Peter and Wendy

Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up or Peter and Wendy, often known simply as Peter Pan, is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous yet innocent little boy who can fly, and has many adventures on the island of Neverland that is inhabited by mermaids, fairies, Native Americans and pirates. The Peter Pan stories also involve the characters Wendy Darling and her two brothers, Peter's fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, and the pirate Captain Hook. The play and novel were inspired by Barrie's friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Barrie continued to revise the play for years after its debut until publication of the play script in 1928.

For the 2015 film adaptation, see Peter and Wendy (film).

Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
1904 programme for original play at the Duke of York's Theatre, London
Written byJ. M. Barrie
Date premiered27 December 1904
Original languageEnglish
Peter and Wendy
Title page, 1911 UK edition
AuthorJ. M. Barrie
IllustratorF. D. Bedford
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy
Publisher
Media typePrint
Pages267 pp.;
Frontispiece and 11 half-tone plates
Preceded by
 

The play debuted at the Duke of York's Theatre in London on 27 December 1904 with Nina Boucicault, daughter of playwright Dion Boucicault, in the title role. A Broadway production was mounted in 1905 starring Maude Adams. It was later revived with such actresses as Marilyn Miller and Eva Le Gallienne. The play has since been adapted as a pantomime, stage musical, a television special, and several films, including a 1924 silent film, the 1953 Disney animated film, and a 2003 live action production. The play is now rarely performed in its original form on stage in the United Kingdom, whereas pantomime adaptations are frequently staged around Christmas. In the U.S., the original version has also been supplanted in popularity by the 1954 musical version, which became popular on television.

The novel was first published in 1911 by Hodder & Stoughton in the United Kingdom, and Charles Scribner's Sons in the United States. The original book contains a frontispiece and 11 half-tone plates by artist F. D. Bedford (whose illustrations are still under copyright in the EU). The novel was first abridged by May Byron in 1915, with Barrie's permission, and published under the title Peter Pan and Wendy, the first time this form was used. This version was later illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell in 1921. In 1929, Barrie gave the copyright of the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London.

Background
J. M. Barrie in 1901

Barrie created Peter Pan in stories he told to the sons of his friend Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, with whom he had forged a special relationship. Mrs. Llewelyn Davies's death from cancer came within a few years after the death of her husband; Barrie was a co-guardian of the boys, and unofficially adopted them.[1]:45–47

The character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the boys, and Pan, the mischievous Greek god of the woodlands.[2]:Chapter 5 Andrew Birkin has suggested that the inspiration for the character was Barrie's elder brother David, whose death in a skating accident at the age of fourteen deeply affected their mother. According to Birkin, the death was "a catastrophe beyond belief, and one from which she never fully recovered. If Margaret Ogilvy [Barrie's mother as the heroine of his 1896 novel of that title] drew a measure of comfort from the notion that David, in dying a boy, would remain a boy for ever, Barrie drew inspiration."[1]:3–5

The Peter Pan character first appeared in print in the 1902 novel The Little White Bird, written for adults.[1]:47 The character was next used in the stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which premiered in London on 27 December 1904 and became an instant success.[3] In 1906, the chapters of The Little White Bird, which featured Peter Pan, was published as the book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, with illustrations by Arthur Rackham.

Barrie then adapted the play into the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy, often now published simply as Peter Pan. The original draft of the play was entitled simply Anon: A Play. Barrie's working titles for it included The Great White Father and Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Hated Mothers. Producer Charles Frohman disliked the title on the manuscript, in answer to which Barrie reportedly suggested The Boy Who Couldn't Grow Up; Frohman suggested changing it to Wouldn't and dropping The Great White Father as a title.[1]:105

Plot summary

Although the character appeared previously in Barrie's book The Little White Bird, the play and its novelisation contain the story of Peter Pan mythos that is best known. The two versions differ in some details of the story, but have much in common. In both versions Peter makes night-time calls on the Darlings' house in Bloomsbury,[4] listening in on Mrs. Mary Darling's bedtime stories by the open window. One night Peter is spotted and, while trying to escape, he loses his shadow. On returning to claim it, Peter wakes Mary's daughter, Wendy Darling. Wendy succeeds in re-attaching his shadow to him, and Peter learns that she knows many bedtime stories. He invites her to Neverland to be a mother to his gang, the Lost Boys, children who were lost in Kensington Gardens. Wendy agrees, and her brothers John and Michael go along.

