B. J. Harrison Reads Peter Pan recap

Peter Pan visits the London nursery of Wendy, John, and Michael Darling and teaches them to fly to Neverland. Wendy becomes a motherly storyteller to Peter and the Lost Boys, while the children encounter fairies, mermaids, Tiger Lily, and Captain Hook's pirates. Hook captures Wendy and the boys after poisoning Peter's medicine, but Tinker Bell drinks it and survives when children affirm their belief in fairies. Peter boards the pirate ship, defeats Hook, and sends him to the waiting crocodile. Wendy decides that she and her brothers must return home, and the Lost Boys go with them. The Darling parents welcome the children and adopt the Lost Boys, but Peter refuses to grow up. He later returns to find Wendy an adult, then takes her daughter Jane to Neverland; succeeding generations repeat the visit while Peter remains unchanged.

Wendy Darling lives in London with her younger brothers, John and Michael, their parents, and Nana, the dog who serves as nursery nurse. Mrs. Darling has heard Wendy speak of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up, and one night glimpses him at the window. Nana catches his shadow, which Mrs. Darling stores away. After Mr. Darling angrily chains Nana outside, the parents leave for an evening engagement. Peter returns with the fairy Tinker Bell to retrieve his shadow. Wendy wakes and sews it back on. Peter describes Neverland and invites Wendy to come tell stories to the Lost Boys; John and Michael join her. With fairy dust and happy thoughts, the three children learn to fly and leave through the nursery window with Peter and Tinker Bell.

The flight to Neverland is long and uncertain, and Peter's unreliable memory makes the journey dangerous. On arrival, Tinker Bell tricks the Lost Boys into shooting Wendy from the sky, but a button at her chest stops the arrow. The boys build a little house around her and invite her to become the mother of their underground household. Neverland's pirates are led by Captain Hook, who hates Peter for cutting off his hand and feeding it to a crocodile. The crocodile has pursued Hook ever since, usually announcing itself with the ticking of a clock it swallowed. Peter, Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost Boys settle into a life of pretend family routines mixed with conflict among the island's pirates, animals, mermaids, and other inhabitants.

Wendy manages the underground home and tells stories while Peter plays the father, though he resists any suggestion that the game could become real. At the mermaids' lagoon, the children discover that Hook has left Tiger Lily chained on a rock to drown at high tide. Peter imitates Hook's voice, orders the pirates to release her, and then fights when the deception is exposed. Peter is wounded and stranded as the tide rises, but a bird allows him to use its floating nest as a boat. Wendy escapes on a kite. Peter's rescue of Tiger Lily earns the friendship and protection of her people, while Hook's humiliation intensifies his determination to destroy Peter and the household below ground.

The children continue their happy domestic game, but Wendy tells the story of the Darling parents waiting faithfully for their missing children. She realizes that she, John, and Michael may forget their real home if they stay. Wendy resolves to return to London, and the Lost Boys choose to accompany her and seek adoption. Peter refuses because he will not risk growing up. Before the children can leave, Hook discovers the entrances to the underground home. The pirates seize Wendy and the boys and carry them to the ship. Hook enters after them and adds poison to Peter's medicine, leaving the sleeping boy alone and unaware of both the kidnapping and the trap.

Tinker Bell reaches Peter before he drinks the poisoned medicine. Unable to convince him by warning alone, she drinks it herself and begins to die. Peter appeals to children everywhere to show that they believe in fairies; the response restores her. He hurries to the pirate ship, where Hook is preparing to make Wendy and the boys walk the plank. Peter imitates the crocodile's tick, terrifies the crew, and secretly frees the prisoners. In the ensuing battle the children defeat the pirates. Peter and Hook fight one another, and Hook finally falls from the ship into the jaws of the waiting crocodile. Peter takes command of the ship and prepares to carry Wendy, her brothers, and the Lost Boys home.

The Darling parents have kept the nursery window open in hope of their children's return. Peter briefly tries to close it so Wendy will believe she has been forgotten and go back with him, but he relents. Wendy, John, and Michael reunite with their parents, who also adopt the Lost Boys. Peter rejects Mrs. Darling's offer to adopt him because he fears growing up. The other boys eventually attend school, take jobs, marry, and become adults. Peter returns years later and is shocked to find Wendy grown, married, and the mother of Jane. He takes Jane to Neverland instead. When Jane grows up, her daughter Margaret follows her, and the cycle continues across generations while Peter remains a child and forgets much of the past.

Peter brings Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost Boys back to the Darling nursery, where Mr. and Mrs. Darling joyfully receive them. The Darlings adopt the Lost Boys, who gradually grow into ordinary adult lives. Peter refuses adoption because it would mean school, work, and adulthood. He returns to Neverland and soon forgets many of his old companions. Years later he comes back for Wendy, only to discover that she has grown up and has a daughter, Jane. Peter takes Jane to Neverland to do spring cleaning and hear stories; when Jane grows up, her daughter Margaret follows. The pattern continues while Peter remains forever young, separated by his choice from the people who remember and love him.