Nana is a St. Bernard who appears in Disney's 1953 animated feature film Peter Pan. She is the nursemaid of the Darling children.
Background
Personality
Nana is very caring toward the Darling children and treats them as her own pups. The children cherish Nana as an important family member. When Nana was taken to the dog house for the night, it was considered a cruel punishment for the Darlings. Even when George Darling took her to the dog house, he felt sorrow after seeing Nana's saddened face. Nana is in charge of the children's health, giving them medicine presumably every night.
Nana is first introduced as the Darling family's nursemaid and dog. Nana was first seen doing her daily duties; cleaning the room and putting away the Darling children's toys and games. When Wendy is told she must grow up, she was shocked by the decision. When George Darling begins to storm out the room, he trips over Nana. Both Nana and George fall, but the rest of the family only comforts Nana. George is shocked, and this causes Nana to be put in the dog house. As she was being dragged by the collar, Michael holds on her tail trying to stop George from taking her to the doghouse, but Mary kindly stops him by picking him up and she waves at him sadly. Nana is heartbroken, as she never sleeps in the dog house. George feels sympathy for Nana but claims the children are not puppies and Nana is truly a dog. During the musical number "You Can Fly", Peter Pan took the children on a trip to Neverland, and Nana spots the children flying out the window with Peter. Nana is horrified and tries to stop them. Michael Darling spreads some of Tinker Bell's pixie dust on Nana is begins to fly but is held back by the leash waving goodbye. When the Darlings return home from their Neverland flight, Nana is happy to be taken back to the room, as George finally realizes he's been too hard on Wendy and Nana. Nana joins Wendy, George, and Mary Darling as they watch Peter Pan fly away with The Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship.
Nana is shown in the Disney Junior movie, Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Battle for the Book. Captain Hook steals Wendy's book, which is her reminder of the many memories and adventures of her and the outstanding, brave Peter Pan. Jake and his pirate friends come to the nursery to take the Darling children to Neverland to rescue the book. When Jake comes to the window, Nana makes a sudden appearance.
Nana appears as an audio-animatronic statue in Peter Pan's Flight. She makes her most notable appearance in the Darlings bedroom, next to the letter blocks that constantly fall, as she attempts to stack them, and outside next to her doghouse.
She also appears in the Peter Pan-themed Enchanted Window display along Main Street, U.S.A..
Trivia
In the original book, Nana is a Newfoundland.
Originally, Nana was going to journey to Neverland alongside the Darling children and have a comical subplot chasing after Tinker Bell. She was also intended to be the film's narrator. While she was dropped from that side of the story, she was given a notable role in the opening and ending of the film, becoming a beloved character from it. However, she did go to Never Land with the children in the Jake and the Never Land Pirates movie, Battle for the Book.
