Synopsis

In 1903 London, playwright J.M. Barrie meets Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her four sons in Kensington Gardens. Their imaginative games inspire Barrie to create Peter Pan, despite doubts from his producer and the expectations of the theater world. As his friendship with the family deepens and Sylvia's health declines, Barrie discovers the personal meaning behind his most enduring work.

Factoids & Trivia

• The screenplay was adapted from Allan Knee's 1990 play The Man Who Was Peter Pan, with David Magee writing the film version.

• The production was delayed from 2003 to 2004 because Universal Pictures, which controlled the rights to Barrie's original stage play, initially would not permit Miramax to reproduce scenes from Peter Pan. The film ultimately opened 100 years after Barrie's play premiered.

• Richmond Theatre in London doubled for the Duke of York's Theatre, where Peter Pan is presented in the film. Other sequences were shot in Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Brompton Cemetery, Pinewood Studios, Shepperton Studios, and the Laredo Wild West Town in Kent.

• Dustin Hoffman had previously played the title role in Hook. An early version of the screenplay included a scene in which his character tried on a Captain Hook costume, but the scene was rewritten after Hoffman objected to it.

• The film received seven Academy Award nominations and won for Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's original score. It was also nominated for Best Picture, adapted screenplay, leading actor, art direction, costume design, and film editing.

• Johnny Depp's positive impression of Freddie Highmore's performance contributed to Highmore later being cast as Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where the two worked together again.

• One spontaneous moment was retained in the final cut: during the climactic "clap for Tinker Bell" scene, Julie Christie's reaction was reportedly unplanned, while the children's surprised expressions were genuine.