Peter Banning/Peter Pan

## **Character biography**

Peter Pan was the leader of the Lost Boys and the nemesis of Captain James Hook. Peter Banning is the grown-up version of Peter Pan, and is a workaholic lawyer. When Hook kidnaps his children, he must remember who he once was in order to save them.

### **Journey to Neverland**

Peter was born on Earth to a wealthy British family. Frightened of all that was expected of him, he ran away from home. He got lost on the streets of London, and would have perished, if the fairy Tinkerbell hadn't noticed him and taken him to Neverland.

### **Becoming the Pan**

Young Peter joined the Lost Boys, a group of orphans living in Neverland. at the time, the Lost Boys were frequently being attacked by Captain Hook's pirate crew. Life was dangerous for them, and they spent much of their days in hiding.

As Peter grew up, he realised that the Lost Boys needed a leader, and so went on a series of quests in order to prove himself and become the leader of the Boys. These quests included traveling to Skull Island, and later stealing Captain Hook's sword from under the pirate's nose. Having finished these tasks, he returned to the Lost Boys and they named him their leader.

### **Rivalry with Hook**

Hook, meanwhile, was on the warpath. Enraged with Peter for stealing his sword, he launched a full-scale attack on the Lost Boy's hideout. Under Peter's leadership, and utilising many booby traps, the Lost Boys managed to rout the pirates, scattering them into the forest.

Peter led his friends into the forest after them. Little did he know, Hook planned to ambush the boy.

Hook crept up behind Peter, sword raised. Luckily, Tinkerbell saved his life by shouting out a warning to Peter. Peter and Hook then duelled briefly.

Hook underestimated Peter, thinking of him as a mere boy, he was careless in his attacks. He is surprised when Peter responds ably and even backed him up near the lip of a cliff that overlooked Pirate Bay. Peter defeated Hook, causing the captain to fall into the sea.

The Tick-Tock Crocodile was waiting nearby, and when it saw Hook fall, it attacked the pirate. Hook swam for the *Jolly Roger*, but before his crew could pull him onto the ship's deck, the crocodile bit off Hook's left hand.

After that, Hook would fear the "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound of the crocodile, and the Crocodile itself apparently liked the way Hook's hand tasted, and would hunt him in the Bay.

### **Meeting Wendy, John, and Michael Darling**

Related articles: John Darling, Michael Darling.

One night, Peter's shadow, which had always been mischievous, escaped to Planet Earth, forcing Peter to come down to his home planet to look for it. He tracked it down to the house of the Darlings, a British family living in London. When he tried to catch his shadow, he woke Wendy Darling and her siblings John and Michael. Wendy was thrilled that Peter Pan was a real person, and offered to sew Peter's shadow to his feet.

After this , Peter was so happy he told Tinkerbell to sprinkle fairy dust upon the children, and showed them how to fly. He then took them to Neverland.

### **Wendy's injury**

Tinkerbell became jealous of Wendy, thinking that she was getting more attention from Peter, so she tricked the Lost Boys into thinking Wendy was a bird. When the young girl flew over with Peter, the boys shot her with an arrow, believing that she was chasing Peter. When Pan found out about Tinkerbell's trick, he didn't speak to her for a whole week. Meanwhile, the Lost Boys built a hut for Wendy so she could recover.

### **The kidnapping**

Main article: The Battle of the *Jolly Roger*.

Wendy became like a mother to the Lost Boys, and Peter would listen to her tell the boys stories at nights. However, the villainous Captain Hook wanted to get revenge on Peter, so he concocted a plan to kidnap Wendy, John and Michael Darling from the Lost Boys’ hideout. Hook then tried to force the children to walk the plank, into the waiting jaws of the Tick-Tock Crocodile below. Fortunately, Peter Pan and his band of Lost Boys launched a rescue mission, freeing the Darlings while Peter duelled Hook.

The duel ended when Peter pushed the captain off the side of the *Jolly Roger*, leaving Hook to the mercy of the enormous crocodile. The pirates, thinking their leader dead, threw down their weapons, and the Lost Boys won the battle.

### **Peter leaves Neverland**

After the battle, Wendy and her siblings returned to Earth. Peter promised to visit every year, and take them to Neverland again. However, Peter began to lose track of time, due to the fact that in Neverland, time is different, and so Peter began to not come for many years.

One fateful night, he flew in through the bedroom window to discover that Wendy was now an old woman. Peter was shocked and distraught by this as Wendy attempted to explain by showing Peter her granddaughter, Moira Darling, who lay asleep in the bed. When Peter saw her, he fell in love and gave her a kiss. With this, he lost all his memories of Neverland and the Lost Boys, and became a normal mortal boy.

Eventually, Wendy decided to give Peter a place to live in an orphanage she had founded. Peter grew up, was adopted by the Banning family, and married Moira. They had two children, Jack Banning and Maggie Banning.

### **Visit to Wendy's house**

One night, years later when Peter was a middle-aged man, he and his family visited Wendy in her home for the first time in ten years. Wendy was shocked to discover that Peter had essentially become one of the pirates he used to fight, working for a law firm and not giving enough time to his family.

