Identity and Individuality of Derivative Fictions -- continued

When one traces the structure of the movie Peter Pan, while ruminating on such a fictional reality rich in speculative conception confirmed in the original novel Peter and Wendy, one is able to discover there is also an exquisite philosophical speculation and a precise dramatic device that makes full use of the phase as a derivative work in the dual structure formed with the original work.
　At the beginning of the movie Peter Pan, the title screen is guided by the same string of logos that were written at the beginning of the original novel.

All children grow up…… except one…… Peter Pan

Following the manner of the original novel, which developed an excellent conceptual manipulation with elaborate writing skills, this film also uses text descriptions that faithfully reflect the original story, along with the impressive dialogues of the characters. However, the most important writing of the original Peter and Wendy was found in the narration of the novel. The author Barrie himself appeared in the work as the narrator of the story, and actively addressed the reader as a story teller. Not only in direct conversation with the reader, but behind the scenes, the narrator continues to build the story world by freely choosing the storyline, even having a hypothetical conversation with Mrs. Darling, who is an important figure endowed with a special attribute that determines the direction of the story world. The novel employs an omnidirectional metafictional manipulation that is conscious of the organic structure of the correlation between the function of the narrative and the manifestation of the fictional world that unfolds in the phase space of the reader’s consciousness.(note)

note:
As for the metafictional argument of the narrator’s function in Peter and Wendy, please refer to the author’s study “Fraudulent Narration: Deconstruction in Antifantasy", included in Fantasy as Antifantasy, (2005), the study of Peter and Wendy and the inception of fantasy literature.

At first glance, the movie Peter Pan also introduces a narrator’s voice that closely follows the description of the original story, but there is one major change that is clearly different from the original novel. The film’s narration is done by a female voice that is definitely different from the author, Barrie’s. The reason for this was already hinted at in the film’s introductory scene, which followed the title screen. Wendy was in the children’s room telling her two younger brothers a story that she created, and this is what she was telling.

Cinderella flew through the air, far from all things ugly and ordinary. When she landed at the ball, she found herself most impertinently surrounded by pirates. There was Alf Mason, so ugly his mother sold him for a bottle o’ Muscat. Bill Jukes, every inch of him tattooed. And, cruelest of them all, Hook, with eyes blue as forget-me-nots, save when he clawed your belly with the iron hook he has instead of a right hand, at which time his eyes turn red.

Cinderella, the protagonist of Wendy’s story, flies far away from the banal and ugly world of modern times and lands at a castle ball as told in a fairy tale, but what awaits her is a herd of vicious pirates with eerie extravagant appearances. The pirates described by Wendy are bizarre and monstrous in appearance that are not appropriate for what a good banker’s daughter should talk about. This girl’s adaptation of the Cinderella story is a fairytale in which the protagonist is not satisfied with the sensible modern British society in the early 20th century, and longs for a fantasy not only full of wonder and adventure, but also monstrosity and cruelty. In the original story, Wendy served as a narrator of stories for the lost boys of Neverland. In this film, however, her involvement and qualities as a narrator are further amplified in relation to the subject of the work. The content of Wendy’s narrative alludes to the selfish and cruel traits of “heartlessness,” which was the main theme of the original story, exhibited by the uncaring and cruel quality of children, represented by Peter Pan, who does not care about the pains of others.(note)

note:
For further analysis of the motif of “heartlessness”, please refer to the author’s article, “Heartless Children and Pan-religion”, included in Fantasy as Antifantasy, (2005), the study of Peter and Wendy and the mechanism of fictionality.


Not only is this theme brilliantly translated throughout the film, but also results in a striking conclusion that differs from the original novel. This is shown in the fact that Wendy happily talks about not only the creepiness of each of Hook’s pirates, but also their identities and their nefarious careers. In particular, the description of Peter’s arch enemy, Captain Hook, belongs to a special knowledge of the underworld that only the author knows, which an ordinary English girl is not supposed to be acquainted with.(note)

note:
In the original story, it was implied here and there that Neverland was a mental world that belonged to the minds of children, and that it was semantically equivalent to the children's known memories. This is illustrated by the description of the Darling children on their first visit to Neverland with Peter.

Strange to say, they all recognised it at once, and until fear fell upon them they hailed it, not as something familiar friend to whom they were returning home for the holidays.

However, the description of Neverland and the pirates in the film is presented as the words spoken by Wendy herself, and her role as a narrator who describes this world is highlighted.


The question is, where did Wendy get all this secret information from? It may be suspected that this Wendy is another “Wendy" who has actually read the fantasy novel Peter and Wendy written by the original author Barrie and has a bird’s-eye view of the original story. If this is the case, then the various references to the details of the world of Peter Pan story that she is about to make must be convincingly explained.