The Tragedy Behind Peter Pan

The literary answer to whether Peter Pan was based on a real child, however, is yes - and not just one child, but two.

Playwright and author J.M. Barrie created the character of Peter Pan following a devastating personal tragedy.

When James was 13 years old, his younger brother David, age six, drowned in a frozen river. Their mother fell into profound depression, and trying to comfort her, young James began wearing his deceased brother's clothing and pretending to be the lost son who would never return, ensuring that through his older brother taking his place, David would remain a child forever.

The real Peter

The second child who inspired "Peter-Pan" gave the character his name.

Peter Llewelyn Davies was a young boy who played with his mother and four brothers in London's Kensington Gardens, where author J.M. Barrie walkd daily to think and write.

Barrie befriended the Llewelyn Davies children, and with their mother's permission, visited their home to play with them in the yard.

He invented magical worlds for them populated by fairies, crocodiles, pirates and lost boys. The leader of these lost boys was a child named Peter, who later acquired the surname Pan. These stories evolved into a stage play, then a book, films and animated series. Even 120 years later, the eternal boy continues to captivate children and adults worldwide.

The tragic true stories behind the children's tale

• Playwright and author J.M. Barrie never replicated the success of Peter Pan. During the writing of the play, his marriage dissolved, and he died alone, unhappy despite his literary triumph.

• Sylvia, the parents of the Llewelyn Davies children, both died of illness within a short time of each other. Barrie adopted all five children but could never replace the close bond they had shared with their mother.

• George, the eldest Llewelyn Davies brother, whose name was given to the father character in the original play("George Darling"), was killed in combat during World War I.

• Michael,the second Llewelyn Davies brother and the boy Wendy's brother character was named after, drowned in a river at age 21, eerily echoing the death of David, Barrie's younger brother.

• Peter, the youngest Llewelyn Davies child when Barrie met them, whose name was given to the main character, acknowledged Barrie's support of his family, but grew distant from him as an adult. He resented having his name attached to the eternal boy. After gradual descent into alcoholism and a largely unsuccessful life, Peter Davies took his own life at age 65.

A whole new story

After the magical musical ends, people might wonder what happened to beloved characters like Tinker- Bell the fairy, Nana the nursemaid dog, and the Lost Boys Tootles and Nibs?

The answer lies in copyright restrictions. Director and the original producer Uri Paster, along with current director Hanoch Rosen who playd Peter-Pan, were forced to create an entirely original musical featuring 10 Hebrew songs (with original music by Israeli composer Ilan Gilboa), because the Walt Disney Company refused to sell the rights of the original story to the Israeli production.

One final trivia fact before flying off to see Peter Pan: the character's original name is "Pan," not "Pen", named after the flute Peter played for the inhabitants of "Neverland" (the original book's name for the "land of the lost boys").

However, the confusion between "Pan" and "Pen" has persisted and endured, just as "Peter Pan" remains a young boy forever.