JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan, donated the copyright to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929, meaning all royalties from the story go to the hospital. The exact amount is unknown, but Disney’s 1953 film has earned over 20 times its $4 million production cost. Barrie added “pixie dust” to the story after children hurt themselves trying to fly like the Darling children.
Peter Pan is the story of a boy who never grows up. But this is fiction. In the real world, children grow up and some of them have Scottish novelist and playwright JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, to thank. In 1929, Barrie gave the copyright to his popular children’s novel and play to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. The unexpected donation meant that from then on, all royalties earned from the story, including book sales and theater performances, would go to the hospital, which specializes in the care of children and which has a worldwide reputation as a leading facility in the heart transplant. Peter Pan has never gone out of print, but the exact amount he takes to the hospital has never been revealed, per Barrie’s request. The author once told diners at a gathering that he had given the gift after a request from a special friend: “Once upon a time, Peter Pan was an invalid in hospital…and it was he who made me accept the little thing I did .”
All about the boy who could fly:
Great Ormond Street Hospital licensed the animation rights to Peter Pan to Disney in 1939. Walt Disney had fond memories of playing Peter Pan in a school play.
Released in 1953, Disney’s Peter Pan cost $4 million dollars to produce, but it has since earned more than 20 times that amount.
In the original version of Peter Pan, the Darling children were able to fly on their own. Barrie later added “pixie dust” to her story after discovering real-life kids hurt themselves trying to fly off their beds.
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