Their magical flight to Neverland is followed by many adventures. The children are blown out of the air by a cannon and Wendy is nearly killed by the Lost Boy Tootles. Peter and the Lost Boys build a little house for Wendy to live in while she recuperates (a type of structure that to this day is called a Wendy house). Soon John and Michael adopt the ways of the Lost Boys.

Illustration by F. D. Bedford from the first edition

Peter welcomes Wendy to his underground home, and she immediately assumes the role of mother figure. Peter takes the Darlings on several adventures, the first truly dangerous one occurring at Mermaids' Lagoon. At Mermaids' Lagoon, Peter and the Lost Boys save the princess Tiger Lily and become involved in a battle with the pirates, including the evil Captain Hook. Hook is Peter's nemesis who is hunted by a crocodile which bit off his left hand and wants to eat the rest of him. He is named after the hook that replaced his missing hand. The crocodile also swallowed a ticking clock, so Hook is afraid of all ticking sounds. Peter is wounded when Hook claws him. He believes he will die, stranded on a rock when the tide is rising, but he views death as "an awfully big adventure". Luckily, a bird allows him to use her nest as a boat, and Peter sails home.

In gratitude for his saving Tiger Lily, her tribe guard his home from the next imminent pirate attack. Meanwhile, Wendy begins to fall in love with Peter and asks him what kind of feelings he has for her. Peter says that he is like her faithful son. One day while telling stories to the Lost Boys and her brothers, John and Michael, Wendy recalls her parents and then decides to take them back and return to England. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to Peter, Wendy and the boys are captured by Captain Hook, who also tries to poison Peter's medicine while the boy is asleep. When Peter awakes, he learns from the fairy Tinker Bell that Wendy has been kidnapped – in an effort to please Wendy, he goes to drink his medicine. Tink does not have time to warn him of the poison, and instead drinks it herself, causing her near death. Tink tells him she could be saved if children believed in fairies. In one of the play's most famous moments, Peter turns to the audience watching the play and begs those who believe in fairies to clap their hands.

Peter heads to the ship. On the way, he encounters the ticking crocodile; Peter decides to copy the tick, so any animals will recognise it and leave him unharmed. He does not realise that he is still ticking as he boards the ship, where Hook cowers, mistaking him for the crocodile. While the pirates are searching for the croc, Peter sneaks into the cabin to steal the keys and frees the Lost Boys. When the pirates investigate a noise in the cabin, Peter defeats them. When he finally reveals himself, he and Hook begin the climactic battle, which Peter easily wins. He kicks Hook into the jaws of the waiting crocodile, and Hook dies with the satisfaction that Peter had literally kicked him off the ship, which Hook considers "bad form". Then Peter takes control of the ship, and sails the seas back to London.

In the end, Wendy decides that her place is at home, much to the joy of her heartsick mother. Wendy then brings all the boys but Peter back to London. Before Wendy and her brothers arrive at their house, Peter flies ahead, to try and bar the window so Wendy will think her mother has forgotten her. But when he learns of Mrs. Darling's distress, he bitterly leaves the window open and flies away. Peter returns briefly, and he meets Mrs. Darling, who has agreed to adopt the Lost Boys. She offers to adopt Peter as well, but Peter refuses, afraid they will "catch him and make him a man." It is hinted that Mary Darling knew Peter when she was a girl, because she is left slightly changed when Peter leaves.

Peter promises to return for Wendy every spring. The final scene of the play takes place a year later when we see Wendy preparing to go back home after the spring-cleaning has taken place. It is stated that Tinker Bell has died during this year since fairies are naturally short-lived creatures. However, Peter has already forgotten about Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and even Hook when Wendy returns, and he does not understand Wendy's wistful wish that she could take him back with her. According to the narrator of the play "It has something to do with the riddle of his being. If he could get the hang of the thing his cry might become "To live would be an awfully big adventure!""

