History YMMV / PeterPan

* CommonKnowledge: Tinker Bell is mute, right? Not necessarily - while the play relied on the actors to tell the audience what Tinker Bell is saying, and the Disney version made her speak through miming (as well as Peter & The Lost Boys), that's actually because the ''audience'' doesn't understand Tinker Bell. The characters InUniverse can.

* CompleteMonster: [[ManipulativeBastard Captain James Hook]] himself is a rapacious, murderous pirate who [[ArchEnemy holds a special enmity for Peter Pan]] after the boy chopped his hand off and fed it to a crocodile. [[BadBoss Hook]] treats the lives of his crew with utter nonchalance, murdering several of them just for speaking to him at the wrong time while throwing others' lives away on a whim. Having swore vengeance on Peter, [[WouldHurtAChild Hook]] kidnaps young John, Michael, and Tiger Lily to use as bait, chaining them up alongside the corpses of other victims of Hook's so they will slowly drown. After realizing the relationship Peter has with Wendy, Hook preys on the girl's naivety and uses her to find the entire group of Lost Boys so that Hook can feed them one by one to the crocodile hunting him, casually murdering a fairy in the process for fun. Hook then hopes to force Peter into [[DespairEventHorizon utter despair]] by using Wendy as a hostage, before attempting to kill them both while he makes each watch the other die.

* MoralEventHorizon: The pirates' massacre of the Indians is this for Hook.

* FairForItsDay: The movie's embarrassing portrayal of the Indian tribe was actually one of the more ''positive'' representations of American Indians at the time (and to their credit, they do show things like Tiger Lily refusing to rat out Peter's hideout to Hook, John's claims about the group being unintelligent being InstantlyProvenWrong when the group successfully sneaks up on him, and the Indians utterly ''[[CurbStompBattle trouncing]]'' John, Michael and the Lost Boys in combat). Supervising ''Peter Pan'' animator Marc Davis once said: "[[CreatorBacklash I'm not sure we would have done the Indians if we were making this movie now. And if we had we wouldn't do them the way we did back then.]]" But still, Disney has done what it can short of censoring the film. For instance, the Blu-Ray has a feature that allows the viewer to jump to each of the film's musical numbers, but "What Made the Red Man Red?" is ''not'' one of the selections available. Creator/DisneyPlus puts a disclaimer at the beginning of the film telling people that they don’t condone some of the stuff in the film and that it should be viewed as a product of its era. The 2022 remake also cast a First Nation Actress to play Tiger Lily while "reimagining" the character.

%%* MagnificentBastard:
%%** Peter.
%%** Hook.

* RonTheDeathEater: In the book, Peter Pan is a SociopathicHero who due his inability of growing up, constantly [[AesopAmnesia forgets every single lesson he learns]] and does (and says) many questionable things, but still has some good qualities and cares about Wendy and the other kids. Many modern interpretations completely demonize him, paiting him as an outright villain who deliberately kidnaps children and murders them.

* FairForItsDay: The movie's embarrassing portrayal of the Indian tribe was actually one of the more ''positive'' representations of American Indians at the time (and to their credit, they do show things like Tiger Lily refusing to rat out Peter's hideout to Hook, John's claims about the group being unintelligent being InstantlyProvenWrong when the group successfully sneaks up on him, and the Indians utterly ''[[CurbStompBattle trouncing]]'' John, Michael and the Lost Boys in combat). Supervising ''Peter Pan'' animator Marc Davis once said: "[[OldShame I'm not sure we would have done the Indians if we were making this movie now. And if we had we wouldn't do them the way we did back then.]]" But still, Disney has done what it can short of censoring the film. For instance, the Blu-Ray has a feature that allows the viewer to jump to each of the film's musical numbers, but "What Made the Red Man Red?" is ''not'' one of the selections available. Creator/DisneyPlus puts a disclaimer at the beginning of the film telling people that they don’t condone some of the stuff in the film and that it should be viewed as a product of its era. The 2022 remake also cast a First Nation Actress to play Tiger Lily while "reimagining" the character.

** Captain Hook shooting the accordion-playing pirate, whose song is usually replaced with a different song in WebAnimation/{{YouTube Poop}}s.

** The mermaid that tries to drown Wendy has a distinct resemblance to Eline Powell, who would play Rin in ''{{Series/Siren 2018}}'' - also a darker take on mermaid mythology.

** The more monstrous portrayal of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA_UubjXWi0 mermaids]] and the only one to date to actually show ''the stump of Hook's severed arm''.

