History Theatre / PeterPan

* PoisonIsEvil: Captain Hook poisons Peter's medicine from Wendy, turning it a completely different color depending on the production. [[TooDumbToLive Peter doesn't notice the change]] or [[CassandraTruth believe Tinker Bell's claim that it is poisoned]] until she drinks it to save him.
-->The poison being a completely different color may have actually been a staging element so the audience knows the medicine is poisoned. The characters wouldn't see the change or know the difference.

NBC finally finished releasing all four of their ''Peter Pan'' televisings on DVD and/or Blu-Ray[[note]]Only the 1955 and 1956 productions received a release on the latter format[[/note]] by September 2015, through various studios, although the 1960 version has gone out of print years ago. A 2000 taping of a live stage production, with Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan, has also seen VHS and DVD releases.

* CutSong:
** Most showings of the taped special and revivals of the musical omit Liza's ballet with the animals of Neverland and the Lost Boys' reprise of "Wendy". The 2014 TV adaptation does so, as well.
** A number of versions leave out "Oh My Mysterious Lady", a song originally tailored especially for Mary Martin's vocal range.
** Subverted with "When I Went Home", in which Peter somberly recalls discovering that after he ran away from home, his parents had another baby, then forgot about him. Mary Martin sang the song in tryout productions, but not when the show finally reached Broadway and TV. Allison Williams ''does'' sing it in the 2014 version, when Peter explains to Wendy why he doesn't want to leave Neverland.

NBC finally finished releasing all four of their ''Peter Pan'' televisings on DVD and/or Blu-Ray[[note]]1955 and 1956 only[[/note]] by September 2015, through various studios, although the 1960 version has gone out of print years ago. A 2000 taping of a live stage production, with Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan, has also seen VHS and DVD releases.

-->[[spoiler: [[TearJerker "You see Wendy, you're too grown up.]]"]]

* TheCastShowoff: Christopher Walken received a few new songs in the 2014 version, "Vengeance" and "A Wonderful World Without Peter", as did the actresses for Wendy (Taylor Louderman) and Mrs. Darling (Kelli O'Hara), who respectively perform "Only Pretend" and "Only Pretend (reprise)". All have melodies borrowed from songs that share composers with some of ''Peter Pan'''s numbers.

* CrosscastRole: Peter, who has always been played by a girl starting from Mary Martin, to Sandy Duncan, to Cathy Rigby, to Allison Williams (among others). The only time he was ever played on stage by a man was an understudy.

NBC finally finished releasing all four of their ''Peter Pan'' televisings on DVD and/or Blu-Ray[[note]]1955 and 1956 only[[/note]] by September 2015, through various studios, although the 1960 version has gone out of print years ago.

* ChewingTheScenery:If there's something Hook is known for other than his infamous appendage, this would be it.

!! The 1954 play and its TV adaptations contains examples of:

!! The 1954 play contains examples of:

* FreezeFrameBonus: If you pause the 2014 version during some of the nursery scenes, you can spot some of the actors rewarding Bowdie the dog for performing tricks well as the first real dog to play Nana.

* WalkThePlank: Or, how WebVideo/PawDugan referred to it in his review of the 1960 version, the [[FryingPanOfDoom "Water Slide of Doom"]].

* WalkThePlank: Or, how WebVideo/PawDugan referred to it in his review of the 1954 version, the [[FryingPanOfDoom "Water Slide of Doom"]].

* AnthropomorphicAnimal: Nana the dog and the crocodile play a big role, and the 1954 taped version also features a kangaroo, bespectacled lion and ostrich-type bird that live in Neverland and befriend Peter and Liza.

* OurActsAreDifferent: There were originally about five acts in the musical, then reduced to four. Later editions of the taped 1954 version cut out the title card for the third act but they didn't bother to change the one appearing before the final act, which still has an "IV" on it. Nowadays the events of the musical from the Jolly Roger to the finale comprise of the third and final act.

* WhenTreesAttack: {{Averted}}, and then subverted. In the 1954 taped production, the Lost Boys hide inside three trees from the Pirates and Indians and can move them about the stage, so we know they are fake. When Liza shows up, however, the trees welcome her to Neverland, bowing and dancing with her and even [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments trading her featherduster for a bunch of balloons and a bouquet of flowers]]. By this time we've seen the boys enter Wendy's house but not leave, [[EpilepticTrees which means they could be alive after all but benevolent rather than evil]].

