7 - Annabelle Nash: Peter Pan, A Story Lost in Translation (Literary/Media Analysis)

I read Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie once when I was about nine years old, and I grew up on the Disney movie and a few other adaptations. Only recently have I reread the original novel, and I realized just how much the story was lost in translation from the author’s original vision.

There are many examples of scenes from books being lost in translation when it reaches a screen, such as the Broadway adaptation of Les Misérables when Eponine sings about “A Little Fall of Rain,” when in the book it wasn’t actually raining, but it was instead implied that she was so soaked in her own blood she thought it was raining.

But almost the entire underlying darkness of Peter Pan is lost in screen adaptations. Yes, the Disney adaptation was mostly accurate in plot points and characters, but the rather sinister theming was lost.

In the novel, Neverland doesn’t have a magic that makes children never grow up; that only applies to Peter because he’s a magical being. Actually, there’s a line in the book that explains how Peter kills the Lost Boys, either to “thin the herd” or because they are growing up, because growing up is against Peter’s rules. The only adults who are seen are the pirates.

Actually, this makes Captain Hook seen as more morally grey than evil, as the “hero” of the story does as many evil deeds as he does, like killing and kidnapping children. The novel offers insight into Hook’s childhood that makes him quite sympathetic, and you almost root for him to kill the menace Peter Pan.

So the original novel is much more overt and dark like a fairytale in its theme of the importance of growing up. Most Peter Pan movies sugarcoat this theme, so it’s rather surprising how sinister the book can be.

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