History Film / FindingNeverland

* CutSong: Besides an entire cut ''score'' (see {{Retool}} below), between the 2014 Boston premiere and the 2015 New York staging the first three songs -- "Anywhere But Here", "Better", and "Rearranging the Furniture" were cut. ("If the World Were Upside Down" and "All of London Is Here Tonight" replaced the first two songs.)

* FantasySequence: Act One ends with a two-song sequence ("Live by the Hook" and "Stronger") in which James imagines Captain Hook and his crew encouraging him to get over his doubts about his new project.

* {{Retool}}: An extreme case. The show originally had a score by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie and book by Allan Knee, and opened in the U.K. in 2012 with the intent of a West End transfer. It didn't do well enough with critics and audiences to justify that, and producer Harvey Weinstein's revision efforts culminated in him making a fresh start with a new creative team (not only writers, but director, choreographer, etc.). Even then, there were quite a few {{Cut Song}}s between the 2014 Boston premiere and the Broadway staging.

TheMusical adaptation opened with [[Series/{{Glee}} Matthew Morrison]] as Barrie, Creator/KelseyGrammer in the dual role of Frohman and (via a FantasySequence) Capt. Hook, and Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia. [[Music/TakeThat Gary Barlow]] and Eliot Kennedy wrote the songs.

* PromotedToLoveInterest: Sylvia, though aside from one kiss with James it's platonic.
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TheMusical adaptation opened on Broadway in April 2015 with [[Series/{{Glee}} Matthew Morrison]] as Barrie, Creator/KelseyGrammer in the dual role of Frohman and (via a FantasySequence) Capt. Hook, and Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia. [[Music/TakeThat Gary Barlow]] and Eliot Kennedy wrote the songs.

*** Barrie's producer, Charles Frohman, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie as full of cynical misgivings about the Peter Pan idea, was in reality unfailingly supportive of Barrie throughout his career (he was one of Barrie's few real adult friends) and was crazy about ''PeterPan'' from its inception. His enthusiasm for the project ran to acting out whole scenes from the play to friends. Years later, when he died in the Lusitania disaster, he is claimed to have gone down quoting, 'to die will be an awfully big adventure'.
*** There was a complex line of development between Barrie's inspiration an the eventual emergence of the play ''PeterPan''. Pan first appeared as a fiction within a fiction, in Barrie's novel ''The Little White Bird'', which was itself a great success.
*** The film's bittersweet ending is a little misleading in tone, if not actually factually inaccurate. Peter and Barrie's relationship became strained as the boy grew up, rather than reaching the equilibrium achieved in the film. Peter grew to hate his association with Pan. George and Michael, Barrie's 'ones', both died young and in tragic circumstances: George was taken out by a sniper in the trenches of WWI, aged 21. Michael and his close friend / possible lover drowned in what was either a terrible accident or a suicide pact.

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TheMusical adaptation opened on Broadway in April 2015 with [[Series/{{Glee}} Matthew Morrison]] as Barrie, Creator/KelseyGrammer in the dual role of Frohman and (via one of Barrie's {{Imagine Spot}}s) Capt. Hook, and Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia. [[Music/TakeThat Gary Barlow]] and Eliot Kennedy wrote the songs.

''FindingNeverland'' is a 2004 film VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory about James M. Barrie's work on ''PeterPan'', starring Creator/JohnnyDepp in an Oscar-nominated performance.

Producer Harvey Weinstein later spearheaded a ScreenToStageAdaptation of this movie that turned it into TheMusical. It opened on Broadway in April 2015 with Creator/MatthewMorrison as Barrie, Creator/KelseyGrammer in the dual role of Frohman and (via one of Barrie's {{Imagine Spot}}s) Capt. Hook, and Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia. [[Music/TakeThat Gary Barlow]] and Eliot Kennedy wrote the songs.

''FindingNeverland'' is a 2004 film VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory about James M. Barrie's work on ''PeterPan'', starring JohnnyDepp in an Oscar-nominated performance.

As a result of this film, both Freddie Highmore and Eileen Essell (who played the elderly Mrs Snow, one of James' biggest fans) were suggested by JohnnyDepp for the 2005 ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' adaptation, playing Charlie and Grandma Josephine, respectively. Additionally, this movie happens to feature three actors who played recurring characters in the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' series: JohnnyDepp as James M Barrie and Captain Jack Sparrow, Mackenzie Crook as Mr Jaspers (the usher) and Ragetti (the pirate with a wooden eye), and Angus Barnett as Mr Reilly (the actor playing Nana) and Mullroy (one of the two comic relief redcoats).

