John Darling

John Darling is a major character in Disney's 1953 animated feature film Peter Pan. He is George and Mary's middle child, and Wendy and Michael's brother.

Background[]

Personality[]

John takes after his father, George. He often speaks in a sophisticated way, which his younger brother, Michael, usually mimics and repeats (albeit in a more simplistic way (John: "Oh, I should like very much to cross swords with some real buccaneers". Michael: "Yeah, and fight pirates, too!"). He also shows interest in piracy, which may explain why he plays the part of Captain Hook in his nursery games with Michael. He is also shown that he is brave and clever; when he and Michael were playing with the Lost Boys, he was the leader. He is very mature but loves his time being very adventurous and playful.

Physical appearance[]

John is a young English boy with matching dark brown hair and eyes and fair skin. He wears black round glasses, a white nightshirt, a black top hat with a gray band, and a pair of black dress shoes, and carries a black umbrella.

Appearances[]

Peter Pan[]

John loves hearing his older sister Wendy's stories of Peter Pan and plays Captain Hook while his younger brother, Michael, plays Peter Pan during their nursery games. He is very brave and very smart.

One night, while George and Mary go to a party, Peter visits Wendy, John, and Michael and teaches them how to fly and takes them to Neverland with them. When they arrive there, Captain Hook and his crew shoot at them with their cannon, but Peter orders Tinker Bell to take them to the island while he takes on Captain Hook. She jealously tries to make the Lost Boys take out Wendy, but after Peter tells them that she will be their new mother, they feel bad.

John is ordered by Peter to take the Lost Boys and Michael on a hunt for Indians, who capture and mistake them for the kidnapping of the Chief's daughter, Tiger Lily, and he orders them to be burned at the stake if she doesn't return by sunset. Luckily, Peter saves her from Captain Hook, the real kidnapper, and returns her to the Indian Camp, and the boys are set free while Peter is made a Flying Eagle by the Chief. During the song, John tries the Chief's pipe, which sickens him and makes his face turn dark green. Also during the song, he dances along with the Indians, wanting to live like savages.

After the party, Wendy tells John and Michael that they're going home the next day, but they refuse until she reminds them about their mother, Mary, and they wish to return home, along with the Lost Boys who wish for a mother, too. John leads them out, but they (along with Wendy) are captured by Captain Hook and his crew who are waiting outside having revealed their hideout, Hangman's Tree, by Tinker Bell who was banished earlier for nearly killing Wendy and been captured by Smee. On the Jolly Roger, the children are offered to become pirates to which the boys agree, but Wendy stops them, saying that Peter will save them. However, Captain Hook admits to leaving a present for him from her that had a bomb in it that will blow up shortly and take him with it. But unknown to the children and Captain Hook, Tinker Bell manages to escape from her prison and warns him of it, and the children being captured. Thinking it has killed him, Captain Hook has made Wendy walk the plank to drown in the sea, but luckily Peter arrives, saves her from her watery grave, and frees the boys, and they fight off Captain Hook and his crew, who go off in their rowboat chasing the crocodile who chases Captain Hook.

In the end, Peter takes Wendy, John, and Michael home. Afterward, John is seen sleeping in his bed and tucked away by Nana and Mary - the whole experience is speculated by some viewers to be a dream, validated by the fact that the word Neverland today appears in English vernacular as "an ideal or imaginary place; a dream world".

Return to Never Land[]

John didn't appear in the sequel and wasn't mentioned by any of the characters, including Wendy. However, he made a couple of shadowy cameos on some starry night clouds that light up by Tinker Bell, to begin with (flying with Wendy and Michael and leading the Lost Boys to the Indian Camp).

Jake and the Never Land Pirates[]

John appears in the Jake and the Neverland Pirates special, Battle for the Book. In it, Captain Hook has stolen the book containing Peter Pan's adventures with intent on destroying it as well as the stories of Never Land forever. To save it, Wendy John, and Michael team up with Jake and his crew to race through London, and eventually, Neverland itself, to stop Captain Hook. During the adventure, John becomes particularly close to Izzy.

John appears once again in the series finale "Captain Hook's Last Stand!", where he, Wendy, and Michael visit Neverland to take part in Peter Pan's homecoming celebration. When he is finally defeated by a magically-equipped Captain Hook, John and the other young heroes work together to save him.

Other appearances[]

John makes a cameo appearance at the end of "This is Your Life, Donald Duck".

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, John, in a black trenchcoat, can be briefly spotted right next to Tweedle Dum during the final scene while the song "Smile Darn Ya Smile" is finishing.

John made frequent cameos on House of Mouse alongside Wendy and Michael and Peter Pan. In "Ask Von Drake", he makes a cameo during the Ludwig Von Drake Song. In Mickey's Magical Christmas, he takes part in the musical performance at the end of the film.

John appears in Once Upon a Studio, flying with Peter, Wendy, and Michael out of their portrait to recruit other characters to take a group photo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Disney. He later appeared in the group photo along with the rest of the Disney characters.

