Wow, I knew absolutely nothing about the background of Peter Pan outside of my beloved Disney movies. True, I'd heard a teeny bit of things here and there about Peter's twisted past but never much. On the other hand, Walt Disney is literally my life hero! I already knew a lot about how Disney Parks came to be but not much about Disney himself or the journey to Walt Disney Productions.
Every year, my English class does a big, long research paper and this year we really got to choose our topics. Compare and contrast two people and how their lives intertwine in some big theme. So, I choose one of my favorite stories and icons and got another author thrown in with it.
Learning about James M. Barrie was quite exciting. The tidbits I'd heard about Peter Pan's origin stories (you know the "oh, right in the childhood!" memes on Pinterest ;D) and those always left me wondering what all of the talk was about. Finally, I learned it.
Now, unfortunately, I don't go into much at all about the twisted parts of his life for time's sake. (As in, I only had so much time to write this paper and, wow, was that a heavy topic to unpack.) But, I have provided my bibliography here (bottom of the page) if you'd like to read up more about him.
Warning: this is a fairly long paper but I am posting it purely for knowledge. So my fellow readers, we are thirsty for knowledge and therefore shall enjoy the journey!
Note: the info on Barrie is in green, info on Disney is in purple, and the intro/conclusion with both is in bold brown. Also, I took out all of my citations to make it shorter- just let me know in the comments if for any reasons you'd like the citations for referral. ;) Enjoy~
Two Peters in Different Worlds
Sir J. M. Barrie once wrote, “all children, except one, grow up." On that fact, Barrie was incorrect. There were three children. The 19th and 20th century were times of great struggle and success for the world. In those times, J. M Barrie managed to produce a hopeful and inspirational happy character that brought joy to many readers and play watchers. In turn, Walt Disney carried that same lovable, hope-instilling character to the screen in the 1900s in the aftermath of World War II. Who was that character? Peter Pan, the greatest creation in all of Barrie’s work. Similarly, Walt Disney isolated the idea of boyhood by carrying Peter Pan to the big screen as a full animated film. Between the two of them, these men created marvels of their eras through books, plays, propaganda, and even movie theater ads. Revealed through their whole lives, their works, and their legacies, these men proved to be immortal Peter Pans in and of themselves.
“Happiest is he who writes of adventure" wrote J. M. Barrie, the man, the myth, the legend- or, at least, he is the one who created the character of that description. James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland, on May 9, 1860 to a farmer, David Barrie, and a woman highly interested in literature and art. Barrie was one of nine children; one of whom, David, unfortunately died from an ice-skating accident when Barrie was just 13 years old. The memory of David, who apparently was Margaret’s favorite son, would plague her for the next 29 years of her life. Despite his eventful childhood, Barrie took the lead of his childhood examples and built himself into an accomplished literary proficient in his adult years, and departed this earth having accomplished much in combat and on paper for mankind.
Through and through, those surrounding Barrie profoundly impacted him, and he filled his early days with fantasies and magazine articles. As a child, Barrie adored reading stories like The Pilgrim's Progress with his mother. To exercise his vibrant mind, Barrie decided to transform the family backyard into scenes from The Pilgrim's Progress. The yard became a slightly grotesque depiction of the "sloughs of Disband," pea-sticks became Christian, and a buffet stool, Christian's "burden." Barrie channeled his adventurous and independent mind into his character Peter Pan, whose connections to Barrie ran all the way from his childhood. An older friend of his, a tailor, had a famous couplet, that he told young Barrie,
"What can I do to be for ever known,
And make the age to come my own?"
Unbeknownst to Barrie, this thought of fame and everlasting boyhood rooted in his spirit, waiting to one day bloom into Peter Pan. In his biography about his mother, Barrie recounted that the starting point of his writing career was in the book shop where he picked up the Sunshine Magazine. One story inside caught his undying attention, a story of a poor girl selling watercress. Practically going insane anticipating the release of the next watercress story, Barrie asked himself one day, "Why should I not write the tales myself?" Immediately, Barrie set to work on stories of adventure, set on desert islands and enchanted gardens, with knights upon black steeds, and of course, a girl selling watercress. Staying up until midnight to write, Barrie would then wake early in the morning to finish his stories. Furthering his education in writing, Barrie attended two universities, Glasgow and Dumfries, graduated from Edinburgh in 1882, and immediately became a journalist in Nottingham. In 1885, Barrie moved to London, where he wrote a series of folktales about "Thrums," a fanciful location inspired by Kirriemuir. Barrie entered the world of playwriting with his first play, Walker, London (1892), which focused on mocking marriage. Ironically, Barrie wed himself just two years later to an actress, Mary Ansell, and they divorced in 1910. In 1896, Barrie wrote a loving biography about his mother titled after her, Margaret Ogilvy. During the late 1890s, Barrie met the family that primarily inspired the characters in Peter Pan. In Kensington Gardens, Barrie played with the young Llewelyn Davies boys, who were the inspirations for Peter Pan’s character and chatted with their mother, who inspired Wendy. After the unfortunate death of the Davies parents, Barrie took guardianship of all five boys. Indeed, Barrie's earlier life was kind to him, nurturing his raw talent to kickstart a life of success.
