Flight to Neverland: Why We Love Peter Pan
If you need me, I’ll be at the second star to the right…
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“Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.”
Without doubt, one of our family's favourite stories is Peter Pan.
We own almost every movie version ever made of Peter's and Wendy's story. I've read J.M. Barrie's original novel once, the Terry Brooks' novel adaptation of Hook several times (and let's not talk about how many times I've seen that movie, though my kids have something to do with that), and I am currently learning “Flight to Neverland” on the piano (the John Williams movie score theme from Hook).
I was so taken with P.J. Hogan’s 2003 live action version of Peter Pan when I first watched it that I apparently felt the need to blog about it in the middle of the night. (And honestly? I would still drop everything to watch that movie if someone put it on right now. And it's almost my bedtime.)
But it's not just me. My boys all love every version of the story we've come across. In fact, when our local kids' theatre production did Peter Pan Jr. a few years ago, it was the only year all three of my boys decided to be in the play.
So, yeah, you could say that we love it. A little.
And when you look at just how many versions of the story have been produced and how successful all of them have been, it is clear that Peter and Wendy have struck a chord with people around the world.
What is it that makes this story so darn endearing?
Well, for one, it hits all the fantasy high notes—fun, adventure, pirates, mermaids, and fairies.
“The true magic of Neverland is that it reminds us that the wonder of childhood can stay with us forever, like faith, love, and pixie dust.”
It has a lighthearted tone that makes you want to clap your hands and say "I believe in fairies," just to see one come to life. But beneath all that, it is chock-full of wonder and heart.
Whether you've only seen the animated movie or you are as well-versed in Neverland lore as our family, you probably know that “All children, except one, grow up.” And therein lies the conflict, for Wendy Moira Angela Darling is being pressured to become a young lady in the late Victorian era, when growing up could be argued to have been much more restrictive than it is today. Naturally, like many young teens, she rebels at the idea of having to take on the trappings and propriety of adulthood if it means leaving the fun behind.
Enter Peter Pan, who proposes to rescue her from a fate worse than a cotillion by taking her to Neverland to be a mother to the lost boys. (Which only means she would tell them bedtime stories.) By her acceptance, we can see already that Wendy isn't quite as ill-prepared to grow up as she feels.
As she and her little brothers, John and Michael, go on their many adventures in Neverland, she sees the virtues of embracing imagination and wonder, as well as the cost of denying adult responsibilities. She also discovers that she has the choice to grow up without forgetting the fun, love, and laughter that are part of childhood. (In Hook, this is the exact same lesson that the adult Peter Pan-slash-Banning must re-learn.)
So, even though retellings of this story are typically named only for the male roles of Pan and Hook (with the exception of the first time J.M. Barrie published Peter and Wendy, a spin-off from another story he wrote), the Peter Pan story is actually about Wendy. For in the end, Peter remains the same as he always was—a boy who refused to become a man (except in Hook, which is one reason why I think that movie adaptation works so well).
Wendy represents the struggle that each of us feels, sometimes well into our adult years—how to grow wiser without losing our sense of wonder.
The true magic of Neverland is that it reminds us that the wonder of childhood can stay with us forever, like faith, love, and pixie dust. After all:
“To live will be an awfully big adventure.”
Flight to Neverland: Why we love Peter Pan. The enduring appeal of one of the world’s most-loved stories. A blog post by fantasy and romance author Talena Winters.
This post was originally published in the Books & Inspiration Newsletter on 2019-03-14.
Recommended Peter Pan Retelling
Several years ago, I read the first book in the Tales of the Wendy series, The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky. This was a super-fun clean young adult romantasy adventure, with a writing style that paid homage to the original work while being completely fresh and modern in sensibilities and story.
I gave this one five out of five, and I definitely want to keep reading the series!
The Wendy (Tales of the Wendy Book 1) by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown.
For the Fantasy Lovers
Do you love epic fantasy stories with timeless themes, fantastic characters, heroic adventures, and mermaids? Check out my young adult epic historical fantasy Rise of the Grigori series and dive into your next great adventure.
Mermaids. Magic. And a search for redemption that could tear the world apart in the Rise of the Grigori series. Dive in today!
