Peter Pan - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Peter Pan or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Peter Pan

[jamie]

Passages in the original book by J.M. Barrie ("Peter and Wendy") talk of Peter Pan switching sides when the Lost Boys were at war with the Indians, and killing Lost Boys just for fun. It's also implied that Peter "thins out" the Lost Boys when they get too old or disruptive, which some people have interpreted as killing them.

[norma]

Henry Brandon was the live action reference model for Captain Hook.

[ruby]

The song "Never Smile at a Crocodile" originally had lyrics penned by Jack Lawrence, but they were cut out of the final film. However, a version with lyrics has been featured in various media, including a recording by Jerry Lewis, and the shows The Jack Benny Program: Jack Gets Robbed (1952) and The Muppet Show (1976).

[sandra]

22 year-old Margaret Kerry (who measured 35-25-36, and provides the voice of the red-haired mermaid) was the real-life model for Tinker Bell. Persistent rumors have incorrectly named Marilyn Monroe in this position.

[phyllis]

Supervising animator Milt Kahl recalled that he had a particular challenge on this film. He had to learn how to animate a character's weightlessness as much of the time Peter Pan was not flying but simply floating in midair.

[ruby]

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a sixty-minute radio adaptation of the film on December 21, 1953 with Bobby Driscoll reprising the title role.

[jesus]

The film has been seen as racist in recent years due to the way Disney portrayed the Native American "Indians" in the film. They are displayed as wild, savage, and violent, and speak in a stereotypical way. The characters often call them savages and at one point Captain Hook refers to them as "redskins". John, Michael and the Lost Boys go hunting them like animals - the Lost Boys mention lions and bears as other alternatives. In the song "What Made the Red Man Red?" the Indians themselves reflect on how they got the color of their skin; they maintain a permanent blush due to their ancestor's pursuit of a woman; and that asking "How?" is a major catalyst for Indian education. These stereotypes are present in J.M. Barrie's play. Marc Davis, one of the supervising animators of the film, said in an interview years after the production that "I'm not sure we would have done the Indians if we were making this movie now. And if we had we wouldn't do them the way we did back then."

[jessie]

The Peter Pan franchise started with a play, and then eventually branched out and was adapted into a book, and then other books and stories, movies and musicals. The character has been around since 1904, over 110 years!

[nora]

The melody for "The Second Star to the Right" was originally written for Alice in Wonderland (1951) for a song that was to be called "Beyond the Laughing Sky".

[ella]

This is the second film production of "Peter Pan" in which Tinker Bell has a form. The first, the silent Peter Pan (1924), starred Virginia Brown Faire as Tinker Bell. In stage productions she is portrayed as a bright light (or a laser, in later productions) which is accompanied by the sound of bells when she is meant to be speaking.

[duane]

Milt Kahl, the supervising animator of Peter Pan and The Darling Children, claimed that the hardest thing to animate was a character floating in midair. Kahl resolved the latter by having Peter's upper body arrive first, with his lower body catching up afterward.

[amber]

Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice for Wendy, also performed the live action references. In an interview, she said she had to hold out her arms and pretend to fly for all the scenes requiring it.

[carla]

When trying to find the right sound for Tinkerbell, the movie makers found that bells and chimes were too hard on the ear. Eventually they cut up pieces of aluminum and strung them together, creating the perfect Tinkerbell tinkle.

[violet]

In the original play, Hook loses his right hand, but the Disney artists felt that would limit his actions too much, and switched the hook to the left hand.

[toni]

In the originally-planned version, Nana traveled with the children to Neverland. It also had a much darker ending.