Neverland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neverland is the fictional island featured in the play Peter Pan by Scottish writer J. M. Barrie, as well as subsequent novel Peter and Wendy. While sojourning in Neverland, people may cease to age; therefore, Neverland is often seen as a metaphor for eternal childhood (and childishness), immortality, and escapism. In the earliest drafts of Barrie's play, the island was called Peter's Never Never Never Land, after a district in Australia. When the play was performed, the island was referred to as the Never Never Land; in the published play it was shortened to the Never Land, and in the novel it was spelled as one word - the Neverland.
Peter led Wendy Darling and her brothers to Neverland by flying "second to the right, and straight on till morning" (usually taken to mean "second star to the right"), though it is stated in the novel that Peter made up these directions on the spot, for a voyage he made intuitively. According to Disney's "Fairies: Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg," Neverland will rise up from the water and fly high up into the clouds once children don't believe in its existence anymore.
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[edit] Inhabitants
[edit] Peter Pan
Peter Pan is the most important denizen of the Neverland. The activity of the island depends upon his being there. In some movie adaptions, the islands weather depends on Peter's presence. He is also the leader of the Lost Boys.
[edit] Captain Hook
Captain Hook is the nemesis of Peter Pan, the pirate captain of the ship Jolly Roger. He is able to concoct the most deadly poison ever with the tears of his red eyes. He was able to use his hook on Peter Pan while on Marooner's Rock.
[edit] The Lost Boys
They are Peter Pan's "men." They help him defeat Hook and his pirates in what Peter Pan in Scarlet calls the Great Battle. In the novel Peter Pan, there are six of them. They are instructed not to look like Peter in any way. They are also bound by the Rule, which is to never grow up.
In the Neverland food chain, they are looking for Peter, while the Pirates are looking for them.
[edit] The Pirates
The followers of Captain Hook are basically all destroyed after the Great Battle in the novel Peter Pan. Many times in the novel it's shown that Captain Hook rules over them as a tyrant.
In the Neverland food chain, they are looking for the Lost Boys, while the Redskins are looking for them
[edit] Children From Our World
The most notable are the Darling Children (Wendy, John and Michael), who go to the Neverland in both Peter Pan, and Peter Pan in Scarlet. Wendy's future daughters are also known to have visited the Neverland. The children return in Peter Pan in Scarlet, and become the League of Pan. They explore the Neverland World and make up the map as they go. In NeverLand, humans are called Clumsies.
[edit] The Fairies
Much is known of the Fairies as they are a mischievous bunch of creatures. They can only display one emotion at an time due to their small size. They are in the middle of a war during Peter Pan in Scarlet, over their favorite colors. They favor Peter over the other boys, as seen in Peter Pan when he is guarding Wendy's House and some Fairies pass by and merely tweak his nose, when they would have done mischief on any other boy. It is said, in Peter Pan in Scarlet, that Fairies fall up. Fairies are also known to die when a child says that they no longer believe in them.
The Fairies were said to have been created when the first baby laughed, and its laugh broke into thousands of Fairies. Peter claims that if it were not for the children starting to stop believing, there would be a Fairy for every child. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, one Roarer makes the comment that Fairies are able to grant wishes. The Fairies have the ability to levitate things, as shown by the fact that they lifted Wendy into the air on a leaf and tried to escort her back to the Mainland, but couldn't because the leaf gave out.
A Fairies gender is told by its color. The mauve ones are male, the white ones are girls, and blue ones are Sillies who have no idea what they are. They live in nests made in the treetops. They were given the duty of placing Peter's home on top of a tree, but we learn in Peter Pan in Scarlet that they didn't do it so Peter just let the Nevertree pick it up on its own.
The most important fairy is Tinkerbell, Peter Pan's companion.
[edit] The Mermaids
Not much is known of the Mermaids. They only speak to Peter and splash away from the other children when they get too close. They are vain, and beautiful, and love to bask in the Sun. It is said in the novel Peter Pan, that once nightfall comes, the Mermaid Lagoon is too dangerous for mortals to go to. They are not as they are in stories, either. According to the 2003 film Peter Pan and the Broadway musical starring Cathy Rigby, they are evil and intune with eveything mysterious. Also, if you get to close, they will drown you.
[edit] The Redskins
The Redskins were known as the Piccaninny tribe, with Tiger Lily as their Princess. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, the tribe is now the Tribes of the Eight Nations, with Agapanthus as their Princess. The Redskins are said to be able to move without making a single sound.
