Neverland is the fictional island and dream world featured in the play Peter Pan by Scottish writer J. M. Barrie and subsequent novel Peter and Wendy.^[1] While sojourning in Neverland, people may cease to age; therefore, Neverland is often seen as a metaphor for eternal childhood (and childishness), immortality, and escapism. In the earliest drafts of Barrie's play, the island was called Peter's Never Never Never Land, a name possibly influenced by the contemporary term for outback Australia^[2]. When the play was performed, the island was referred to as the Never Never Land. In the published play, it was shortened to the Never Land. In the novel, it was spelled as one word: the Neverland.

Peter led Wendy Darling and her brothers to Neverland by flying "second to the right, and straight on till morning," though it is stated in the novel that Peter made up these directions on the spot for a voyage that he made intuitively.

Areas

The Neverwood

This is probably the most famous location in Peter Pan. The Home Underground is settled in the Neverwood, as is the Wendy House. Most of the adventures take place in the Neverwood.

The Home Underground

This is where Peter and his Lost Boys reside. There are many entrances into the underground home. Hollowed-out trees are made to fit every Lost Boy in Peter's ranks, and there is a small Nevertree in the middle of the large room that grows every day. Peter and the children use it as a table to eat on, then they cut it when it has grown too large. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, Peter lets the Nevertree grow too large, and it grows out of the roof. It then picks up the Wendy House and lifts it into the air.

Fort Pan

Peter mentions, in Peter Pan in Scarlet, that he was going to build a new home after his quest with the Darling children. This new home would be called Fort Pan, and he claimed that only Wendy would be allowed into it.

The Mermaids' Lagoon

The mermaids lounge around in the Mermaid Lagoon without a care in the world. This is also the location of Marooner's Rock. It is not safe for mortals to visit Mermaid Lagoon at night. This is the most dangerous place in Neverland.

Neverpeak Mountain

This is the huge mountain that is right in the middle of Neverland. According to Peter Pan in Scarlet, when a child is on top of Neverpeak Mountain, he or she can see over anyone and anything and can see beyond belief.

Grief Reef and the Maze of Regrets

In Peter Pan in Scarlet, there exists a maze where all the mothers of the Lost Boys go to find their boys. This was thought to be a maze of witches before the League of Pan ran into Mr. Smee.

Various Places

There are many places not really explained in any canon Peter Pan story. These include: the Thirsty Desert, the Nevva River, the Never City, the Elephant's Graveyard, Parcel Pass, the Groves of Academe, Slightly Gulch, and many more.

The Neverland World

Creation

According to Peter Pan in Scarlet, the island was pushed up from the ground by imagination. And in Peter Pan, it's shown that whatever a child dreams and wishes for will come true in Neverland. But according to Peter and the Starcatchers, the island is a normal island; it was named by Peter in memory of the Neverland, a boat he was sent on along with his gang of St. Norbert's boys.

The Fabric

There is a Fabric that exists between the Neverland world and ours. It is broken in Peter Pan in Scarlet by grown-up mess. This causes the dreams in Neverland to leak out. Then, the Darling children begin having dreams of Neverland. Only children are let past the fabric of Neverland. In Peter Pan, it shows that no one could go to Neverland without the island looking for them.

The Journey

The journey to Neverland is portrayed in many ways. In the James Barrie novel, the island was found by the children when they flew onward for days. They wouldn't have found it if it weren't for the island moving toward them. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, they get to the Neverland world by flying on a road called the High Way. In many movie adaptions, they find the world by flying into a star.

Treasure

In Peter Pan in Scarlet, it says that treasure in Neverland is whatever you wish it to be. That is why Peter found Eton trophies in the treasure chest, for he had wished for them.

Time

In the world of Neverland, they say that time is told by either the Crocodile's clock or the suns and moons. It is mentioned in the novel Peter Pan that there are many more suns and moons there than in our world. In Peter Pan in Scarlet, it says that time froze to the children as soon as they got into Neverland.

Imagination

Imagination seems to have great dominion over Neverland. In the novel Peter Pan, it says that a map of a child's mind would resemble a map of Neverland. It also shows that what you wish for ends up in Neverland. And J.M. Barrie also says that the island has no boundaries at all, probably metaphorically stating that a child's imagination has no boundaries either. The belief in fairies and Neverland seems to regenerate Peter and the fairies.