Epilogue

Four years after the premiere of the original production of Peter Pan, Barrie wrote an additional scene entitled When Wendy Grew Up. An Afterthought, later included in the final chapter of Peter and Wendy, and later still published as a separate work in 1957.[5]

In this scene, Peter returns for Wendy years later, but she is now grown up with a daughter of her own named Jane. It is also revealed Wendy married one of the Lost Boys, although this is not mentioned in the novel, and it is never revealed which one she did marry (in the original draft of the play, it is mentioned that she married Tootles, although Barrie omitted this before publication). When Peter learns that Wendy has "betrayed" him by growing up, he is heartbroken until Jane agrees to come to Neverland as Peter's new mother. In the novel's last few sentences, Barrie mentions that Jane has grown up as well and that Peter now takes her daughter Margaret to Neverland. Barrie says this cycle will go on forever as long as children are "gay and innocent and heartless".

An Afterthought is only occasionally used in productions of the play, but was included in the musical production starring Mary Martin, and provided the premise for Disney's sequel to their animated adaptation of the story, Return to Never Land.[6]:230 This epilogue was filmed for the 2003 film but not included in the final version, though a rough cut of the sequence was included as an extra on the DVD of the film.

Characters

Peter Pan
Main article: Peter Pan

Peter Pan is one of the protagonists of the play and the novel. He is described in the novel as a young boy who still has all his first teeth; he wears clothes made of leaves (autumn leaves in the play, skeleton leaves in the novel) and plays the pipes. He is the only boy able to fly without the help of Tinker Bell's fairy dust. He has refused to grow up and distrusts mothers as he felt betrayed by his own mother. He cares about Wendy, but can only see her as a motherly figure, not as a romantic and girlfriend/love interest. Barrie attributes this to "the riddle of his very being".

Darling family
Main article: Characters of Peter Pan
Wendy Darling by Oliver Herford, "The Peter Pan Alphabet", Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1907.

According to Barrie's description of the Darlings' house,[4] the family lives in Bloomsbury, London.

  • Wendy Darling – Wendy is the eldest child, their only daughter, and the protagonist of the novel. She loves the idea of homemaking and storytelling and wants to become a mother; her dreams consist of adventures in a little woodland house with her pet wolf. She bears a bit of (mutual) animosity toward Tiger Lily because of their similar affections toward Peter. She does not seem to feel the same way about Tinker Bell, but the fairy is constantly bad-mouthing her and even tries to have her killed. At the end of the novel, she has grown up and is married with a daughter (Jane) and a granddaughter (Margaret). She is portrayed variously with blonde, brown, or black hair in different stories. While it is not clear whether or not she is in love with Peter, one can assume that she does have some feelings toward him. Wendy is often referred to as the "mother" of the Lost Boys and, while Peter also considers her to be his "mother", he takes on the "father" role, hinting that they play a married couple in their games.
Several writers have stated that Barrie was the first to use the name Wendy in a published work, and that the source of the name was Barrie's childhood friend, Margaret Henley, 4-year-old daughter of poet William Ernest Henley, who pronounced the word "friend" as "Fwiendy", adapted by Barrie as "Wendy" in writing the play.[7]:231 There is some evidence that the name Wendy may be related to the Welsh name Gwendolyn,[8] and it is also used as a diminutive variant of the eastern European name "Wanda",[9] but prior to its use in the Peter Pan stories, the name was not used as an independent first name.[10]
  • John Darling – John is the middle child. He gets along well with Wendy, but he often argues with Michael. He is fascinated with pirates, and he once thought of becoming "Redhanded Jack". He dreams of living in an inverted boat on the sands, where he has no friends and spends his time shooting flamingos. He looks up to Peter Pan, but at times they clash due to Peter's nature of showing off. He also looks up to his father and dreams of running his firm one day when he is grown up. The character of John was named after Jack Llewelyn Davies.
  • Michael Darling – Michael is the youngest child. He is approximately five years old, as he still wears the pinafores young Edwardian boys wear. He looks up to John and Wendy, dreaming of living in a wigwam where his friends visit at night. He was named after Michael Llewelyn Davies.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Darling – George and Mary Darling are the children's loving parents. Mr. Darling is a pompous, blustering clerk in the City but kind at heart. Mary Darling is described as an intelligent, romantic lady. It is hinted that she knew Peter Pan before her children were born. Mr. Darling was named after the eldest Llewelyn Davies boy, George, and Mrs. Darling was named after Mary Ansell, Barrie's wife, although their personalities were based on Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.[11]:15 In the stage version, the roles of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook are traditionally played by the same actor.
  • Nana is a Newfoundland dog who is employed as a nanny by the Darling family. Nana does not speak or do anything beyond the physical capabilities of a large dog, but acts with apparent understanding of her responsibilities. The character is played in stage productions by an actor in a dog costume. Barrie based the character of Nana on his dog Luath, a Newfoundland.[12]
  • Liza is the maidservant of the Darling family. She appears only in the first act, except in the 1954 musical in which she sees the Darling children fly off with Peter; when she tries stopping them, Michael sprinkles her with fairy dust and she ends up in Neverland. She returns with the children at the end. She is given two musical numbers in this adaptation.