** One reviewer speculated that a lot of the creepiness could be attributed to the fact that Hook has NoSenseOfPersonalSpace with either of them. [[http://i55.tinypic.com/20s93qe.png At]] [[http://i56.tinypic.com/2zowthy.png all.]] Creator/JasonIsaacs has mentioned in interviews how incredibly uncomfortable some of that was to portray.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Tinkerbell and the mermaids.

--> '''Jason:''' Never work with children, animals or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs animal-like children]].

** The "I do believe in fairies scene". Often considered one of the trickiest moments from the book and play to adapt, since it relies heavily on AudienceParticipation, many viewers were surprised that it was included. And that they managed to pull it off!

** John with Princess Tiger Lily - who share a kiss, and a HeldGaze in the tent later.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: While for the most part it's a PG adventure with a child-friendly tone, the Freudian elements of Wendy's attraction to Hook, multiple pirates being killed on screen, the terrifying portrayal of the mermaids, Tinkerbell dying from the poison and numerous other DarkerAndEdgier elements might shock those used to the Disney version.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Many people simply know it as "that Peter Pan comic where Tinkerbell is thick as hell."
* NightmareFuel:

* UnexpectedCharacter: What is [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper]] doing in a Peter Pan story?

* SmurfetteBreakout: Tinker Bell has her own spinoff franchise. In a more meta sense, she's more recognizable as the Disney mascot. When one thinks of the Disney version of Peter Pan, Tink is the first thing that comes to mind.

* TheWoobie: Wendy, a sweet girl who was dreaming of Neverland stories since she was a child... and once she finally visits Neverland, she's treated like a ButtMonkey for the entire movie and all the female characters (except Tiger Lily) have it in for her just because she happens to be a woman. When the mermaids tried to drown her, even her childhood hero [[KidsAreCruel Peter]] was laughing at her.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: On a fictional level. Some viewers were upset that Hook could fly at the end, since he should have no happy thoughts, but in the book, happy thoughts are not actually required, that was just something Peter made up.

** The hardcore J.M. Barrie purists criticised the portrayal of Tinker Bell for her HotterAndSexier image and emphasizing her ClingyJealousGirl nature.[[note]]The book and play make it clear that fairies only have room for one emotion at a time - and that Tinker Bell isn't normally so nasty and jealous. The movie doesn't mention that, just making Tink look like a {{Yandere}}.[[/note]]

* TheWoobie: Wendy, a sweet girl who was dreaming of Neverland stories since she was a child...and once she finally visits Neverland, she's treated like a ButtMonkey for the entire movie and all the female characters (except Tiger Lily) have it in for her just because she happens to be a woman. When the mermaids tried to drown her, even her childhood hero [[KidsAreCruel Peter]] was laughing at her.

!! The comic book:

--> ''"I did it...When ladies used to come to me in dreams, I said, 'Pretty mother, pretty mother.' But when at last she really came, I shot her."''

** To Disney’s earlier ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland''. It’s about a young girl in blue who wishes to escape from responsibility, and is spirited away to a magical world where she thinks she’s going to have fun, but is instead treated cruelly by everyone and ends up wanting to go home. In the end, she goes back and explains her adventures to a bemused family member. Plus, both Alice and Wendy are voiced by Kathryn Beaumont.

* SelfFanservice: Despite Tinker Bell being [[FunSize as small as a sewing needle]], many fans have found her sexy and have taken [[RuleThirtyFour necessary liberties]] accordingly.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** To remedy the ValuesDissonance above -- Wendy going to Neverland primarily to serve as a mother and housekeeper for the Lost Boys -- this film makes it clear that Wendy is to be included in the adventures.
** Attempted with the Indians, where Tiger Lily is played by an actual Native American actress, aged down to being a child to de-exoticise her, gets to give a verbal smackdown to Hook and portrayed as the OnlySaneMan when she, John and Michael are captured. The movie also has a scene that parodies the MagicalNativeAmerican trope, in which a medicine woman appears to be doing a ritual to heal a wounded warrior, and it turns out she's just sewing Michael's teddy bear back together.

** Tick Tock the Crocodile has become iconic for the tick-tock that announces his presence, and the hilarious fright it provokes in Hook.

** Nearly ''everything'' about the Indians nowadays. Between their ridiculously caricatured designs (Tiger Lily not withstanding), their broken speech, and the ''extremely'' uncomfortable lyrics of "What Makes the Red Man Red?", it's not hard to tell why most have very few nice things to say about them.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Minor example. But since this one is known for being TruerToTheText, some viewers assume that Tiger Lily was a child in the book too, and this version of her is the most 'accurate'. Actually, the book states that she's old enough to be married, and Disney's version is actually closer.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Many people, particularly those among the ChildHater crowd, tend to insist online Captain Hook was the "true hero" of the story, and call Peter Pan the "true villain", often citing the book as the source of said claims. While the book itself recognizes Captain Hook has some good qualities, he never does anything remotely heroic in the story, and he was more than willing to kill a bunch of children in cold blood, not to mention the fact is also shown to be a BadBoss who mistreats his own henchmen. Also, in the book, the sole reason of why he hates Peter Pan is not because he cut his hand or anything like that: In the novel, he hates Peter Pan [[EvilIsPetty because he is annoyed at his disrepectful behavior.]]