Around the middle of his life, Barrie finally found fame that lasted him for years to come. Rushing in with a new century, Barrie began pumping out stories, and reached the paramount of his success. In 1900, he published two novels, Sentimental Tommy and Tommy and Grizel, and several more plays such as Quality Street (1901) and The Admirable Crichton (1902). Then, Barrie released the novel that would preface his fame, The Little White Bird (1902). This was the very first story starring the elusive Peter Pan. Just two years later, Barrie's play Peter Pan, hit London theater. Following, Barrie entered a period of writing purely to criticize society. The first story of his line was What Every Woman Knows (1908), a story featuring omnipresent heroines. Next was The Twelve Pound Look (1910), a stage play "[criticizing] female emancipation" and representing afflicted marriages. Several more followed; the only break Barrie took part in during this scrutinizing era was writing his novel, Peter and Wendy (1911). Ending his literary career, Barrie wrote his last plays, Mary Rose (1920), involving a child-bride's disappearance and a son visiting his mother's ghost, and The Boy David (1936), a Biblical and a complete failure. Because of his last disappointing works, his success after death did not survive this world under the name Barrie; instead, the majority of the world today only recognizes this man as the one who apparently created Peter Pan before Disney did.
While Barrie's works were "cynical," and his personality was melancholy, Barrie departed this earth with an overall positive end. In his will, James M. Barrie left the story rights of Peter Pan and his crew to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Little did he know that one day, those rights would be retrieved by the family to bring Peter Pan off the stage and onto the screen. Before his passing, Barrie received a massive battalion of awards. In 1913, the king dubbed Barrie a baronet, turning J. M. Barrie into Sir James Matthew Barrie. In 1919, he became the "Rector of Saint Adrews" and, at one point, received the Order of Merit for his service in WWI. At 77 years old, Barrie died on June 19, 1937 and his body was buried in Kirriemuir. Nevertheless, his legacy turned from paper and ink to celluloid sheets and pixels. In 1953, Walt Disney Productions released the animated hit film, Peter Pan. Not to mention other creations such as the film "Hook" (1991), which was inspired by Peter Pan's nemesis, the live-action Peter Pan (2003), and hundreds of stage plays- one of which Walt Disney himself starred as Peter. Looking back on this man’s life, the world can see that this “melancholy” man was an "[admirer of] courage," and, in the end, left earth having done something truly good.
Sir James Matthew Barrie's early life proved him to be a man set on adventure, his works proved him to be a man set on the hope of eternal freedom, and his impact proved him to be a man seeking after his desires. If Barrie had never revealed his dreams and aspirations through Peter Pan, the world may have never met Walt Disney, a young man inspired by Barrie's message of boyhood. Sir James M. Barrie, the adventure-writing man who believed that a child's spirit is everlasting, lived life seeking happiness in the idea of eternal hope.
Walter Elias Disney once said, "Television began to move and I began to think about it." Walt Disney, American entrepreneur, shaped cinema in the early 1900s, a stupendous legacy that will carry on as long as television is still around. Disney produced movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Peter Pan, he crafted iconic characters like Mickey Mouse, he promoted WWII propaganda, and he created comical shorts for soldiers. In his time, he received an Academy Award presented by Shirley Temple, and he created two worldwide phenomenons: Disneyland with its Magic Kingdom and the film Marry Poppins, which brought Disney Productions to its ultimate popularity. Dick van Dyke, who played the male lead in Marry Poppins, recalled, "I was called to meet him [Disney] about Mary Poppins and found out why everybody called him Uncle Walt. He was the most old-shoe guy I ever met in my life. Disney was comfortable to be around. An avuncular personality is what he was." Indeed, Disney was the kind of man that ran kingdoms but still took time to feed dogs and ducks. During his childhood in Missouri, he dreamed and doodled. As a man, he animated films with content for "children of all ages," and even after death, his legacy challenges humans to be kind and to rediscover their childlike wanderlust.
