Behind every story is an origin of inspiration; the amount of truth that inspiration holds varies across eras, regions, as well as how many dialects these stories had to be translated to. There are still many individuals who believe large franchises are the creators of the famous fairytales and folk-lore that is commonly known; however, many of the “love conquers all, happily ever after” stories containing nothing short of a light-hearted tone were derived from much darker, ominous stories which claim to have historical accuracy. In the words of a person who will remain anonymous, “I sense a Disney copyright.” No, kind individual, Disney merely took what was a pre-existing tale and put their own twist on it. Though I mean, Disney no offense, I myself am an obsessor of every Disney movie created, I mean only to delve a little deeper into the interesting facts behind many stories which Disney produced. One in particular, "Peter Pan."
Though this tale has crossed paths with many story-tellers, and authors, there are three in particular which show a clearer adaptation of how a historical tale became that of a famous disney movie. For instance:
"The Pied Piper of Hamelin"
In the year 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany, this town was suffering from a horrid rat infestation. The town was crowding with rats and a man dressed in many colors came to the town claiming that his piped-instrument could allure the rats thus driving them out of the city. All he wanted in return was payment for his successful efforts of ridding Hamelin of their dreaded infestation. The townspeople, of course, agreed, eager to no longer suffer from them. Though the piper was true to his word and led the rats from the city, the townspeople were not as true, for they denied the piper his deserving payment. He was furious, and fled from the city, vowing to have revenge on them.
Not too long after, on July, 26, the piper returned dressed in many colors, playing his piped-instrument. His melodious-pipes once again were successful, only this time it was the children he lured from the town, and the children were never seen again. There were but a few children who were left behind. It is described in the written accounts that a child was lame and could not follow, another child was deaf and could not hear the music, and the third child was blind and therefore could not see the path. These children informed the townspeople of what happened. This story was earliest recorded after being depicted from a stained-glass window. The oldest known manuscript was the Lueneburg, dated around 1450. This manuscript read: “In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on June 26, by a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.” There are, though, certain accounts in which state the rats were not a part of the earlier story, and added during the 16th century.
"The Little White Bird/Adventures in Kensington Gardens" by J.M. Barrie
While also including the reference in J.M. Barrie’s "Kensington Gardens" to the Greek mythological character, Pan, who was half-man and half-goat and played pipes to nymphs, Peter Pan in Barrie’s story was a devious boy who played pipes to the fairies and actually rides a goat. Peter — though youthful and seemingly innocent in his adventurous heart yearning for a continued life of boyhood, only to freely play in the mythical world of Neverland — was darker than later interpretations of his character. He was seemingly obsessed with staying in boyhood, never to grow old, and took lost boys as prisoners. He lured them by playing a piped-instrument to an other-world to be treated as slaves. There was much killing throughout Barrie’s novel, some instances rather gruesome. A line in the story read,
"The boys on the island vary, of course, in numbers, according as they get killed and so on; and when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out…"
Disney’s "Peter Pan"
Lastly, the beloved Disney film portrayed a much more light-hearted, joyous, free-spirited boy who meant to only seek adventure with his companions he picked up along his way to Neverland. Though it still holds many references to the Greek mythological character, Pan, in that he plays his piped-instrument for the enjoyment of the children. There are other added references, inspirations, etc., which created a beautiful tale known to be a favorite to many Disney-fanatics (myself included) rich with historical reference.
For many other Disney movies which were earlier darker adaptations, read into the tales by Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm brothers.