* TheWoobie: Say it with us, everyone--"Poor Tootles!" Despite being the only Lost Boy who might accurately be called "nice", he's BornUnlucky and his self-esteem is virtually non-existent. Not to mention that he's always saying things like this:

* HarsherInHindsight: Peter Pan's line "Once you've grown up, you can never come back". Peter Pan's voice actor Bobby Driscoll, who had gone through puberty by the time of the film's release, was cast out of Disney and never came back to the glory he once had when he was a kid. Not to mention he died at only 31, not really getting the chance to live a full life.

* RootingForTheEmpire: A good number of people prefer Captain Hook over Peter Pan himself. This is probably due to the fact that, unlike other Disney villains, Captain Hook has an understandable reason to want and destroy his nemesis. That and the abuses he continually suffers from seems more undeserved than anything, putting him straight into IneffectualSympatheticVillain territory. Where he crosses the line, of course, is by [[KickTheDog lashing out at perfectly innocent people]] in his quest to get at Peter, even if he thinks that's the only way he can succeed. It should also be noted that ''his own crew'' hates him because [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything they never (or at least no longer) get to do fun pirate stuff]], but have to constantly aid and abet a revenge quest they don't give a rat's ass about. Even the horror series ''Literature/DisneyChills'' goes with this interpretation, where Barrie agrees with Hook that the child that cut off his hand was a brat and sincerely apologizes for stealing the hook.

** Most girls today would find getting their own room and no longer having to share with their younger brothers a ''far'' more attractive prospect than Wendy did. (Of course, the same would likely have been true at the time of the movie. Wendy's reluctance to have her own room is a sign of her unwillingness/unreadiness to grow up.)

** The mermaids of course! They have just two minutes of screen time, but their memorably creepy designs and the eeriness of the scene ensures one remembers them.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Much like Hook (see UnintentionallySympathetic above), Peter could be read as this to some. While whether or not we're intended to like him is debatable, as stated above, we're supposed to root for Peter because he is the main character of the movie. However, given how much of an arrogant {{Jerkass}} Peter can be, some fans found it hard to root for him. It doesn't help that, during the bomb scene, the writers were trying to get the audience to root for Peter.

* MoralEventHorizon: Captain Hook cross this when he kidnaps Wendy, John, Michael and the Lost Boys, and [[SadisticChoice threatens to have them walk the plank unless they join his crew]]. He also places a gift-wrapped bomb in Peter Pan's house, [[LoopholeAbuse abusing his promise not to "lay a finger, or a hook on him"]].

** He may have crossed it much earlier when he shot one of his own men (the accordion player) [[DisproportionateRetribution just for annoying him while he was in the middle of planning]].

** During the film's production, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen there was going to be a second comic relief character]] that was part of Captain Hook's head chef simply known as [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/e/e5/Chef.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20130709091215 "The Chinese Chef" or "Chinaman"]]. [[YellowPeril As his name suggested]], this character was a very stereotypical depiction of the Chinese and only survived in concept art, [[https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Chinese_Chef?file=Peter_Pan_storyboard.jpg storyboards]], and gags. The character was quickly scrapped since they were already satisfied with Mr. Smee's existence. The gag where The Chinese Chef [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xzPWrernKw showed up in front of Hook's telescope]] was utilized in ''Return To Neverland''. The only time this character made an official appearance was in a model sheet for ''Film/TheReluctantDragon'' from 1941.

** The horribly racist depiction of the Indians, particularly after Peter saves Tiger Lily.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Peter's JerkWithAHeartOfGold personality either makes him one of the best or worst Disney characters, depending on who you ask.

* BrokenBase: The movie itself has entered this in the modern age. Some still view it as a Disney classic, while others feel it's a bad adaptation of the original play/novel. The racist portrayal of the Indians doesn't help.

* HarsherInHindsight: Peter Pan's line "Once you've grown up, you can never come back". Peter Pan's voice actor Creator/BobbyDriscoll, who had gone through puberty by the time of the film's release, was cast out of Disney and never came back to the glory he once had when he was a kid. Not to mention he died at only 31, not really getting the chance to live a full life.