Lost Boys
Main article: Lost Boys (Peter Pan)
  • Tootles – Tootles is the humblest Lost Boy because he often misses out on their violent adventures. Although he is often stupid, he is always the first to defend Wendy. Ironically, he shoots her before meeting her for the first time because of Tinker Bell's trickery. He grows up to become a judge.
  • Nibs – Nibs is described as "gay and debonair", probably the bravest Lost Boy. He says the only thing he remembers about his mother is she always wanted a cheque-book; he says he would love to give her one...if he knew what a cheque-book was. He's also the oldest and best looking Lost Boy.
  • Slightly – Slightly is the most conceited because he believes he remembers the days before he was "lost". He is the only Lost Boy who "knows" his last name – he says his pinafore had the words "Slightly Soiled" written on the tag. He cuts whistles from the branches of trees, and dances to tunes he creates himself. Slightly is, apparently, a poor make-believer. He blows big breaths when he feels he is in trouble, and he eventually leads to Peter's almost-downfall.
  • Curly – Curly is the most troublesome Lost Boy. In Disney's version of the story, he became "Cubby".
  • The Twins – First and Second Twin know little about themselves – they are not allowed to, because Peter Pan does not know what Twins are (he thinks that twins are two parts of the same person, which, while not entirely correct, is right in the sense that the Twins finish each other's sentences (at least, in the movie adaptation)).

Inhabitants of Neverland
Main article: Characters of Peter Pan
  • Tiger Lily is the proud, beautiful princess of the Piccaninny tribe who are portrayed in a way now regarded as stereotypical.[13] Barrie portrayed them as primitive, warlike savages who spoke with guttural voice tones.[13] She is apparently old enough to be married, but refuses any suitors because she has feelings towards Peter. She is jealous of Wendy and Tinker Bell. Tiger Lily is nearly killed by Captain Hook when she is seen boarding the Jolly Roger with a knife in her mouth, but Peter saves her.
  • Tinker Bell is Peter Pan's fairy. She is described as a common fairy who mends pots and kettles and, though she is sometimes ill-behaved and vindictive, at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter (for whom she has romantic feelings). The extremes in her personality are explained by the fact that a fairy's size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time. In Barrie's book, by Peter's first annual return for Wendy, the boy has forgotten about Tinker Bell and suggests that she "is no more" for fairies do not live long.
  • Captain James Hook The main antagonist, a vengeful pirate who lives to kill Peter Pan, not so much because Peter cut off his right hand, but because the boy is "cocky" and drives the genteel pirate to "madness". He is captain of the ship Jolly Roger. He attended Eton College before becoming a pirate and is obsessed with "good form". Hook meets his demise when a crocodile eats him. In the stage version, the same actor who plays Mr. Darling also plays this character.
  • Mr. Smee is an Irish nonconformist pirate. He is the boatswain of the Jolly Roger. Smee is one of only two pirates to survive Peter Pan's massacre. He then makes his living saying he was the only man James Hook ever feared.
  • Gentleman Starkey was once an usher at a public school. He is Captain Hook's first mate. Starkey is one of two pirates who escaped Peter Pan's massacre – he swims ashore and becomes baby-sitter to the Piccaninny Tribe. Peter Pan gives Starkey's hat to the Never Bird to use as a nest.
  • Fairies – In the novel Peter and Wendy, published in 1911, there are other fairies in Neverland besides Tinker Bell. In the part of the story where Peter Pan and the Lost Boys built a house for Wendy on Neverland, Peter Pan stays up late that night to guard her from the pirates, but then the story says: "After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose and passed on." In the early 20th century, the word "orgy" generally referred to a large group of people consuming alcohol.[7]:132
  • Mermaids who live in the waters near Neverland reside within the Mermaids' Lagoon. They are described as being very beautiful and mysterious creatures but equally just as vain and malevolent. Barrie states in the novel Peter and Wendy that the mermaids are only friendly to Peter, and that they will intentionally splash or even attempt to drown anyone else if they come close enough. It is especially dangerous for mortals to go to Mermaids' Lagoon at night, because that's when the mermaids sing hauntingly in the moonlight and utter strange wailing cries to attract potential victims.
  • The Crocodile is Captain Hook's nemesis. During a sword fight, Peter cut off Hook's right hand and fed it to a crocodile which followed Hook ever since, hungering for more. The crocodile also swallowed a clock, whose ticking warns Hook of its presence. At the end of the story, Captain Hook falls into the crocodile's mouth and is swallowed whole.