While Peter is away, the Redskins gorge out on food and become fat. James Barrie states that their warpaths cannot be seen by inexperienced eyes. In the chapter "The Mermaid's Lagoon," it is shown that the Piccaninnies view death by water as the worst death possible, due to the fact that there is no path through water to the Happy-Hunting Ground. After Peter rescues Princess Tiger Lily from Hook, the Redskins become completely indebted to Peter. They then guard his home and revere him. They give Pan respect and call him the White Warrior, but view the other boys merely as fellow Braves, and give no respect to them at all. In Neverland, there are laws applying to savage warfare that state that the Redskins always attack first, and they must do so at dawn. They are known to mimic the cry of the Coyotes perfectly, to the point that Barrie says they can do it even better than the Coyotes. They are said to be masters of all kinds of war strategems. They were brought up to never fear, and when Hook and his Pirates attack them, they remain stationary. Many of the tribe die during Hook's massacre. Great Big Little Panther was able to cut a path for himself, Tiger Lily, and a small remnant of the tribe, to escape the massacre. When the tribe wins a battle, they beat the tom-tom as a sign of victory. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, the children of the Redskins, that were brought up by Starkey, are shown to be archers.
Members of their tribe include: Princess Tiger Lily, the great warrior Great Big Little Panther, and more.
[edit] The Wild Beasts
Neverland is home to all animals. There are Lions, Tigers, Bears, and innumerable smaller savage animals. According to the novel Peter Pan, every kind of beast resides on the island, especially man-eaters.
In the Neverland food chain, they follow the Redskins, and no one follows them.
[edit] The Stars
In the Neverland World, Stars are sentient beings that love to have a share in adventures. Barrie states that they are punished to stay up in the sky and watch all adventures, rather than have one of their own, due to some past sin of theirs. According to Barrie, the sin took place so long ago that none of them remember what it was.
[edit] Sentient Inanimate Things
In the Peter Pan stories, there are always mentions of the feelings of people being sentient. Such as Captain Hook being able to speak to his own feelings. There are many other references to these things in the novel Peter Pan.
[edit] The Roarers
Peter Pan in Scarlet created a group of Long Lost Boys known as the Roarers. They are bloodthirsty teenage boys bent on revenge against Peter Pan for culling them because they grew up. According to Ravello, the Roarers are so corrupted that there is no taming them. They care nothing about anybody else, and they barely speak at all.
[edit] The League of Pan
This is the group of Pan's followers in Peter Pan in Scarlet. They are also called the Explorers due to their exploring the UNKNOWN TERRITORY of Neverland.
[edit] Other Inhabitants
Many other creatures reside in Neverland such as Ghosts, Witches, Dragons, Gnomes, Neverbirds, Unnamed Forces, and many more named, and unnamed, creatures.
[edit] Areas
[edit] The Neverwood
This is probably the most famous location in Peter Pan. The Home Underground is settled in the Neverwood, as well as the Wendy House. Most of the adventures take place in the Neverwood.
[edit] The Home Underground
This is where Peter and his Lost Boys reside. There are many entrances into the underground home -- hollowed out trees that are made to fit every Lost Boy in Peter's ranks. There is a small Nevertree in the middle of the large room that grows every day. Peter and the children use it as a table to eat on, then they cut it when it has grown too large. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, Peter lets the Nevertree grow too large, and it grows out of the roof. It then picks up the Wendy House and lifts it into the air.
[edit] Fort Pan
Peter mentions, in Peter Pan in Scarlet, that he was going to build a new home after his quest with the Darling children. This new home would be called Fort Pan, and he claimed that only Wendy would be allowed into it.
[edit] The Mermaids' Lagoon
The Mermaids lounge around in the Mermaid Lagoon without a care in the world. This is also the location of Marooner's Rock. It is not safe for mortals to visit Mermaid Lagoon at night.
[edit] Neverpeak Mountain
This is the huge mountain that is right in the middle of Neverland. According to Peter Pan in Scarlet, when a child is on top of Neverpeak Mountain, they can see over anyone and anything, and can see beyond Belief.
[edit] Grief Reef and the Maze of Regrets
In Peter Pan in Scarlet, there exist a maze where all the mothers of the Lost Boys go to find their boys. This was thought to be a maze of Witches before the League of Pan ran into Mr. Smee.
[edit] Various Places
There are many places not really explained in any canon Peter Pan story. These include: the Thirsty Desert, the Nevva River, the Never City, the Elephant's Graveyard, Parcel Pass, the Groves of Academe, Slightly Gulch, and many more.
[edit] The Neverland World
[edit] Creation
According to Peter Pan in Scarlet, the island was pushed up from the ground by Imagination. And in Peter Pan, it's shown that whatever a child dreams and wishes for will come true in Neverland. But, according to Peter and the Starcatchers, the island is a normal island, it was named by Peter in memory of the Neverland, a boat he was sent on along with his gang of St. Norbert's boys.