''FindingNeverland'' won the AcademyAward for Original Music Score. It was also nominated for Art Direction, Costume Design, Editing, Adapted Screenplay, Leading Actor (Depp, as previously mentioned), and Best Picture.

The show received a musical ScreenToStageAdaptation in Leicester, England in 2012, but plans for a transfer to London's West End did not work out. A subsequent {{Retool}} proved so extreme that the original book and score were completely replaced, and in this form the show opened on Broadway in April 2015.

The show received a musical ScreenToStageAdaptation in Leicester, England in 2012, but plans for a transfer to London's West End did not work out. A subsequent {{Retool}} proved so extreme that the original book and score were completely replaced, and in this new form the show opened in Boston in August 2014, with a Broadway transfer already promised for Spring 2015.

*** Barrie's producer, Charles Frohman, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie as full of cynical misgivings about the Peter Pan idea), was in reality unfailingly supportive of Barrie throughout his career (he was one of Barrie's few real adult friends) and was crazy about ''PeterPan'' from its inception. His enthusiasm for the project ran to acting out whole scenes from the play to friends. Years later, when he died in the Lusitania disaster, he is claimed to have gone down quoting, 'to die will be an awfully big adventure'.

The show received a musical ScreenToStageAdaptation in Leicester, England in 2012, but plans for a transfer to London's West End did not work out. A subsequent {{Retool}} proved so extreme that the original book and score were completely replaced, and in this new form the show opened in Boston in Summer 2014, with a Broadway production planned later.

* FakeBrit: The American JohnnyDepp as the Scottish James M Barrie

* ActorAllusion: Frohman wears Captain Hook's costume while criticising the script. Dustin Hoffman of course played the role in ''{{Film/Hook}}''.
** In the original script Frohman was supposed to mock a couple of Hook's lines, but Hoffman refused, saying that he had already played Hook once, greatly disappointing the director.
* {{Asexuality}}: James

As a result of this film, both Freddie Highmore and Eileen Essell (who played the elderly Mrs Snow, one of James' biggest fans) were suggested by JohnnyDepp for the more recent ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' adaptation, playing Charlie and Grandma Josephine, respectively. Additionally, this movie happens to feature three actors who played recurring characters in the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' series: JohnnyDepp as James M Barrie and Captain Jack Sparrow, Mackenzie Crook as Mr Jaspers (the usher) and Ragetti (the pirate with a wooden eye), and Angus Barnett as Mr Reilly (the actor playing Nana) and Mullroy (one of the two comic relief redcoats).

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* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Mrs du Maurier being played by Julie Christie.

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Finding_Neverland_8997.jpg]]

The film begins with the opening night of James' most recent play, ''Little Mary'', which flops. Charles Frohman (DustinHoffman), his producer, decides to finance his next play anyway--James just hasn't written it yet.

Out in the park with his dog some time later, James encounters the four Llewelyn Davies boys and their widowed mother, Sylvia (Kate Winslet). He strikes up a friendship with the five of them, particularly Peter (Freddie Highmore, in his first well-known role), who has become very serious as a result of his father's death. James, Sylvia, Peter, and Peter's brothers (George, Michael, and Jack) proceed to have all sorts of wacky boyish adventures together, occupying almost all of James' free time. The relationship between James and Sylvia draws the ire of both James' wife, Mary (Radha Michell), and Sylvia's mother, Emma (Julie Christie)--the former because she's afraid she's losing her husband to another woman, and the latter because the scandalous (though false) rumors about Sylvia and James are ruining Sylvia's chances at getting remarried.

Though most of the film is a fairly straightforward period piece, the first half has several (often extended) {{Imagine Spot}}s by James Barrie, showing his overactive imagination and inspiration for various parts of the play.

As a result of this film, both Freddie Highmore and Eileen Essell (who played the elderly Mrs. Snow, one of James' biggest fans) were suggested by JohnnyDepp for the more recent ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' adaptation, playing Charlie and Grandma Josephine, respectively. Additionally, this movie happens to feature three actors who played recurring characters in the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' series: JohnnyDepp as James M. Barrie and Captain Jack Sparrow, Mackenzie Crook as Mr. Jaspers (the usher) and Ragetti (the pirate with a wooden eye), and Angus Barnett as Mr. Reilly (the actor playing Nana) and Mullroy (one of the two comic relief redcoats).