Marceline, Missouri, planted a seed in Walt Disney, a seed that sprouted into a motivation to be his own Peter Pan, seeking to create the life and career he desired. In Marceline, he lived with his father, a farmer named Elias, his mother, Flora Call Disney, who was a school teacher, his three older siblings, and his little sister. About his hometown, Disney aforementioned, "more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since- or are likely to in the future." Some of those things included the day young Disney decided to break open his piggy bank to watch Maude Adams play Peter Pan, inspiring him to play Peter himself in his school play. Disney recalled, "no actor ever identified himself with the part he played more than I," nor did Disney ever lose his love of Peter, his lifestyle, or his ideology. Disney's father Elias had a younger brother named Edmund, who was "retarded" and was just adored by Disney; after all, Edmund too had the mind of an 8-year-old, so the two got along swimmingly. While they played together in the woods, Disney admired Edmund's free spirit; he was a real-life Peter Pan. As the years went on, Disney, unfortunately, had to leave Marceline and Uncle Edmund behind. Elias Disney had decided to move the family in order to run a newspaper route in Kansas City. At the Kansas City Library, Disney recalled discovering a book "at just the right time," when he was preparing to make motion-picture his career. "The book," Disney recounted, "told me all I needed to know [about animation] as a beginner…Finding that book was one of the most important and useful events in my life." That was when Disney's life dream began transforming into a career.
Eventually, Disney was able to attend the Art Institute and School of Design, which significantly improved his natural knack for film production. However, his cinematic journey was interrupted by the worldwide explosion of World War I. Disney was sent to drive a Red Cross Ambulance in France and Germany. Upon his return in 1919, Disney began working as a draftsman and inker at an art studio. There he met Ub Iwerks, and together they created their own company with a secondhand camera, creating ads for movie theaters. Laugh-O-Gram, a cartoon series, and Alice in Cartoonland are two examples of their movie theater creations. After a New York film distributor cheated them, the two had to call backruptancy and Disney dragged his brother Roy with him to reopen his shop in Hollywood. After launching their own enterprise, Disney convinced Iwerks to join him again in film. The two moved on to create a new character, a playful mouse named Mickey, who starred in two silent films, Plane Crazy and Gallopin' Gaucho. Rushing in with the age of talking pictures, Disney pushed aside Mickey's first two films and created Steamboat Willie in 1928, a Mickey Mouse picture complete with sound; Disney himself voiced Mickey. From that seed planted in Marceline long ago, a flower sprouted in the form of a mouse, blossoming Disney Productions into the most significant film production in history.
Once Disney and Mickey got their start, Disney enterprises climbed its way to the top; Disney began producing full cartoons, he created Disneyland, and he and his crew participated in the New York Fair. After Mickey's birth, Disney Productions decided their little mouse needed some friends; as a result, the team created Goofy, Pluto, and Donald Duck. In the homestretch of the Great Depression, Disney released The Three Little Pigs, which Disney said: "came out at just the right physiological moment” for The Three Little Pigs was a cultural encouragement for America to face their sorrows and monetary wolf, reminding Americans to refuse their financial wolfs to steal their joy and camaraderie. Next, Disney Productions came out with its first full cartoons: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938), preceded by Pinnochio and Fantasia (both 1940). Increasing the tangibility of his stories, Disney opened his first theme park, Disneyland, on July 17, 1955. A Disney Imagineer recounted, "Walt was the first to go on the attractions. Just like a little kid. He'd get off and giggle or if he didn't like it too well, his eyebrow would go up and he'd say 'Fix this thing and let's get this show on the road."
Of course, Disney and his new land met its share of ups and downs. Some people forged their own park tickets, resulting in a surplus of tourists. On top of that, Fantasyland had a gas leak and closed down. This tragic debut of Disneyland appeared on live TV with a news broadcaster and Ronald Reagan, during his acting days. Despite all of its mishaps, Disneyland remained a hit, partially because Disney insisted that his employees take time to get to know Park attendees. A Disney artist, John Hench, recalled, "Walt told us to get down there at least twice a month. He said, 'Stand in line with people and for God's sake, don't go off the lot to eat like you guys have been doing. You eat at the Park and listen to people!" In point of fact, Disney tried his best to be acquainted with the Park guests by just talking to them. Actress Julie Andrews, who played Mary Poppins herself, took a personal Park tour with Disney. Andrews repainted the experience with Disney, "it was quite amazing to have a personal tour with Walt. In a way, it was like walking with God because all of the visitors wanted to touch him and thank him. They felt like they knew him." Later on, Disney decided to enter the New York World Fair with his Abraham Lincoln attraction, the "most sophisticated Audio-Animatronics mechanism we [Disney employees] had ever attempted," said Jim Algar, a director at Disney. Despite all of the hassle to finish Lincoln in time, Disney and his workers were successful, and their attraction was one of the tops at the Fair. Disney was continually striving for excellence in his craft, always building, always going. Despite the numerous hardships, Disney accomplished much in his time, rising from a small theater ad company to a man successful in business and fellowship.
