...After a fashion.
I finally had the chance to watch the Diamond Edition features for Peter Pan, and managed to grab a couple of OLD SCHOOL screenshots the way we millennials did them in the early 00's when camera phones came out. This is because the BluRay won't work on our dinosaur laptop and all's I could manage was to play the disc on the BluRay player and take snapshots.
This process really took me back a few years, man. I'm sorry they aren't great quality as a result, but for those who haven't had the chance to see the features, something is better than nothing!
As we all probably kind of figured, these new Peter Pan features were as devoid of Bobby's mention as all the rest have been. It's so frustrating, because I assume that what's Disney's unwillingness to be associated with such an unhappy story has caused Bobby's legacy to suffer further. It's like they refuse to give him any heartfelt credit for the work he did...
Anyway, don't even get me started there. Let me next tell you guys about something you have to watch: One Million American Dreams, a documentary about Hart Island that was recently released. It's available now on Hulu, and for about $2.99 on Google Play, just to name a couple places.
I will go ahead and tell you Bobby isn't mentioned. This didn't bother me, though, because I'm sure the creators knew alot of people are already familiar with Bobby's death and burial on Hart Island, even if they know nothing else about him. Probably what they were going for this time around was to tell the unknown stories of people we hadn't heard of before. And let me tell you... it packs an emotional punch. I had an interest in the topic of Hart Island burial anyway, but even if you don't, you should watch for the fact that it will certainly make you think about Bobby. One of the heart-rending stories told centered around a young woman and her father, who had left home as an addict years earlier and ended up buried on the island. The things she says about the hopes she once had to be reunited with him and the sorrow she carries around as an adult made me think so much about Bobby's children and what they must have been going through emotionally for years. It really puts you right there in family members' shoes. So please watch it.
One more thing!
On May 30th, there will be a hearing in New York regarding the bill to pass off jurisdiction of Hart Island from the Department of Corrections to Parks and Recreation (among other bills regarding the city's burial process). I can't wait to hear the results, even if changes will probably be a year or two in the making allowing the public to access the island freely. If you want to read more about this, go to this page.
We won't ever know exactly where Bobby is buried because of the record-destroying fire that happened years ago... but we can get closer. And I think something about that would make him happy.
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