Peter Pan (1953) is among Walt Disney Animation Studios’ most beloved classic films.
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The movie features a number of iconic characters like Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, Smee, the Lost Boys, Wendy, and, of course, the title character himself.
For decades, movie fans have maligned Captain Hook for his dastardly deeds in Never Land. But, now, one theory that was recently shared online flips the script.
Facebook user Nikki Jain Culley shared a “Disney Conspiracies” Reel with the following text:
Peter Pan was a deranged psychopath who tricked and trapped little kids in Neverland [sic: Never Land]. He killed them after they grew up, which is why they never could leave as adults. Captain Hook escaped Neverland as an adult, which explains why Peter killed Hook, and fed his arm to a crocodile. This whole time, Peter Pan was the bad guy?! How frickin’ crazy!
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Intriguingly, this theory actually holds water based on the original draft of J.M. Barrie’s famous novel. Movie Cultists noted:
In the original draft of the novel, Peter is a villain, kidnapping young children from their beds. The Little White Bird is a semi-autobiographical tale, considered to be a thinly veiled novel about George Llewelyn Davies, one of the boys who inspired Barrie’s Lost Boys.
Basically, in the original story, our eponymous hero is a total sociopath. This is not an exaggeration, Peter is literally a serial killer, and not just of pirates. Peter is explicitly said to kill members of the Lost Boys if they either got to old or didn’t follow his orders.
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Disney, of course, made many original fairytales tamer in their animated movie renditions. After all, in the original Grimm Brothers version of “Cinderella,” the stepmother forces each stepsister to cut off part of their foot — one the toes, the other a heel — to make the glass slipper fit.
And, in the Grimm tale of “Snow White,” the prince orders the Evil Queen to wear a pair of red-hot iron slippers, dancing until she drops dead.
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As for the story of Peter Pan, it, along with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, is set to be one of Disney’s next live-action adaptations.
Officially titled Peter Pan & Wendy, the upcoming movie is set to star Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson in the title roles. They will be joined by Joshua Pickering (John Darling), Jacobi Jupe (Michael Darling), Yara Shahidi (Tinker Bell), Jude Law (Captain Hook), Jim Gaffigan (Smee), Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Tiger Lily), and Alan Tudyk (Mr. Darling).
More on Walt Disney’s Peter Pan
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The official description of Peter Pan reads:
Think of the happiest things as Peter Pan soars to spectacular new heights for the first time on Blu-ray – now more sensational than ever with digitally restored picture and brilliant high definition sound! Bid your cares goodbye as Wendy and her brothers embark on fantastic adventures with the hero of their bedtime stories… Peter Pan! With faith, trust and Tinker Bell’s pixie dust, Peter teaches them how to fly and leads them to the “second star to the right” and beyond… to Never Land!
What do you think about the fact that J.M. Barrie intended Peter Pan to be a serial killer?