Later that night, Wendy, Peter and Moira left the house to go to an event that marked the opening of a new wing to a hospital that had been dedicated to Wendy. They left Jack and Maggie sleeping in the bedroom.

### **Hook returns**

Then, Hook, who had been presumed dead after the Battle of the Jolly Roger, travelled to Earth and kidnapped Peter’s children, Maggie and Jack, from the bedroom in Wendy’s house. When Peter, now known as Peter Banning, and his wife Moira returned to the house, they found a signed ultimatum from Hook on the bedroom door, stating that if Peter wanted to see is children again, he would have to travel to Neverland and satisfy the captain’s vengeance. Later that night, Peter was visited by Tinkerbell, who attempted to remind the now middle-aged man of his past. When that doesn’t work, Tinkerbell flies Peter to Neverland.

### **Coming home to Neverland**

In Neverland, Hook makes a speech to his pirates, revealing his plan. When Peter confronts Hook, demanding that the captain return Banning’s kids, Hook is surprised. It appears to him that Peter has basically become captain Hook. Angered by this, he prepares to make Peter walk the plank to his doom.

Peter would have died if not for Tinkerbell’s intervention. The fairy bargained with the captain, offering that Peter train for three days in order to learn to fly, fight and crow, and also to regain his lost memories.

Hook agrees to this, and with the help of Rufio, the new Pan, and the Lost Boys, Peter trains to become Peter Pan again.

### **The return of Peter's shadow**

Rufio instructs Peter in the art of sword fighting, and the Lost Boys try to help Peter to remember to fly. These attempts are mostly unsuccessful. However, one day, while practising to fly, a baseball flies from out of nowhere and knocks him on the head. When he goes to pick up the ball, which had fallen into a pond, he sees a much younger reflection of his face in the water. Peter then notices that his shadow is moving in a different way. He realises that his real shadow, lost with his memories, has returned, and is pointing him toward an old tree.

When Peter touches an engraving spelling his name on the tree, a secret door swings open, and he enters to find himself in the Lost Boy's hideout.

He also finds Tinkerbell waiting for him inside. She tells him that Hook had burnt the hideout since Peter left. Peter then begins to remember things about the hideout. He finds his teddy bear, and remembers his mother and why he left for Neverland. In this rush, he finds his happy thoughts and finally learns to fly again. After his flight, Rufio kneels before Peter and returns his sword, bestowing the title of Pan upon Peter once again.

### **The battle**

Main article: The Battle of Pirate Town.

Meanwhile, Hook concocts a new scheme to make Peter’s children look to the villain as their father. When Peter, his memories and magical abilities restored, faces Captain Hook on the pirate ship with the Lost boys, Jack stands with Hook, having lost his memories of his real father.

A savage battle breaks out between the pirates and Lost Boys, and Peter rescues Maggie. Hook, meanwhile, duels Rufio.

Before Peter can reach Rufio, Hook strikes the Lost Boy down. Rufio dies in Peter’s arms. Hook then demands that Peter fight him. Peter refuses, and goes to leave, but then the pirate captain threatens to terrorise all of Peter’s descendants. Peter then draws his sword and fights Hook.

Peter and Hook’s second duel begins on the decks of the *Jolly Roger*, but soon spills out onto the streets of Pirate Town.

The duel reaches a close at the Tick-Tock Crocodile, the corpse of which Hook has had converted into a giant clock tower. Hook gains the upper hand against Peter, but then the Lost Boys produce stopwatches, which tick and chime. Hook, terrified, backs into the clock tower, which then collapses on top of him. This time, Hook does not survive. He dies in the jaws of the giant crocodile, bringing an end to a lifelong quest for vengeance and his life.

### **Return to Earth**

After the battle, Peter gives his sword to Thudd Butt, and thanks the Lost Boys for helping him save his children. After goodbyes, he returns to Earth with Jack and Maggie. Peter also takes the bag of marbles from Neverland and returns them to Tootles, who then flies out the window and across London.

Wendy then asks Peter if his adventures are over. To this, Peter replies: "Oh no. To live...to live will be a great adventure".

## **Actor biography**

**Robin McLaurin Williams** (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies alike, he is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time.

Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s, and rose to fame playing the alien Mork in the ABC sitcom *Mork & Mindy* (1978–1982). After his first leading film role in *Popeye* (1980), he starred in several critically and commercially successful films, including *The World According to Garp* (1982), *Moscow on the Hudson* (1984), *Good Morning, Vietnam* (1987), *Dead Poets Society* (1989), *Awakenings* (1990), *The Fisher King* (1991), *Patch Adams* (1998), *One Hour Photo* (2002), and *World's Greatest Dad* (2009). He also starred in box office successes such as *Hook* (1991), *Aladdin* (1992), *Mrs. Doubtfire* (1993), *Jumanji* (1995), *The Birdcage* (1996), *Good Will Hunting* (1997), and the *Night at the Museum* trilogy (2006–2014). He was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Best Supporting Actor for *Good Will Hunting*. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards.

On August 11, 2014, at age 63, Williams died by suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California. His autopsy revealed undiagnosed Lewy body disease.