Peter Pan Day

[Dani1923]

Where I am, tomorrow is December 27th, but for some of you it might already be the 27th, and on December 27, 1904, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up premiered at the Duke of York’s Theatre and introduced the Peter Pan story as we know it today to the public!

So to celebrate the 116th Anniversary of the Peter Pan story, I think it would be fun to write down what introduced you to the Peter Pan story? Was it the book, the play, the musical, one of the films? And what made you interested in the story of J.M. Barrie and the Llewelyn Davies boys?

As for me, I was introduced to Peter Pan from the 1953 Disney movie on VHS, which I still have today! I don’t remember how old I was when I first saw it, but I must have been between 3-6 years old.

And I think I became interested in JMB and the boys’ story in 2011 when I was 15 or 16 years old. I think I was looking up JMB for some reason on Wikipedia, and I looked up his adopted sons and read the info about them, and I think I saw that there was not only Finding Neverland movie, which I had seen already, but also another movie made in the 70’s called The Lost Boys. And sometime later I happened to come across a clip of the movie on YouTube with draughts scene between Barrie and Michael.

This is the exact video I had found:

https://youtu.be/_jny8ORD25s

And after I saw this, I was hooked. Eventually, as years went by, I discovered this website and bought the The Lost Boys book and DVD, and I’ve been a big Pan Fan and JMB fan ever since!

[Dani1923]

Happy Peter Pan Day 2021!

Share your Peter Pan related memories!

My favorite Peter Pan memories are watching the Disney animated movie as a young child (it was the version that introduced me to the story of Peter Pan) and as a teenager and adult, introducing the movie to younger relatives.

[Dani1923]

Wasn’t sure if anybody posted these on here yet, so here they are for your enjoyment!

https://youtu.be/U--yCI8RBeI

https://youtu.be/aMM80ByaDxU

https://youtu.be/oVGWwHO5gZE

I’ve seen the film a few times now and I can’t recommend this film enough! A great modern interpretation of Peter Pan while still keeping the heart of the original story!
The only problem is the DVD only came out in the UK and it’s a little difficult to find online, but if you can find one and can buy it, get it immediately!

[Crocodile]

Thanks for posting this!  I had never heard of Peter Pan until I was five or six and received a Liddle Kiddle, probably for Christmas, called Peter Paniddle.  Mom explained there was a book and film character named Peter Pan.  (I have posted elsewhere about my dad seeing the first film version as a child.)  All Kiddles came with their own liddle books so there was some form of Peter Pan story with it if you can ever come across a copy.  It is a valuable collector's item and maybe you could get a collector to photocopy theirs for you.  I can ask on my Kiddle group if anyone is interested.  Too bad I don't see a way to share pictures on this board.  The doll was beautiful and came with Tinker Bell (like a winged miniature Barbie), a crocodile with a plastic plug in its stomach Mom said was an alarm clock, a foam shadow (really rare now as they disintegrate), and the book.  He even had his own liddle dagger.  Since Peter Pan was still in copyright then I wonder what sort of permission Mattel had to have for this if any.

That first Peter was rather trashed because I was still quite young and drew red ink socks on him so he would match Liddle Red Riding Hiddle, but later I got one I kept fairly nicely which was my favorite Kiddle and we often explored around the neighborhood.  Since this was 1970 I made him his own space capsule out of a paper cup (these were very small dolls).  In third grade I wore him around my neck on St. Patrick's Day as a leprechaun and wouldn't leave for school till he was fixed just right--late that day.  Once I removed his tunic at my friend's house and when I went over to get it the next day my friend's mother had already thrown it away so Peter had to wear other clothes after that.  Later poor Peter met the same fate as his tunic at the hands of some unmentionable people, and I have had to buy replacements.

I didn't read the full book till I was an adult some years after seeing the Disney movie at the theater in college.  I probably saw at least one TV version before then.  The only thing I remember about that is being terribly scared as a child by the scene where the pirates went into the cabin one by one and Peter stabbed them.  For the record I have seen one professional and one local small town production both of which were great.  Still working on seeing many of the movies.

