Peter Pan (character)

Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, he spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys, interacting with fairies, pirates, mermaids, Native Americans, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside Neverland.

Peter Pan has become a cultural icon symbolising youthful innocence and escapism. In addition to two distinct works by Barrie, the novel The Little White Bird (1902), and the West End stage play Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up (1904), the character has been featured in a variety of media and merchandise, both adapting and expanding on Barrie's works. These include several films, television series and many other works.

Barrie commissioned a statue of Peter Pan by the sculptor George Frampton, which was erected overnight in Kensington Gardens on 30 April 1912 as a surprise to the children of London. Six other statues have been cast from the original mould and displayed around the world. In 2002, he featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail on the centenary of Barrie's creation of the character.

Barrie gave the copyright to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in 1929. Whilst the works are now in the public domain, the hospital maintains the right to collect royalties from adaptations in the United Kingdom thanks to a special amendment to the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.