What was Peter Pan based on?

Answer 1

Peter Pan first appeared as part of a story within a story in Barrie's 1902 novel The Little White Bird. However, there were a few differences that make this version of Peter hard to recognize. Instead of living in Neverland, Peter had flown from his nursery to London's Kensington Gardens, where he spent time with fairies and birds. In fact, he was described as being "Betwixt-and-Between" a boy and a bird.

Whilst Barrie was the author of Peter Pan, but he credited five boys with inspiring the tale: George, John (Jack), Peter, Michael and Nicholas (Nico) Llewelyn Davies.

JM Barrie first met George and Jack while walking in Kensington Gardens in 1898. He stated he was "charmed by the boys", he then grew close to their mother, Sylvia however, their father, Arthur, was less than impressed by Barrie. JM Barrie began to invite the family to vacation at his estate, where the time he spent playing with the children gaving him the idea for Peter Pan's adventures.