[Dani1923]

Thank you for sharing your story! It was a delight to read!
And I love the story about your dad and his friend too!

I’ve actually never seen a stage production of Peter Pan, at least not live in a theatre, just productions on YouTube. But I’ve seen all the films that adapt the original story, and most of the films that are prequels, sequels, etc. I’ve made reviews on a lot of these films for this forum, so you can go on my profile and find and read them if you want.

I highly recommend you don’t waste your time seeing the 2003 Peter Pan movie, though the production design, special effects, and cinematography are good, and the performances are fine, the adaptation writing and character dialogue writing are TERRIBLE! The filmmakers take stuff out and add very stupid things to the movie and change stuff for no reason! I won’t go into detail because it would take too long! Basically don’t watch it!

The movie I HIGHLY recommend you watch though is the Peter and Wendy movie from 2015, or as I like to call it, the GOSH Peter Pan movie!
The movie is about a teenage girl who goes Great Ormond Street hospital for a life saving but pretty risky heart surgery, and to help settle her fears, she’s given the Peter and Wendy book, reads it to other young patients in the hospital, and imagines her own version of the classic story.
It truly is the perfect way to modernize the story while still keeping its’ heart!

[Crocodile]

That's a shame, I heard the 2003 movie was good and was considering watching it.

[Dani1923]

No. Trust me, don’t watch it! I just saved about 2 and a half hours of your life!

[Brutus]

Dani is right. The only good things in the film were Jason Isaacs as Hook and Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy. The movie is more about a teenage romance between Peter and Wendy than anything else

[Dani1923]

Happy Peter Pan Day 2022!

I hope everyone had a happy holiday and will have a happy 2023!

[Dani1923]

Happy Peter Pan Day 2023!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

[Dani1923]

Happy Peter Pan Day 2024!

Happy Holidays! Have a wonderful day!

[Dani1923]

Happy Peter Pan Day 2025!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday/winter season!
You know it?s funny, when I was younger, I thought I?d grow out of my love of Peter Pan the more I aged, but I just turned 30 this year this past June and I?ve realized that instead of growing more apart from Peter, I?ve actually grown closer to him and I relate to him more as I?ve aged! How interesting!
And I think part of the reason I?ve related to him more as time has gone on and I?m comfortable admitting that to myself and to this website is because of this forum! Seeing that I?m not alone in my love for Peter Pan as an adult and that it?s okay to love fairy tales and children?s stories in general even though you are no longer a child! I?ve even made a great friend Hannah Grippo or Hannah High as she used to called, because of this forum, to which I will forever be grateful!
And two days ago, on Christmas Day, I finally finished the first draft of my script for my play adaptation of Peter Pan! I had been working on it on and off (mostly off) since 2023. My inspiration for doing so was because of my anger towards the recent awful Disney remake Peter Pan and Wendy and Andrew?s wonderful Peter Pan script that he wrote in the 80?s!
I?m not sure the play will ever be performed, but I hope to have it at least read out loud by actors at some point! But I?m just very proud of myself for FINALLY getting it done! The play is not perfect by any means, it is only a first draft, but I love many parts of it! It has a mixture of my words and Barrie?s! Mostly Barrie?s, rest assured! And a lot of my words are Barrie-inspired, if that makes sense!
Anyway, to end this long Peter Pan Day post for this year, I will end it not with my words, but Laura Duguid?s, Nico?s daughter!
Recently, on the Wayback Machine, I discovered an older version of this website and forum, and Laura actually made a comment, and it is the best feedback to this website you can get! She wrote it on May 20th, 2004:
?As the daughter of Nico, and the only surviving child of any of the Lost Boys, I want to say how thrilled I am, and how grateful to Andrew Birkin for having created this truly wonderful site. Hearing my father's voice after more than 20 years was a thrilling and moving experience. How exciting to think there is still more to come! Surely this must be one of the most original and beautiful sites on the internet.
My heartfelt thanks to you, Andrew.?