[edit] The Fabric
There is a Fabric that exists between the Neverland world and ours. It is broken in Peter Pan in Scarlet by grown up mess. This causes the dreams in Neverland to leak out. Then, the Darling children begin having dreams of Neverland. Only children are let past the Fabric of Neverland. In Peter Pan, it shows that no one could go to Neverland without the island looking for them.
[edit] The Journey
The journey to Neverland is portrayed in many ways. In the James Barrie novel, the island was found by the children when they flew onwards for days. They wouldn't have found it if it wasn't for the island moving towards them. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, they get to the Neverland World by flying on a road called the High Way. In many movie adaptions, they find the world by flying into a star.
[edit] Treasure
In Peter Pan in Scarlet, it says that treasure in Neverland is whatever you wish it to be. That is why Peter found Eton trophies in the treasure chest, for he had wished for them.
[edit] Time
In the world of Neverland, they say that Time is told by either the Crocodiles clock, or the Suns and Moons. It is mentioned in the novel Peter Pan that there are many more Suns and Moons there than in our world. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, it says that as soon as the children got into Neverland, Time froze to them.
[edit] Imagination
Imagination seems to have great dominion over Neverland. In the novel Peter Pan it says that a map of a child's mind would resemble a map of Neverland. It also shows that what you wish for ends up in Neveralnd. And J.M.Barrie also says that the island has no boundaries at all, probably metaphorically stating that a child's imagination has no boundaries either. Also, the belief in Fairies and Neverland seems to regenerate Peter and the Fairies.
[edit] Surrounding Islands
According to Peter Pan in Scarlet, Neverland resides in a sea known as the Sea of One Thousand Islands. In the book, Peter explores some of this sea, passing by islands of various sizes. The most amazing thing encountered on this adventure is Lodestone Rock, it is a magnetic rock that destroys the Jolly Peter and the SS Starkey along with it.
[edit] Peter Pan in Scarlet
In the book Peter Pan in Scarlet, Neverland has transformed from the summer climate it is known for, and into the fall season. that is because Time in Neverland moved on where it wasn't supposed to. Peter hasn't noticed a real change because he likes Neverland in whichever season it is. The reason Time has moved on is due to the Big War that has messed with the minds of children, causing grown up mess to leak in. This makes Dreams leak out of Neverland, and bad things to sneak in. Everything is put back to normal, as the end of the novel shows. All the grass and trees grow back from the fire that Hook caused, the Thirsty Desert is watered once the snow on Neverpeak melts, and the Sun turns yellow again, and stays out for days at a time.
[edit] Uses of the word "neverland" in popular culture
According to various Merriam-Webster dictionaries, the word "neverland" is defined as "an ideal or imaginary place". Often these neverlands are created in dreams of any human - child, teenager, or adult.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts series
- Further information: List of worlds in the Kingdom Hearts series
In the video game Kingdom Hearts, that takes inspiration from various Disney animations, "Neverland" (as seen in the film Peter Pan) appears as a world. Though none of the plot took place on the island itself, Sora, Donald, and Goofy find themselves boarded on The Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship, and meet Riku, where they discover he has fallen to the powers of darkness because of Maleficent. Riku asks Sora to join him into the darkness to help find Kairi's heart, but Sora refuses to give in. Then, Riku creates a Heartless out of Sora's shadow and sends Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the bottom of the ship.
At the bottom of the ship, they find Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. They learn that, much like Kairi, Wendy was taken because she was believed to be one of the Princesses of Hearts. After finding out Wendy isn't one of them, Riku soon leaves with Kairi. Sora saw Kairi being taken as he was in the room under her but thought that she was being taken to some other part of the ship, not away from the world. Sora then agrees with Peter to help him save Wendy so that he can save Kairi. Sora, then, battles the Heartless that Riku created and left there on the ship after entering the Captain's Room. After defeating it, they go out on the deck just to find Captain Hook ready to fight them. Threatening to hurt Tinker Bell, Sora puts his Keyblade away and starts to walk the plank. Then, he remembered what Peter Pan said to him on how to fly... to fly you must think of a happy thought. Thinking of a happy thought he jumps off the plank but gets the ability to fly. Then, Captain Hook attacked Sora. Sora defeated Captain Hook and found Wendy at the Clock Tower in London. Finally, Sora locked the keyhole of Neverland, protecting it from the darkness.
In the sequel Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the world serves as part of a trip to Sora's past. He has to get past this world to get higher to the top to find the thing that he needs. The world is set only in the Jolly Roger, and has a similar plot to the first game only that Captain Hook captures Wendy without clear intentions.
