and perhaps sadly—if this is the case, Hoffman’s Hook sealed his own fate.