Peter Pan & the Pirates

File:Peter Pan & The Pirates Opening**Peter Pan & the Pirates** is an American animated television series based on J.M. Barrie's *Peter Pan* that originally aired on Fox from September 8, 1990 to September 10, 1991. The series then aired in reruns until September 11, 1992. A repeat of the series' Christmas episode also aired on December 25, 1993. The series then returned to Fox during weekday mornings from November 4, 1996 to March 28, 1997. Reruns then aired on Fox Family in 1998.

The on-screen title was given as *Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates* (Given in promotional materials and advertisements in the UK as *Twentieth Century Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates*) to emphasize the fact that this was an independent production by 20th Century Fox, unrelated to the Disney feature or other previous media incarnations of the *Peter Pan* property.

## Plot

Peter Pan lives in the Neverland with a gang of orphan boys, fairy Tinkerbell, and friends Wendy, John, and Michael Darling. Amid their numerous adventures, the children are constantly menaced by pirate Captain James Hook and his band of no-good pirates.

The series focuses as much on the pirates as it does on Peter Pan. Captain Hook and Mr. Smee are the only pirates who receive any attention in most other *Peter Pan* media, but in this series the other crew members of the Jolly Roger (Robert Mullins, Alf Mason, Gentleman Ignatious Starkey, Billy Jukes, and Cookson) are given distinct personalities and character development. Some attention was also given to the Native American characters (no longer called Redskins). They and their customs were often featured in episode storylines.

## Characters

**Peter Pan** (voiced by Jason Marsden) — The titular protagonist of the series and the main leader of the group, which includes ten children with him. He has dark brown hair worn in a ponytail. The Peter in this version wears a dark brown costume, which distinguishes him from other versions, in which he normally wears green. He's always up for a challenge and game for adventure no matter how perilous.

**Tinker Bell** (voiced by Debi Derryberry) — A red-headed fairy and Peter Pan's sidekick. She's often the more practical of the two and often gets him and the lost boys out of jams.

**Wendy Darling** (voiced by Christina Lange) — A girl who wears a pink dress, has short black hair and a crown made of white flowers. She is the oldest of the Darling siblings, her two younger brothers are John and Michael Darling. As in the novel, she's very tidy and acts like a mother for the boys.

**John Darling** (voiced by Jack Lynch) — The middle Darling sibling; Wendy's and Michael's brother. He has hazel blonde hair and wears a brown bowler hat.

**Michael Darling** (voiced by Whitby Hertford) — Wendy and John's brother and the youngest of the Darling siblings. He has light brown, curly hair and wears blue, overall-like, footy pijamas. As in the novel he is the youngest and smallest of the group and has a big basket as his bed.

**Captain James Algernon Cloudesley Hook** (voiced by Tim Curry) — The main antagonist of the series and Peter Pan's nemesis. As his name implies, James Hook is the head of his pirate crew. Although he's well known for his ruthless and nefarious nature, the Hook in this version is more complex and in many ways closer to the portrayal in Barrie's book. References to Peter Pan feeding Captain Hook's hand to the crocodile is still intact. Rather than the traditional long black hair (or wig) and long moustache, this Hook is clean-shaven and has his white hair styled in the manner of a powdered wig.

**Smee** (voiced by Ed Gilbert in an Irish accent) — Captain Hook's loyal Bosun and the closest he has to a friend, although he rarely seems to appreciate him. Smee's weapon is a sword he names Johnny Corkscrew. He is small, but not very fat, has grey hair and pale blue eyes.

## Episodes

*Peter Pan & the Pirates* has a total of 65 episodes spread over 1 season that were produced from September 1990 to September 1991.

## Merchandise

A video game titled *Peter Pan and the Pirates* was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by third party publisher THQ. The game was generally received poorly by critics. In this single player side-scrolling action game, the player controlled Peter Pan, who could collect bags of fairy dust to fly and wielded a sword. The player started out in the forest and was required to destroy all the pirates in each level to advance to the next, with the final goal of reaching the pirate ship and battling Captain Hook.