It’s not just Disney that has the problem that many things are no longer up-to-date when it comes to reissuing older material. Screenwriters Toby Halbrooks and David Lowery faced quite a challenge on new fantasy adventure Peter Pan & Wendy. The original just oozes Racism towards indigenous figures. That had to change.
Racist template: Tiger Lily has been completely rewritten for Peter Pan & Wendy on Disney+
In order to understand the problem of Peter Pan, we have to look at the year of its creation. Creator JM Barrie published the novel Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up in 1904 and the follow-up work Peter and Wendy in 1911. At the time, awareness was hardly an issue.
The Disney film Peter Pan from 1953 still gets a lot wrong. Disney expert Josh Spiegel points to the character Tiger Lily and her indigenous tribe in Slash Film. Her Portrayal in Peter Pan does not go beyond racial stereotypes.
Especially the song “Why is the redskin red?” (in the original “What Made the Red Man Red?“) is today a Memorial to the Urgent Overhaul of Native Americans in a Peter Pan remake.
Disney
Peter Pan & Wendy on Disney+: Tiger Lily
As early as 2018, when David Lowery was in the middle of writing the script for the new Peter Pan film for Disney+, he commented on the subject. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he clarified:
The original Peter Pan film is obviously terribly racist. That has to go now.
He kept that promise. Was made for Peter Pan & Wendy completely reinvented the character Tiger Lily and brought in two consultants for this. Tiger Lily is a warrior princess of the indigenous tribe of Neverland and the chief’s daughter. She is impersonated by Cree actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk. Her origins were also inspiration for the re-creation of Tiger Lily.
Lowery told Total Film magazine (via Slash Film) that they wanted to write a supporting role for Tiger Lily that would fit better into the film.
There was nothing in Tiger Lily’s past that we had to adopt. The character version in the new film is strong, dynamic, it’s fantastic. There should be a Tiger Lily movie!
Wapanatâhk himself hopes that Disney’s past will stay where it is: in the past.
You can now stream the new fantasy adventure with a subscription to Disney+*. After Peter Pan & Wendy, the next Disney new edition is not long in coming. Because already on May 25, 2023 the remake of Arielle, the mermaid comes to the cinema.
Podcast: 10 Fantasy Movie Tips to Stream by Peter & Wendy
If you want to immerse yourself in other extraordinary worlds, characters and stories after Peter & Wendy, here are 10 strong streaming recommendations for fantasy films that are part of the program from Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ belong.
At this point you will find external content that complements the article. You can show it and hide it again with one click.
Whether it’s a classic, an animated film, a blockbuster or an insider’s tip: the streaming services are guaranteed to have something for every fantasy fan’s taste. Dragons, Polymorphs, Stardust, Epic Journeys and Sorcery included.