The Tragic Backstory Remained
In the Peter Pan book and play, Barrie keeps the backstory that he created in “The Little White Bird,” except Peter can leave the Kensington Gardens. He has all of Neverland to explore and play in. Neverland is filled with Lost Boys to play with, pirates to fight, and Wendy Darling and her offspring magically transform into mothers, replacing his original one.
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Another difference is that Peter is a little bit older. When he created the character, Peter was just a tragic one-week-old baby left alone. But now, Peter is a pleasant, cheerful school-aged kid. Basically, instead of a Victorian tragedy, the story became a timeless fantasy. The most devastating part about this version is when Wendy grows up and can’t play with Peter anymore or be his mother forever.