Major themes

The play's subtitle "The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" underscores the primary theme: the conflict between the innocence of childhood and the responsibility of adulthood. Peter has chosen not to make the transition from one to the other, and encourages the other children to do the same. However, the opening line of the novel, "All children, except one, grow up", and the conclusion of the story indicates that this wish is unrealistic, and there is an element of tragedy in the alternative.[14]

Barrie was very perspicacious in noticing many aspects of children's mental development decades before they were studied by cognitive psychologists. In particular, Peter lacks the mental capacity for secondary mental representation and cannot recollect the past, anticipate the future, consider two things at once or see things from another person's point of view. He is therefore amnesic, inconsequential, impulsive and callous.[15]

There is a slight romantic aspect to the story, which is sometimes played down or omitted completely. Wendy's flirtatious desire to kiss Peter, his desire for a mother figure, his conflicting feelings for Wendy, Tiger Lily, and Tinker Bell (each representing different female archetypes), and the symbolism of his fight with Captain Hook (traditionally played by the same actor as Wendy's father), all could possibly hint at a Freudian interpretation (see Oedipus complex).[16] Most children's adaptations of the play, including the 1953 Disney film, omit any romantic themes between Wendy and Peter, but Barrie's 1904 original, his 1911 novelisation, the 1954 Mary Martin musical, and the 1924 and 2003 feature films all hint at the romantic elements.

Jeffrey Howard has noted its existential motifs, claiming that Peter Pan is a "precautionary tale for those who fear the responsibilities of living, and the uncertainties of dying," which explores concepts like the inevitability of death, freedom to create our lives, alienation, and the notion that existence lacks any obvious or inherent meaning.[17]

Stage productions

The original stage production took place at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, on 27 December 1904. It starred Gerald du Maurier as Captain Hook and Mr Darling, and Nina Boucicault as Peter.[18] Members of Peter's Band were Joan Burnett (Tootles), Christine Silver (Nibs), A.W. Baskcomb (Slightly), Alice DuBarry (Curly), Pauline Chase (1st twin), Phyllis Beadon (2nd twin). Besides du Maurier, the pirates were: George Shelton (Smee), Sidney Harcourt (Gentleman Starkey), Charles Trevor (Cookson), Frederick Annerley (Cecco), Hubert Willis (Mullins), James English (Jukes), John Kelt (Noodler). Philip Darwin played Great Big Little Panther, Miriam Nesbitt was Tiger Lily, and Ela Q. May played Liza, (credited ironically as "Author of the Play"). First Pirate was played by Gerald Malvern, Second Pirate by J. Grahame, Black Pirate by S. Spencer, Crocodile by A. Ganker & C. Lawton, and the Ostrich by G. Henson.

