Disney Facts!

Facts 2641-2670: Peter Pan Themed Page

Before I begin, I would like to congradulate on Peter Pan and @CamDallasEspinosa's engagment! xD

Cheers to a long and healthy marriage!

Now onto the facts!

Fact #2641

In the originally planned version, Nana traveled with the children to Neverland. It also had a much darker ending.

Fact #2642

In the original play, Hook loses his right hand, but the Disney artists felt that would limit his actions too much, and switched the hook to the left hand.

Fact #2643

The melody for "The Second Star to the Right" was originally written for Alice in Wonderland (1951) for a song that was to be called "Beyond the Laughing Sky".

Fact #2644

The Darling children may not have been so sleepy as their parents were leaving merely because it was their bed time. The "tonic" given to the children by Nana may have been morphine. It was quite common in that day and age (approx. 1904) to give children "soothing syrups" and "tonics" to control their behavior that turned out to mainly consist of several different narcotics. The most common of these was Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, and was available in the UK until 1930.

Fact #2645

In compliance with the tradition of the stage version, the same actor, Hans Conried, performed the roles of both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook.

Fact #2646

Disney attracted negative comments for their stereotypical depiction of Indians, as indeed did J.M. Barrie with his original play. It's probably for that very reason that the Indians do not appear in the 2002 sequel, Return to Never Land.

Fact #2647

Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice for Wendy, also performed the live action references. In an interview, she said she had to hold out her arms and pretend to fly for all the scenes requiring it.

Fact #2648

Peter Pan was Disney's 14th animated feature film.

Fact #2649

Originally, this was intended to be the second animated feature created by the studio after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Fact #2650

Active story development began in the early 40s as Walt Disney intended for Peter Pan (1953) to be a follow-up to Bambi (1942). Plans were put on hold, however, with the US entry into World War II and would stay that way up until after the war ended.

Fact #2651

Originally Peter and the Lost Boys could fly unaided, but after several reports of children injuring themselves attempting to fly from their beds, JM Barrie added Fairy Dust as a necessary factor for flying.

Fact #2652

Peter Pan didn't wear all green. That's partly a Disney invention. In the original stage productions he was said to wear auburns, tans, browns and cobwebs. To keep with time time-period in our version, Peter Pan wears a leather jacket and has a look not too far away from a young James Dean.

Fact #2653

Peter Pan is the youngest Disney hero to wield a weapon and is the only Disney hero who can physically fly.

Fact #2654

This is the first incarnation of a Disney lead character to be portrayed by a male voice actor - others were portrayed by female voice actors.

Fact #2655

Peter Pan was released on Blu-Ray as a Diamond Edition in 2013 and went into the vault in 2014.

Fact #2656

It was re-released 5 times in theaters and was an event every time. The last release was in 1989.

Fact #2657

The most monumental changed that Disney made to the story is that in Disney's version, Peter doesn't ask the audience to clap their hands if they believe in fairies.

Fact #2658

The crocodile was in the original play, but was only heard, never seen. The animated medium allowed for the crocodile to have quite a bit of screen time.

Fact #2659

For the voice cast, Walt relied heavily on actors he had previously worked with. Peter was voiced by Bobby Driscoll, star of Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart, and Treasure Island. This was his last film for Disney and the end of his contract.

Fact #2660

Wendy was voiced by Katharine Beaumont, who had previously voiced Alice in Alice in Wonderland.

Fact #2661

Bill Thompson was the voice of Mr. Smee as well as the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

Fact #2662

An earlier version of Peter Pan's Flight first opened in Disneyland on July 17, 1955.

Fact #2663

In other versions discussed by the Walt Disney Company, Captain Hook was killed, the children never came back, and other darker themes emerged. Eventually, they decided to go the more light-hearted route.

Fact #2664

The Tick-Tock Croc originally had his own theme song with lyrics. While the melody can still be heard in the film, the lyrics were cut. However, you can hear the lyrics in Walt Disney World's Hallowishes fireworks show and in some promotional material.

Fact #2665

It is also the last film distributed by RKO Pictures before Walt founded his own distribution company.

Fact #2666

It is also the last film distributed by RKO Pictures before Walt founded his own distribution company.

Fact #2667

When Peter Pan's Flight opened in Disneyland in 1955, the idea for the attraction was that guests would be flying from the perspective of Peter Pan. As such, he would not be featured in the attraction at all. This was confusing to guests, who flew over different scenes from the film and wondered where the main character, and namesake for the movie, was. Peter was included in the ride when it made its debut in other Disney parks, however he was not seen in the Disneyland version until an audio animatronic of him was added during a refurbishment in 1983.

Fact #2668

At the highest, you are only about 17 feet off the ground while flying through the attraction, though the forced perspective used on the effects below you can make you feel much higher.

Fact #2669

An Omnimover ride system basically means that the ride vehicles do not stop. Many Disney rides employ this system as it is a more efficient way of loading and unloading guests for the attraction.

Fact #2670

As you fly over the nursery scene, look carefully at the blocks on the ground. Some of the blocks with the letters and numbers are in the correct order that they spell out "Disney." An upside down "5" is used to the "S."

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I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I did!