MovieChat Forums > Peter Pan (1953) Discussion > How old is Peter Pan supposed to be?

How old is Peter Pan supposed to be?


He never grows up so how old is he supposed to be?

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The books suggests he is around 12 or 13 or so. He's "just Wendy's size", and also, there is a large belief that the character of Peter was based on J.M. Barrie's older brother who died during childhood at age 13.

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Yeah I agree. I'm thinking between the ages of 11 and 13.


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Peter's age was always left open to interpretation, Barrie never goes into detail about what Peter actually looks like or how old he might actually be, as Peter himself really has no idea how old he is. But he has appeared at many ages, the statue in Kensington Gardens shows someone who I would put at about seven or eight, though the films show someone in about late childhood and the book is just complete vague saying that he's as tall as Wendy, but Wendy is only said to be a girl of not yet 13 and he still has all his baby teeth.

If I had to make a guess I would say physically he's about 12 years old, though mentally I think he's probably about seven years old, maybe younger. I think an irony about Peter is that being in Kensington Gardens w/fairies so long he probably thinks he's a lot younger then he actually is.

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Answer posibilities:

1. Peter Pan is ageless.

2. He doesn't even know

3. He's not sure, but he judges based off other's height.

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I always figured about 12/13.

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Peter Pan is probably a little older than Wendy because she's obsessed with him and it seems like most teenage girls like older guys so let's say Wendy's 11 and Peter's probably 14.

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I always thought him to be Wendi's age. It's been a LOOONG time since I've seen this movie but I swear I remember something like tomorrow Wendi was turning 16, no longer a child, so she wasn't able to stay in the nursery?

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Yeah I figured Wendy as 12 going on 13. And Peter being about the same age, maybe 14 at the most, but no younger then 12.

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Depends on the adaptation. In the disney version probably 11/12. In the 2003 version 13/14.

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Fahmad27 hit the nail right on the head.

Also in the "2003" version of Peter Pan, Wendy is 12 years old (soon to be 13) so I imagine Peter's around the same. (Physically, not emotionally)

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I end up picturing a non-cartoon Disney Peter as Bobby Driscoll, whose voice had already changed (he was 14-15 during production and turned 16 right after it came out)... So, he's actually one of the older Peters. I'm pretty sure that the voice recording was done when Bobby was 14 (again, I mention the voice change), but a lot of the drawings were based on Bobby from 14 to 15 (and it does show--Walt wasn't particularly happy with the fact that the artists were copying Bobby so closely and thought the drawings looked too old). Honestly, the best frames of the film's animation are the ones that look the most like young teenage Bobby.

Kathryn Beaumont was 13-14 during production.

I wouldn't put Disney's Wendy or Peter below 12, largely because Bobby's voice did not belong to a little kid and he made no attempt to sound like one. Bobby's young teenage Peter was also a lot more sympathetic and heroic than the one in the book. Peter in the book is more of a tragically-flawed character (him being incomplete and like a dead child is what comes off as tragic), whereas Bobby's is portrayed as a wonderful, heroic magical being that inspires the young and old alike to have childlike wonder. They are very different.

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I agree with what others have said about Disney Peter being a bit older. To me he looked kind of tall (tallest Peter Pan I've seen, aside from the Mary Martin play/musical). He looked about 13/14, same age as the 2003 Peter.

The two different cartoon series, Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates and Peter Pan no bouken, he was shorter and looked/acted younger (around 11/12 yrs old). Tho both in PP&P and the English-dubbed PPnb, Peter's voice actor was yet again more mature-sounding, so it kind of throws you off, :)

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I'm wondering, and maybe the OP meant this, but how old is he REALLY, like how many years has he been around. I know he has the appearnce of a young boy but how many years has he physcally lived?

Didn't Wendy's mother hear the legend of Peter Pan long before Wendy was born?, then after Wendy grew up he comes back to visit Jane, So he must be pretty old!!

In his 40s at least.

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Yep Mary Darling heard the Peter Pan legend when she was a young girl herself. What she heard was that Peter Pan was a character that lived among fairies and escorted children who had died part of way to the afterlife so they wouldn't be scared.

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Its almost like how in the original J.M. Barrie story, Peter Pan is described as having all of his baby teeth. Yet he acts, sounds like someone who is older then someone who has all of his baby teeth, also all the girls seems to have crushes on him.

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Yeah I love the story but always thought it was a little WEIRD that Tinkerbell had a crush on Peter, he was just a young boy, she Tinkerbell always had the appearance of a grown adult WOMAN.

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Yeah but "Neverland" isn't a true source material but instead a spinoff. The original play came out in 1904 and although it doesn't give the year in any movie version of Peter Pan, I read it's supposed to take place the same year, 1904(or around the early 1900s at least). In "Neverland", Peter doesn't even GO to Neverland till AFTER the original story takes place so....yeah.

My guess as to how long Peter's been around (not his physical age...*think elves in LotR*), I'd say he's been there since the 1800s. Maybe 50 or so years. "Hook" shows a bit of background on that; looked like the 1800s in that scene with his mother. Tho again it's hard to use that as source material. Perhaps the book said it somewhere, or the prequel books mentioned it (haven't read the prequels yet so dunno).

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Hook is wearing the clothes of a 17th century pirate (and classical pirates were largely wiped out by the very early 18th century). Captain Hook traditionally both looks and dresses a lot like Louis XIV or Charles II. He's no later than the early 18th century (full-backed periwigs and the long-skirted jackets were still in use for the first few decades, though really looks more late 17th century). Baroque, certainly. Looks very Restoration-era, in particular.

Also, Peter Pan's grave is mentioned in the book (the grave reads "P.P."). It is extremely old and worn.

And if we're talking about the Disney version, its vaguely Robin Hood-esque fashion suggests Medieval times. Hook's flashback, of course, suggests an Edwardian background (but that's more Wendy's background--and he's already ancient by her time). Hook's age is clearly a big hint that they've all been stuck in Neverland for a really, really long time and Peter most certainly predates Hook's arrival in the land. He's undoubtedly many hundreds of years old, simply because Hook is, too.

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Forever 12

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If we go by the Disney film alone he could be hundreds of years old like another user pointed out, but it's never been thoroughly explored, and probably won't be. Maybe in a future Tinker Bell solo film they will discuss this...They're telling Hook's origin next and Tom Hiddleston is providing his voice.

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