* ActorAllusion: Frohman wears Captain Hook's costume while criticizing the script. Dustin Hoffman of course played the role in ''{{Film/Hook}}''.
** In the original script Frohman was supposed to mock a couple of Hook's lines, but Hoffman refused, saying that he had already played Hook once, greatly dissapointing the director.

* BittersweetEnding: ''PeterPan'' is a success, but Sylvia's illness catches up to her. Still, [[spoiler:Peter starts writing again, James shows him the power of his imagination, and Emma reconciles with James]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Charles. "Now my nightmare is complete," indeed.

* DefinitelyJustACold: Sylvia tries to downplay her illness; Peter, who is rather unhappy with this sort of thing, anticipates it an preemptively lashes out.

* FakeBrit: The American JohnnyDepp as the Scottish James M. Barrie

* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Mrs. du Maurier being played by Julie Christie.

* HonoraryUncle: James is explicitly called "Uncle Jim" and "Uncle James" by the boys, though given his personality, he's more of an honorary big brother.

* ImagineSpotting: The final ImagineSpot is shared by James, [[spoiler:Sylvia, Emma, the boys, and the actors]].

* ManChild: Though James is (mostly) capable of taking care of himself, he has an air of immaturity and childlike wonder about him, and he clearly has much more fun playing make believe with the Llewelyn Davies boys than he does socializing with adults.
* MrImagination: James spends the entire film imagining a more fantastic version of the events he's experiencing, ranging from games with the boys (a western shootout with the boys as cowboys and James as a native; a pirate ship with the boys as pirate captives of James and Sylvia) to "enhanced" versions of the events he's seeing (raining in the theater as his play bombs; the boys starting to fly as they jump on their beds).
* NeverSayDie: The PG-rated movie has no problems with death, but some of the characters (such as Mrs. Snow) do end up avoiding the word, consistent with Victorian sensibility.
* ParentalSubstitute: James, to the boys

* RomancingTheWidow: Rumors of this arise as a result of all of the time that James spends with Sylvia--the reality is more of a platonic variation; Emma is rather annoyed with James because his attentions are keeping this from legitimately happening to Sylvia (her daughter).
* ShowWithinAShow: Both of James' plays--bits of two different productions of ''PeterPan'' are shown on-screen. Some of the actors playing actors are only credited by the character their character plays.
* ThatLiarLies: "Stop lying to me! I'm sick of grownups lying to me!" Peter ''really'' hates it when adults downplay the severity of the situation.

** The above is forgivable (it may be a version of the fact that at the real premiere, Barrie had arranged for the orchestra to respond to the 'clap your hands if you believe' if the audience weren't forthcoming. He needn't have worried). It may also be a nod to the fact that Peter Pan has a long association with helping suffering children - Barrie willed the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. There are many more glaring departures in the film from reality, largely in the name of simplifying, neatening, and sometimes sentimentalising. Amongst may others:
*** When Barrie met the Llewelyn Davies boys Peter was only an infant, and in fact Barrie's closest relationships amongst the boys were with with George and Michael. The youngest Llewelyn Davies brother Nico (himself completely erased from the movie's reality), acknowleged that George and Michael were 'the ones' to Barrie. Michael was the main inspiration for Peter Pan, despite the character sharing his name with his younger brother.

*** Barrie's producer, Charles Frohman, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie as full of cycnical misgivings about the Peter Pan idea), was in reality unfailingly supportive of Barrie throughout his carreer (he was one of Barrie's few real adult friends) and was crazy about ''PeterPan'' from its inception. His enthusiasm for the project ran to acting out whole scenes from the play to friends. Years later, when he died in the Lusitania disaster, he is claimed to have gone down quoting, 'to die will be an awfully big adventure'.
*** There was a complexline of development between Barrie's inspiration an the eventual emergence of the play ''PeterPan''. Pan first appeared as a fiction within a fiction, in Barrie's novel ''The Little White Bird'', which was itself a great success.
*** The film's bittersweet ending is a little misleading in tone, if not actually factually innaccurate. Peter and Barrie's relationship became strained as the boy grew up, rather than reaching the equilibrium achieved in the film. Peter grew to hate his association with Pan. George and Michael, Barrie's 'ones', both died young and in tragic circumstances: George was taken out by a sniper in the trenches of WWI, aged 21. Michael and his close friend/possible lover drowned in what was either a terrible accident or a suicide pact.

