Don’t Fly to Neverland

Reading Peter Pan in high school showed a world completely devoid of the usual Disney tropes and I found myself mind blown, yet eerily felt like I knew the whole time, that Peter Pan and Neverland was an allegory for Death.

What?!

Hear me out.

Peter is eternally young,yes? His actual age is never really given, only that he has all his baby teeth and will never, ever grow up. The Scottish creator of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie, had a brother who died at 14 and depressingly, his mother would always remember him as a little boy since he never got to grow up. Is this the influence for Peter? We don’t know for sure, but can reasonably say this is the case. Neverland itself is home to many things long thought dead, whether it’s because we’ve forgotten about them or because there’s just no magic left in the world. Mermaids, fairies, and a group of Lost Boys with no mother. Lost Boys who have been brought to Neverland by Peter. LOST BOYS WITH NO HOMES OR FAMILIES BY THE ANGEL OF DEATH.

Mmhm. Lookin’ all angel of death like. I have my eye on you, Peter.

What brought on this sudden analyzation of a beloved 50’s Disney classic?

I was riding along in my car, listing to my Disney Pandora radio station and “You Can Fly” came on. Let’s take a peek at the lyrics shall we?

Now, think of the happiest things.
It’s the same as having wings 
Let’s all try it, just once more
Look! We’re rising off the floor
Jiminy! Oh my! We can fly!
You can fly! We can fly!
Come on, everybody, here we go!
Off to Never Land!

I’m not saying this happened, but let’s say Peter forgot that regular folks (ALIVE folks) can’t fly without pixie dust. That’s an important mistake, especially when you’re jumping off rooftops with happy thoughts in your head.

Think of a wonderful thought
Any merry little thought
Think of Christmas, think of snow
Think of sleigh bells – off you go!
Like a reindeer in the sky
You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!

Winter, snow, and the color white are usually symbolism for death, as most things die in the winer. Peter Pan isn’t lookin’ so friendly now, is he? And they say Captain Hook is the villain!

Think of the happiest things
It’s the same as having wings
Take the path that moonbeams make
If the moon is still awake
You’ll see him wink his eye
You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!

Surely the moon can’t be anything bad! Wrong. The moon symbolizes what lies beyond life as well as all things changeable like *cough cough* being alive. Wendy, John, and Michael seriously need to rethink following Peter to that second star to the right.

Up you go with a heigh and ho
To the stars beyoond the blue
There’s a Never Land waiting for you
Where all your happy dreams come true
Every dream that you dream will come true

Hell yeah, there’s a land waiting for you and while it’s true you won’t grow up, you’ll be dead. Happy dreams!

When there’s a smile in your heart
There’s no better time to start
Think of all the joy you’ll find
When you leave the world behind
And bid your cares good-bye
You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!

This stanza pretty much speaks for itself. All your cares will disappear when you’re dead, that’s for sure, but I’m unsure how much joy will be found.

Perhaps I’m reaching and perhaps my ingestion of Halloween chocolate in copious amounts has clouded my brain. Perhaps not. What do you think? Is all of this coincidence or am I actually on to something?