Tinker Bell was represented on stage by a darting light "created by a small mirror held in the hand off-stage and reflecting a little circle of light from a powerful lamp" [19] and her voice was "a collar of bells and two special ones that Barrie brought from Switzerland". However, a Miss "Jane Wren" or "Jenny Wren" was listed among the cast on the programmes of the original productions as playing Tinker Bell: this was meant as a joke that fooled H.M. Inspector of Taxes, who sent her a tax demand.[20]

It is traditional in productions of Peter Pan for Mr. Darling (the children's father) and Captain Hook to be played (or voiced) by the same actor. Although this was originally done simply to make full use of the actor (the characters appear in different sections of the story) with no thematic intent, some critics have perceived a similarity between the two characters as central figures in the lives of the children. It also brings a poignant juxtaposition between Mr. Darling's harmless bluster and Captain Hook's pompous vanity.[21]

Cecilia Loftus played Peter in the 1905–1906 production. Pauline Chase took the role from the 1906–07 London season until 1914 while Zena Dare was Peter on tour during most of that period. Jean Forbes-Robertson became a well-known Pan in London in the 1920s and 1930s.[6]:151–53

Following the success of his original London production, Charles Frohman mounted a production in New York City at the Empire Theatre in 1905. The 1905 Broadway production starred Maude Adams, who would play the role on and off again for more than a decade and, in the U.S., was the model for the character for more than 100 years afterwards.[22] It was produced again in the U.S. by the Civic Repertory Theater in November 1928 and December 1928, in which Eva Le Gallienne directed and played the role of Peter Pan. Her production was the first where Peter flew out over the heads of the audience.[6]:173 Among musical theatre adaptations, the most famous in the U.S. has been the 1954 American musical version directed by Jerome Robbins and starring Mary Martin, which was later videotaped for television and rebroadcast several times.[23] Martin became the actress most associated with the role in the U.S. for several decades, although Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby each later toured extensively in this version and became well known in the role.[24]

Adaptations
Main article: List of works based on Peter Pan

The story of Peter Pan has been a popular one for adaptation into other media. The story and its characters have been used as the basis for a number of motion pictures (live action and animated), stage musicals, television programs, a ballet, and ancillary media and merchandise. The best known of these are the 1953 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney featuring the voice of 15-year-old film actor Bobby Driscoll (one of the first male actors in the title role, which was traditionally played by women); the series of musical productions (and their televised presentations) starring Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, and Cathy Rigby; and the 2003 live-action feature film directed by P. J. Hogan starring Jeremy Sumpter and Jason Isaacs.

There have been several additions to Peter Pan's story, including the authorised sequel novel Peter Pan in Scarlet, and the high-profile sequel films Return to Never Land and Hook. Various characters from the story have appeared in other places, especially Tinker Bell as a mascot and character of Disney. The characters are in the public domain in some jurisdictions, leading to unauthorised extensions to the mythos and uses of the characters. Some of these have been controversial, such as a series of prequels by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and Lost Girls, a sexually explicit graphic novel by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie, featuring Wendy Darling and the heroines of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Criticism and controversy

There has been controversy surrounding some aspects of the novel and its subsequent adaptations. Critics have argued that the novel has racist undertones, specifically in the case of the "redskins" tribe to which Tiger Lily belongs,[11]:69 who refer to Peter as "the great white father". Later screen adaptations have taken various approaches to these characters, sometimes presenting them as racial caricatures, omitting them, attempting to present them more authentically, or reframing them as another kind of "exotic" people.[25]

The copyright status of the story of Peter Pan and its characters has been the subject of dispute, particularly as the original version began to enter the public domain in various jurisdictions. In 1929, Barrie gave the copyright to the works featuring Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Britain's leading children's hospital, and requested that the value of the gift should never be disclosed; this gift was confirmed in his will. GOSH has exercised these rights internationally to help support the work of the institution.