* CrosscastRole: Peter, who has always been played by a girl starting from Mary Martin to Cathy Rigby. The only time he was ever played on stage by a man was an understudy.

** The 2014 TV version leaves out "Oh My Mysterious Lady", a song originally tailored especially for Mary Martin's vocal range.

* ObliviousToLove: Peter's immaturity prevents him from seeing any woman as anything more than a mother figure. When Wendy asks how he feels about her, he tells her his love is that of a devoted son.

* AudienceParticipation: Clapping to save Tinker Bell. The 2014 TV adaption accompanied this scene with a caption asking fans to [[{{Website/Twitter}} Tweet]] [[ForcedMeme #SaveTinkerbell]].

** [[spoiler: The 2014 TV adaption changes this to Wendy telling Peter she can't, but that Jane can go, and that she hopes Jane has a daughter who will be able to befriend Peter, and that Jane's daughter will have a daughter to befriend Peter, and so on.]]

* CrowdSong: "Ugg-a-Wugg". The 2014 TV Adaption changed it to "True Blood Brothers", replacing the nonsense "Native American" lyrics to actual those in an actual Native American dialect. They worked with a Native American representative to make sure nothing was offensive.

** Most showings of the taped special and revivals of the musical omit Liza's ballet with the animals of Neverland and the Lost Boys' reprise of "Wendy". The 2014 TV adaption does so, as well.

The version most people think of when they think of ''Peter Pan: The Musical'' is the 1954 version originally staring Mary Martin as Peter (the musical continues the tradition of [[CrosscastRole cross-casting]] women as young boy Peter to this day). Its notability can be attributed to the fact that Creator/{{NBC}} aired live stagings of the play several times between 1954 and 1960, to excellent ratings. The 1960 production was released on VHS tape (and DVD since), making it the canonical version of the show. This would be the final live televised musical for more than half a century, until ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' in 2013. December 4, 2014 saw NBC televise yet another live performance of ''Peter Pan'', with Allison Williams (''Series/{{Girls}}'') as Peter, and Creator/ChristopherWalken as Captain Hook.

!! The 1954 play contains examples of:

* FollowTheLeader: The success of the 1950s televisings motivated the networks to air several other fantasy musicals. Among others, ''Film/{{Cinderella}}'' became the highest-rated TV program of its time, and ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (which actually made its big-screen debut 15 years before ''Peter Pan'''s first airing) became a yearly tradition across the country.

** Subverted with "When I Went Home", in which Peter somberly recalls discovering that his parents forgot about him after having another baby. Mary Martin sang it in tryout productions, but not when the show finally reached Broadway and TV. Allison Williams ''does'' sing it in the 2014 version, when Peter explains to Wendy why he doesn't want to leave Neverland.

* BigEntrance: The 1954 special shows Peter soaring into the Darling nursery as the shutters open themselves to let him in. Captain Hook gets this as he's preceded by a band of singing pirates (one of them playing a huge drum) while he's carried onstage on a litter.

* AudienceParticipation: Clapping to save Tinker Bell. The 2014 TV adaption, instead, asked fans to [[{{Website/Twitter}} Tweet #SaveTinkerbell]] instead.

* AudienceParticipation: Clapping to save Tinker Bell. The 2014 TV adaption, naturally, asked fans to Tweet #SaveTinkerbell instead.

* CutSong: Most showings of the taped special and revivals of the musical omit Liza's ballet with the animals of Neverland and the Lost Boys' reprise of "Wendy". The 2014 TV adaption does so, as well.

* VillainSong: Hook has several - a tango and tarantella to help him deviate a plan, and a grand waltz to revel in his premature victory.

* AudienceParticipation: Clapping to save Tinker Bell.

* CrowdSong: "Ugg-a-Wugg"
* CutSong: Most showings of the taped special and revivals of the musical omit Liza's ballet with the animals of Neverland and the Lost Boys' reprise of "Wendy".

* TheSavageIndian: Subverted. Tiger Lily and her Indians hunt the ostrich, chase after the Lost Boys and fight the Pirates at one point, but the most harm they do to the Lost Boys is a literal tug o' war with one of them, they save Peter from the pirates by chasing them away with scooters, and run away screaming at the sight of the "Wendy bird".