By crafting phenomenal stories, producing more Parks, and lighting up the faces of thousands, Walt Disney's honest popularity grew and grew. In the earlier stages of production, Disney had proposed the idea of creating a film on his favorite character, Peter Pan. As a result, Roy struck a deal with Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the very organization James M. Barrie left the right of his story to. Disney decided to put several of their other films on hold so that the team could begin the film's development. Disney was so determined to carry on with Peter Pan, that even after a mass exodus of employees angry about low pay and finding his team knee-deep in projects, he only insisted that they work harder. By the time Disney began major work for Peter Pan, the company had produced several films, including Cinderella, in 1950. As they had for Cinderella, Disney first filmed a live-action version of Peter Pan, starring Bobby Driscoll as Peter and Hans Conried, both of whom were the official voice actors for the part. To Disney's ecstasy, Walt Disney Productions finally released Peter Pan in 1953. Finally, Disney's inner Peter Pan could shine through the creation of his own.
Years later, after Disneyland and many more films, Disney got the notion that he ought to create another Disney Park. Television celebrity Art Linkletter recounted the time Disney first brought the idea to him. Disney convinced Linkletter that the money and effort were worth it all because Disney wanted to do this Park `better." Disney desired the "whole countryside" of Florida for EPCOT, a Park that's purpose was to bring people and cultures together "in a way he thought he could." Eventually, Disney had to learn to slow down. His doctor warned him that he could no longer keep working fourteen-hour days. To this, Disney admitted to his son-in-law, Ron, "I just can't be as active as I used to be!" Despite his health difficulties, Disney carried on with a smile, instilling his dream into children all over, around the world and in his studio. A son of A Disney Artist, Harrison Ellenshaw, reminisced one of his best memories with his father’s boss. One day, while Ellenshaw and his father were walking by some Park tracks, Disney saw the little boy and called him over to ride the Park tracks together for fun. "From a ten-year-old's point of view," Ellenshaw said, "it was amazing to see this grown man getting as big a thrill out of riding that flatbed as I was. I remember seeing this big grin on his face." Disney was "America's favorite uncle," the man whose iconic creations crafted childhoods. Almost every person can recognize and connect to their younger days the tune "Wish Upon a Star," which was the theme song of Pinnochio and became the staple tune for Disney Productions. Indeed, Disney was a man dedicated to his craft in filmmaking and his magical kingdoms until the very end.
Overall, Disney's life was successful: his early life provided him with the tools and motivation to start his career, his works were modest but eye-opening, and he ended his life having drastically affected the cinematic world. Sprouting from the lessons he learned in Marceline, Disney achieved a booming career in live-action and animated films, opened two never seen before theme parks, and did much more. Unfortunately, Disney's life came to an end, just like any ordinary man. Disney died on December 15, 1966, at 9:35 am from "cardiac arrest due to Bronchogenic ca[rcinoma]." He was cremated, his ashes kept at Forest Lawn C. Glendale, in a mausoleum. Ironically, a rumor was spread that Disney asked to be frozen and that his body was hidden away. Despite America's wishes, this was a mere myth started by those who refused to believe that this seemingly immortal man could die. In the end, Disney opened the eyes of America that life will always hold adventures for "children of all ages."
In their own ways and eras, Barrie primarily in the 1800s, and Disney in the 1900s, these two men shaped modern storytelling. Joint in the ideology of Peter Pan, Barrie and Disney created brilliant stories on the page, on the stage, and on the screen. Throughout their lives, they both looked for the wanderlust and adventure in the dreary world of adulthood, just as Peter Pan would. In fact, one could say that they themselves were two out of three Peter Pans, existing in their different worlds.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you learned a thing or two from this. It took a lot of work, but it was so worth it to write this paper. And, as promised, here is the link to my bibliography if you'd like to research some yourself. ;)
(Fun fact: I got my library books for sources in February but I still have them since the library isn't open. Whoop whoop!)
Stay safe~
P. T. Lockwood