Surrounding Islands

According to Peter Pan in Scarlet, Neverland resides in a sea known as the Sea of One Thousand Islands. In the book, Peter explores some of this sea, passing by islands of various sizes. The most amazing thing encountered on this adventure is Lodestone Rock: a magnetic rock that destroys the Jolly Peter and the SS Starkey along with it.

Fairies in Neverland

In the novel Peter and Wendy, the version of James Barrie's famous Peter Pan stories that was published in 1911, there are fairies on Neverland. In the part of the story where Peter Pan and the lost boys built a house for Wendy on Neverland, Peter Pan stays up late that night to guard her from the pirates, but then the story says: "After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose and passed on." ^[3]

Peter Pan in Scarlet

In the book Peter Pan in Scarlet, Neverland has transformed from the summer climate it is known for into fall.^[4] That is because time in Neverland moved on where it wasn't supposed to be. Peter hasn't noticed a real change because he likes Neverland in whichever season it is. The reason time has moved on is due to the Big War that has messed with the minds of children, causing grown-up mess to leak in. This makes dreams leak out of Neverland and bad things sneak in, but everything is put back to normal at the end of the novel. All the grass and trees grow back from the fire that Hook caused, the Thirsty Desert is watered once the snow on Neverpeak melts, and the Sun turns yellow again and stays out for days at a time.

Uses of the word "neverland" in popular culture

According to various Merriam-Webster dictionaries, the word "neverland" is defined as "an ideal or imaginary place". Often these neverlands are created in dreams of any human - child, teenager, or adult.

The in-between place inhabited by various mystical creatures in the books series The Dresden Files is referred to as the "Nevernever".

In the song Enter Sandman by Metallica, Never Never Land is referred to as the place where the Sandman lives. Never Never Land is also referenced at the end of the song King Nothing.

Neverland is also the name of a comic book published by an autonomous cartunist in Brazil. In the story, the main characters are all children, fighting for their lives in a post 3rd World War period around the year of 2050.

Neverland Ranch is the name of Michael Jackson's ranch in Santa Barbara, where he had a private amusement park, and which was the site of much controversy before he moved away in 2005. He named the ranch after Neverland from the Peter Pan stories.

Kingdom Hearts series

Further information: List of worlds in the Kingdom Hearts series

In the video game Kingdom Hearts, that takes inspiration from various Disney animations, "Neverland" (as seen in the film Peter Pan) appears as a world. Though none of the plot took place on the island itself, Sora, Donald, and Goofy find themselves boarded on The Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship, and meet Riku, where they discover he has fallen to the powers of darkness because of Maleficent. Riku asks Sora to join him into the darkness to help find Kairi's heart, but Sora refuses to give in. Then, Riku creates a Heartless out of Sora's shadow and sends Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the bottom of the ship.

At the bottom of the ship, they find Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. They learn that, much like Kairi, Wendy was taken because she was believed to be one of the Princesses of Hearts. After finding out Wendy isn't one of them, Riku soon leaves with Kairi. Sora saw Kairi being taken as he was in the room under her but thought that she was being taken to some other part of the ship, not away from the world. Sora then agrees with Peter to help him save Wendy so that he can save Kairi. Sora, then, battles the Heartless that Riku created and left there on the ship after entering the Captain's Room. After defeating it, they go out on the deck just to find Captain Hook ready to fight them. Threatening to hurt Tinker Bell, Sora puts his Keyblade away and starts to walk the plank. Then, he remembered what Peter Pan said to him on how to fly. .. to fly you must think of a happy thought. Thinking of a happy thought he jumps off the plank but gets the ability to fly. Then, Captain Hook attacked Sora. Sora defeated Captain Hook and found Wendy at the Clock Tower in London. Finally, Sora locked the keyhole of Neverland, protecting it from the darkness.

In the sequel , the world serves as part of a trip to Sora's past. He has to get past this world to get higher to the top to find the thing that he needs. The world is set only in the Jolly Roger, and has a similar plot to the first game only that Captain Hook captures Wendy without clear intentions.

References