- “You know, I have the strangest feeling I've seen that ship before...a long time ago, when I was very young.”
- ―George Darling
George Darling is Mary's husband and Wendy, John, and Michael's father as well as a character Disney's 1953 animated feature film Peter Pan.
Background[]
George lives in London with his family. He is referred to as Father by Wendy, John, and Michael and "George, dear" by Mary.
Personality[]
George's personality is at first, loud, practical, and angry. He is noticeably involved with Wendy, John, and Michael albeit in a very strict manner. His anger toward his sons is not entirely without justification, as they had defaced his shirt front by drawing a treasure map on it and used his golden cufflinks in one of their nursery games both without his permission. His anger at Wendy, on the other hand, is because she is about to mature into a woman and become a proper lady, and it can be surmised that etiquette at the time provided that ladies shouldn't speak of childish things like Peter Pan when they are in public situations. Despite his outbursts, George often calms himself down, which he eventually admits that he does not mean on the prior things he said when he was angry, thus allowing Wendy to stay in the nursery again.
Appearances[]
Peter Pan[]
George is a very practical man who doesn't believe in childish stuff such as Peter Pan and Neverland, despite once believing in all of it when he was very young himself. During the night in which most of the film takes place, he and Mary are getting ready to go to a party, and he can't find his golden cufflinks, because without them he won't be able to go to the party and "never show his face in the office again" (a line taken from the original Barrie novel). He accidentally hit his head on the drawer in the process.
George goes into the nursery and asks where his cufflinks are and finds his shirt front and finds that it has a treasure map drawn on it with chalk. When John and Michael explain that it is from Wendy's stories about Peter Pan, he becomes angry, calling Peter Pan "absolute poppycock" as well as mispronouncing his name-calling him "Peter Pirate"-and demands that Wendy should have a room of her own because she's growing up and declares that it's her last night in the nursery (which shocks everyone, especially Wendy). When he began to storm out of the room, he accidentally trips over Nana. Both falls, but the rest of the family only comforts Nana. George is shocked and jealous, and this causes Nana to be put in her doghouse. Michael begs George not to do so, but he angrily refuses and drags Nana all the way out, while Michael is holding onto her tail, but he is forced to let go by Mary and he sadly waves at Nana. She is heartbroken as she never sleeps in her doghouse. George feels sympathy for her while roping her up because he believes that she is a dog, not a nursemaid, and that Wendy, John, and Michael aren't puppies but people, and need to grow up eventually. When George and Mary leave for the party, Mary asks if Wendy, John, and Michael will be okay without Nana, because Wendy mentioned about capturing Peter Pan's shadow the previous night at the window. George calls the whole thing crazy and tells Mary that she's as bad as they are and that it's no wonder that Wendy is getting crazy ideas.
George isn't seen throughout the film until the end when he and Mary are returning home from the party, and he brings Nana back in. He also has changed his mind about Wendy and decides to let her stay in the nursery after all (confirming his wife's earlier remark that he was only upset about not finding his cufflinks). When he and Mary get in there, they find Wendy asleep on the window seat, but she soon wakes up and tells them about their adventures in Neverland with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys and fighting off Captain Hook to which George has heard enough and turns away to go to bed until he looks out the window. As the film closes, he watches a cloud shaped like the Jolly Roger along with Wendy, Mary, and Nana, and recognizes it from his childhood. He starts to understand once again that some fantasies may be real after all.
Return to Never Land[]
George doesn't appear in the sequel or isn't mentioned by any one of the characters (including Wendy). He has either passed away prior or has moved to a new home, as Wendy's family now lives in the Darling House.
Once Upon a Time[]
George and the rest of the Darling family appear in the second season of the ABC fairy tale drama. He is portrayed by Andrew Airlie. He retains the personality he has in the film - a stern, no-nonsense, practical man who wants Wendy, John, and Michael to grow up. However, he looks radically different than in the movie; instead of heavyset, he is very slim and has whiter-looking hair.
Peter Pan & Wendy[]
George in the live-action remake.
George appears in the 2023 live-action remake of the 1953 film, portrayed by Alan Tudyk. Unlike in the original film where both George Darling and Captain Hook were both performed by the same actor respectively, as well as the original play and many other adaptations, both characters are now portrayed by separate actors in the remake (in this case, Tudyk playing George with Jude Law playing Hook).
George is first seen drinking tea while reading his newspaper not noticing his sons John and Michael Darling pretending to be Peter Pan and Captain Hook. He then hears the commotion of John and Wendy pretending to be pirates after John's sword hits a mirror, telling John to know who is responsible for the crack on the mirror which George takes away their wooden swords while feeling concerned of Wendy's behavior of her last night at home just as George takes Nana outside, telling the children of the Darling family that Nana can no longer be in the nursery.
Later when Wendy returns home, George approaches his daughter who tells her that he is hearing a commotion in their house. Wendy then introduces the Lost Children to her father who came from Neverland, much to George's surprise. Later when Peter Pan and Tinker Bell leave to return to Neverland, George sees the Jolly Roger leave for Neverland as he reacts in surprise, which his wife tells him that what he is seeing is Peter Pan and the Pixie Dust used on the ship.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- George and Captain Hook share the same voice actor, Hans Conried, which follows the theatrical tradition that both characters are played by the same actor.
- The fact that George both sounds like and resembles Captain Hook might have been Wendy subconsciously associating his antagonism toward her and her stories with Captain Hook's vendetta against Peter Pan, assuming that she dreamed the whole adventure up.
- Both the sequel Return to Never Land and the Jake and the Never Land Pirates episode "Battle for the Book" are alleged to confirm that it was not a dream. However, as DisneyToons Studios (the company responsible for producing Return to Never Land) has been shut down, the movie (as well as "Battle for the Book") is no longer considered canon according to Keith Lapining on YouTube [1]
- The fact that George recognizes the shape of the cloud in the form of a ship from his childhood suggests that he once had an adventure with Peter Pan when he was a child. This is further suggested by the film's opening narration, stating "All this has happened before..."
- Although George doesn't appear in Tinker Bell, he is mentioned by Wendy in the teaser trailer of the movie, stating, "Father says that fairies really do exist. As long as we believe."
Variants[]
- George Darling (Once Upon a Time)
- George Darling (Peter Pan & Wendy)
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