United Kingdom

The UK copyright originally expired at the end of 1987 (50 years after Barrie's death) but later revived in 1995 when legislation was changed following the directive to harmonise copyright laws within the EU, which extended the copyright term to 70 years after the author's death. However, in 1988, former Prime Minister James Callaghan sponsored an amendment to a Parliamentary Bill granting the hospital a right to royalties in perpetuity for any performance, publication, broadcast of the play or adaptation of the play. The bill does not grant the hospital full intellectual property rights over the work such as creative control over the use of the material or the right to refuse permission to use it. It does not cover the Peter Pan section of The Little White Bird, which predates the play and is not therefore an "adaptation" of it. The exact phrasing is in section 301 of, and Schedule 6 to, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988:

301. The provisions of Schedule 6 have effect for conferring on trustees for the benefit of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, a right to a royalty in respect of the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service of the play 'Peter Pan' by Sir James Matthew Barrie, or of any adaptation of that work, notwithstanding that copyright in the work expired on 31 December 1987.[26]

United States

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) claims that U.S. legislation effective in 1978 and again in 1998, which extended the copyright of the play script published in 1928, gives them copyright over "Peter Pan" in general until 2023, although GOSH acknowledges that the copyright of the novel version, published in 1911, has expired in the United States.[27]

Previously, GOSH's claim of U.S. copyright had been contested by various parties. J. E. Somma sued GOSH to permit the U.S. publication of her sequel After the Rain, A New Adventure for Peter Pan. GOSH and Somma settled out of court in March 2004, issuing a joint statement in which GOSH stated the work is a valuable contribution to the field of children's literature. Somma characterised her novel – which she had argued was a critique of the original work, rather than a mere derivative of it – as fair use of the hospital's U.S. intellectual property rights. The suit was settled under terms of absolute secrecy. It did not set any legal precedent, however.[28] Disney was a long-time licensee to the animation rights, and cooperated with the hospital when its copyright claim was clear, but in 2004 Disney published Dave Barry's and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Starcatchers in the U.S., the first of several sequels, without permission and without making royalty payments. In 2006, Top Shelf Productions published in the U.S. Lost Girls, a pornographic graphic novel featuring Wendy Darling, also without permission or royalties.

Other jurisdictions

The original versions of the play and novel are in the public domain in most of the world—see the Wikipedia list of countries' copyright lengths—including all countries where the term of copyright is 82 years (or less) after the death of the creators.

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See also

References
  1. Birkin, Andrew (2003) [1979]. J. M. Barrie & the Lost Boys. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09822-7.
  2. Green, Roger Lancelyn (1954). Fifty Years of Peter Pan. Peter Davies Publishing.
  3. "'Peter Pan' at The Duke of York's Theatre: From the archive, 28 December 1904". The Guardian. 28 December 2010. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  4. Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan. Hodder & Stoughton, 1928, Act I
  5. Barrie, J.M. When Wendy Grew Up, Nelson (1957)
  6. Hanson, Bruce K. (10 August 2011). Peter Pan on Stage and Screen, 1904–2010 (2nd ed.). McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8619-9.
  7. Barrie, J.M. (1999). Hollindale, Peter (ed.). Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and Peter and Wendy. Oxford Press. ISBN 0-19-283929-2.
  8. Mike Campbell (16 November 2019). "Meaning, origin and history of the name Wendy". Behind the Name. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  9. Norman, Teresa (2003). A World of Baby Names. Perigee. p. 196. ISBN 0-399-52894-6.
  10. Withycombe, Elizabeth Gidley (1977). Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Clarendon. p. 293. ISBN 0-19-869124-6.
  11. Barrie, J. M. (2011). Tatar, Maria (ed.). The Annotated Peter Pan. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0393066005.
  12. "Luath – Neverpedia, the Peter Pan wiki". Neverpedia.com. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  13. "The Movies and Ethnic Representation: Native Americans". Lib.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  14. Rose, Jacqueline (1994) [1984]. The Case of Peter Pan, or, The Impossibility of Children's Fiction. Language, Discourse, Society (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Springer. ISBN 9781349232086. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
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Further reading
  • Murray, Roderick. "An Awfully Big Adventure: John Crook's Incidental Music to Peter Pan". The Gaiety (Spring 2005): 35–36.
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