Live-action appearances[]

Peter Pan & Wendy[]

John appears in the 2023 reimagining of the 1953 classic film, portrayed by Joshua Pickering.

John is first seen at the Darling family's house playing with Michael pretending to be Peter Pan and Captain Hook to which as Wendy passes by, she continues playing with John continues to which as they continue playing, John's sword suddenly breaks his father George's mirror, which George feels upset for causing too much noise in the nursery, just as the children of the Darling family give the wooden swords to their father. After George leaves, John and Michael get ready for bed while their mother Mary is discussing with her daughter Wendy about the importance of being a good leader. Suddenly, when Peter Pan arrives at the Darling family's house with Tinker Bell, the latter sprinkles Pixie Dust on John, alongside Michael and Wendy who fly out of the Darling family's house and into Neverland, the place where children never grow up.

As John, Wendy, and Michael arrive at Neverland, they are suddenly attacked by Captain Hook and his pirate crew firing cannonballs at them, while Peter attempts to lead them to a safe spot to avoid getting hit by cannonballs. Just as they land at the edge of Neverland, Peter sees the Jolly Roger from a distance, telling Wendy, John, and Michael that Captain Hook is the one leading the attack against them. As Peter is devising a plan to the Darlings to distract Hook, John and the rest of the Darlings are suddenly knocked off the ledge as part of Hook's plans to capture Peter. Suddenly, John and Michael are captured by Captain Hook and his crew as Wendy sees her brothers captured, telling Tiger Lily and the Lost Children about this.

With John and Michael captured by the pirates, Mr. Smee takes them to Hook's cabin which Smee thinks they are dangerous just as Hook hears constant ticking from John's pocket watch which reminds Hook of the Crocodile as Hook addresses a no clocks rule in his cabin. Hook asks John and Michael about how they arrived at Neverland, telling them how they got here without mentioning Peter Pan's name. John tells Smee that he and Michael came with Peter Pan, causing the pirate crew to react in shock, making Hook furious about this and planning to make John and Michael walk the plank to be fed to the Crocodile.

With John and Michael held captive at Skull Rock, Tinker Bell frees the two of them in time thanks to her Pixie Dust just as she escorts Peter, Wendy, John, Michael, and Tiger Lily out of Skull Rock. Having escaped Skull Rock, John follows alongside Michael, Wendy, and the Lost Children into their hideout. Arriving at the hideout, Wendy attempts to tell a bedtime story to the her siblings and the Lost Children to which while discussing with them, she instead sings a lullaby her mother sang to her when she was at home. All of a sudden, John and the rest of the children are captured by Hook and his pirate crew, followed by Wendy who was also captured after the crew arrives at the Lost Children's Hideout, as John, Michael, Wendy, and the Lost Children are imprisoned in their cells.

The next day, Hook orders his crew to send Wendy to walk the plank, followed by John, Michael, and the Lost Children being next; however, Tinker Bell escapes from Smee who trapped her in a lantern and then saves Wendy from falling into the ocean, much to Hook and the other pirates hearing no splash from the ocean as it is shown that Tink saved Wendy from falling into the ocean. Furthermore, John takes part during the battle against Hook's pirates while Peter takes on Hook, alongside Wendy, Michael, the Lost Children, Tinker Bell, and Tiger Lily. Seeing the Jolly Roger about to hit a cliff, John and Michael steer the ship to avoid it. Soon as another pirate fights over the wheel John is controlling, Michael tells Wendy to help him and John get the pirates off their ship, causing the pirates to fall into the ocean while John and Michael hold on tight to avoid falling into the ocean.

With Captain Hook and his crew defeated, John returns to the Darling family's house where he reunites with his parents, followed by Wendy introducing the Lost Children to her parents. The Darlings later see the Jolly Roger floating to return to Neverland as Peter leaves with Tinker Bell.

Disney Parks[]

At one point in the 1980s, John was played by an actual young boy at the Disney parks, but child labor laws of the 1990s forced this to end. If asked where he is, Wendy says that he and Michael are still in the nursery.^[1]

Disneyland Resort[]

John can be spotted alongside Wendy and Michael as an audio-animatronic several times in Peter Pan's Flight.

John was also featured alongside Wendy and Michael in World of Color: Celebrate! at Disney California Adventure, during the segment celebrating animated films.

Along Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland, an animatronic John can be seen in the Peter Pan-themed Enchanted Window display.

Tokyo Disney Resort[]

In Japan, Wendy, John, and Michael appear during the "You Can Fly" segment of Once Upon a Time at Tokyo Disneyland.

Disneyland Paris[]

John has been a rare character at the parks for decades but recently returned to Disneyland Paris for a limited time for meet-and-greet appearances after hours.

John also appeared in Following the Leader with Peter Pan, where he and some of the Lost Boys assist Peter and Wendy, in their regular duties battling pirates.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• In the original book by J.M. Barrie, John's full name is John Napoleon Darling.
• In some Disney storybooks, John's nightshirt is blue instead of white.

See also[]

• John Darling (Once Upon a Time)
• John Darling (Peter Pan & Wendy)

References[]