Racist as the 1924 version was, the iconic 1953 animated film was somehow even worse.

Hollywood at the time apparently thought that all non-White people were interchangeable. Tiger Lily, the Indian princess, is played by Anna May Wong, a Chinese American actress. Those Indians are presented as unabashed stereotypes. There the Darlings learn to fly and join forces with Peter’s followers, the Lost Boys, to fight pirates led by Captain Hook and Native Americans. Wendy Darling and her two brothers are whisked off to the magical, vaguely Caribbean realm of Neverland by the impish Peter Pan and his tiny glowing fairy companion Tinkerbell. The first major screen version of “Peter Pan” aired in 1924 and was a fairly straightforward filming of the play. But in every version, including the most recent, a Neverland without racism remains elusive. Over the years, as the colonial implications have grown less and less comfortable, many creators have tried to salvage it.

That message was hugely appealing at the time the initial 1904 play had a 10-year run, and Barrie turned it into a successful novel as well. Peter Pan’s message is that if you just travel to the British colonies, you can recapture lost time and lost youth. Barrie linked these two, recognizing that the people over there were often seen as childish and irresponsible, contrasting them with the staid norms of the imperial center. At the same time, in England and the West, colonies were seen as dangerous, exciting venues for adventures.Īuthor J.M. Children are (supposedly) carefree, creative and eager for new experiences. Peter Pan was, and remains, popular because it combines ideas about childhood and still-beloved pulp colonialist tropes into an exciting, whimsical narrative.

Neverland by Anna Katmore