Out in the park with his dog some time later, James encounters the four Llewelyn Davies boys and their widowed mother, Sylvia (Kate Winslet). He strikes up a friendship with the five of them, particularly Peter (Freddie Highmore, in his first well-known role), who has become very serious as a result of his father's death. James, Sylvia, Peter, and Peters brothers (George, Michael, and Jack) proceed to have all sorts of wacky boyish adventures together, occupying almost all of James' free time. The relationship between James and Sylvia draws the ire of both James' wife, Mary (Radha Michell), and Sylvia's mother, Emma (Julie Christie)--the former because she's afraid she's losing her husband to another woman, and the latter because the scandalous (though false) rumors about Sylvia and James are ruining Sylvia's chances at getting remarried.

** In the original script Frohman was supposed to mock a couple of Hooks lines, but Hoffman refused, saying that he had already played Hook once, greatly dissapointing the director.

Despite some initial hangups, ''PeterPan'' ends up being quite the success, much to Charles' surprise. Due to Sylvia's illness, only Peter is able to make it on opening night, leading James to, well, that would spoil the [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming rather heartwarming]] ending.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: "But I'm not Peter Pan (Points to James) he is."

* HistoricalBeautyUpgrade: In real life Barrie was tiny - due, it is thought to psychogenic dwarfism (Barrie's brother David died when James was 6, and his mother made it very clear to James that she preferred the dead son who would never grow up). His short stature plagued Barrie's self-confidence and informed his work. Apart from that he was unremarkable-looking; on the gaunt side and head a bit too big for his body. Naturally, then, he is portrayed by ''JohnnyDepp''.

*** Barrie's producer, Charles Frohman, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie as full of cycnical misgivings about the Peter Pan idea), was in reality unfailingly supportive of Barrie throughout his carreer (he was one of Barrie's few real adult friends) and was crazy about Peter Pan from its inception. His enthusiasm for the project as ift was in development ran to acting out whole scenes from the play to friends. Years later, when he died in the Lusitania disaster, he is claimed to have gone down quoting, 'to die will be an awfully big adventure'.

** The above is forgivable (it may be a version of the fact that at the real premiere, Barrie had arranged for the orchestra to respond to the 'clap your hands if you believe' if the audience weren't forthcoming. He needn;t have qworried). There are many more glaring departures from relaity, largely in the name of simplifying, neatening, and sentimentalising:
*** When Barrie met the Llewellyn Davies boys, Peter was only an infant, and in fact In fact Barrie's closest relationships throughout his assocation with the boys, was with the older boys George and Michael. Even youngest brother Nico (himself completely erased from the movie's reality), acknowleged that George and Michael were 'the ones' to Barrie. Michael was the main inspiration for Peter Pan, despite the character sharing his name with his younger brother.

*** The film's bittersweet ending is a little misleading in tone if not actually factually innaccurate. Peter and Barrie's relationship became strained as the boy grew up, rather than reaching the equilibrium achieved in the film. Peter grew to hate his association Pan. George and Michael, Barrie's 'ones' both died young, in tragic circumstances: George died in the trenches of WWI, aged 21. Michael and a close friend/possible lover of him, drowned in what was either a terrible accident or a suicide pact.

*** When Barrie met the Llewellyn Davies boys, Peter was only an infant, and in fact In fact Barrie's closest relationships throughout his assocation with the boys, was with the older boys George and Michael. Even youngest brother Nico (completely erased from the movie's reality), acknowleged that George and Michael were 'the ones' to Barrie. Michael was the main inspiration for Peter Pan, despite the character sharing his name with his younger brother.

*** Barrie's producer, Charles Frohman (played in the movie by Dustin Hoffman), was unfailingly supportive of Barrie throughout his carreer (he was one of Barrie's few real adult friends) and was crazy about Peter Pan from its inception. His enthusiasm for the project as ift was in development ran to acting out whole scenes from the play to friends. Years later, when he died in the Lusitania disaster, he is claimed to have gone gone quoting, 'to die will be an awfully big adventure'.

* GrowingUpSucks: James firmly believes this, and tries to stop Peter from growing up so quickly

* HonoraryUncle: James is explicitly called "Uncle Jim" and "Uncle James" by the boys, though given his personality, he's more of an honorary big brother