The character Peter Pan was created by James M. Barrie. He told his first Peter Pan stories to the sons of his friend Sylvia Llewellyn Davies. She was a special friend of his. The character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewellyn Davies, at the time the youngest of the boys, and Pan, the mischievous Greek god of the woodlands. Mrs. Llewellyn Davies' death from cancer came within a few years of the death of her husband. Barrie was named as co-guardian of the boys and unofficially adopted them. It has also been suggested that the inspiration for the character was Barrie's elder brother David, whose death in a skating accident at the age of thirteen deeply affected their mother. According to Andrew Birkin, author of J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys, the death was "a catastrophe beyond belief, and one from which she never fully recovered.

J.M. Barrie was born in Scotland in 1860. He moved to London when he was twenty-five and began his career as a playwright and novelist. Peter Pan first appeared in print in a 1902 book called The Little White Bird, a fictionalized version of Barrie's relationship with the Llewellyn Davies children, and was then used in a very successful stage play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which premiered in London on December 27, 1904. He wrote the novel Peter Pan (originally titled Peter and Wendy) in 1911. Since then, the play has been performed continually ever since. He received many literary awards and honors throughout his long career. He died in 1937.

The Story and Themes

Peter Pan is the boy who won't grow up. The very spirit of youth, he travels from the enchanted island of Never Land to London just to hear Wendy Darling tell him tales about adventures. Even though he has a big ego at times, even his enemy, Captain Hook, knows that Pan's no ordinary boy. He can fly without wings and take on Hook’s sword with only a dagger. He is also the leader of the Lost Boys and expects all to obey his orders; even his special friend Tinker bell. When she disobeys an order, Peter banishes her forever. Only after Wendy reminds him that forever is a long time does he shorten the sentence to a week. Either way, time makes little difference to him. Life is nothing but fun, whimsy, and adventure when you never grow up.

The central theme that is present in the story concerns growing up (or not), with the character of Peter wanting to remain a child forever in order to avoid the responsibilities of adulthood. "Peter Pan syndrome" has become a psychiatric term named by Dr. Dan Kiley to describe an adult who is afraid of commitment and/or refuses to act his age. It is also sometimes used to positively describe an innocent, childlike approach to life.

Along with the theme of "growing up" is the theme of death and innocence. Barry's tale is tied to the real Davies boys and the deaths of both mother and father.

Adaptations

Peter Pan has been adapted for stage and screen many times. Following the example of Barrie's original stage version, Peter usually has been played by an adult woman.

The first film version of Peter Pan was done by Paramount Pictures. It was a silent movie released in 1924. M versions of the play were produced in 1924, 1950, and 1954. The 1954 version was recreated for television by NBC and broadcast in 1955 as a historic, live color television event. The television version continues to be introduced to new audiences, as it was put to videotape in 1960.

On February 5, 1953, Disney released its animated film version of Peter Pan. There was a 1979 stage version. The 2003 live-action film version by P. J. Hogan's is notable for being the first film to cast a young teenage boy play Peter. In 2002, Disney released Return to Neverland, a sequel to the 1953 Disney version, in which Wendy's daughter Jane becomes involved with Peter Pan. This sequel deals with the issue of children being forced to grow up too fast. Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook has a grown-up Peter that is drawn back to Neverland by Tinker Bell to fight Captain Hook.