Alternative Character Interpretation: The common one is that Peter is actually a lesbian trying to convince Wendy that she's a boy. And Captain Hook is dumb enough to fall for it.
Peter could also be interpreted as transgender, in that he was assigned female at birth but doesn't want to grow into a woman — which would not only mean his body would develop in an unwanted way, but also, given the play takes place in Edwardian England, that he would essentially have his freedom taken away by having to marry and have children, essentially becoming someone else's property. Hence why he fled to Never Land: to remain comfortable in his own skin and free to do whatever he wants.
Squick: To some viewers, the song "Oh My Mysterious Lady," which has Captain Hook pursuing a "lady" that's actually Peter Disguised in Drag. It's Played for Laughs, similar to Bugs Bunny's crossdressing to trick Elmer Fudd, and made even funnier by the fact that Peter is played by a woman, but the fact remains that Hook is unwittingly flirting with a child.
Values Dissonance: A ceremony the Indians hold for Peter consists mainly of singing gibberish meant to sound like a native language. Averted with the December 2014 live-action TV adaption, which not only specifically cast a Native American actress as Tiger Lily, but replaced the gibberish with actual Native American dialogue, in an effort to be more respectful. For some, this was not a substantial-enough change.
2014 Portrayal
Base-Breaking Character: Christopher Walken in the 2014 live show. People are pretty well split between his being terrible, or the best reason to watch. Or both.
For all that is divisive or downright hated in this production, the one thing that everyone can get behind is Christian Borle's dual role as Mr. Darling and Smee (to the point that many wished that he played Captain Hook over Christopher Walken).
Additionally, many praised Borle's fellow pirates for doing their very best to add some kind of energy to the screen whenever a seemingly sleepwalking Walken was on screen with him.
On a lesser scale, fans also like Christian Borle's well-built arms as Smee.
Many tuned into the December 2014 TV adaptation either to see Christopher Walken (and his dancing skills). Alternately, many were upset at Pan for casting a white actress as Tiger Lily, and tuned in to support NBC's choice to make her Native American, and the song she sings in her language accurate to real Native American culture.
Additionally, look up videos of this show on YouTube and you'll find several people saying they're only there for Christian Borle.
The 2014 live film asking the viewers to save Tinkerbell via Twitter. At least they didn't go so far as having Peter actually say it, but that hashtag pulls you right out of the moment. Fortunately but unsurprisingly, home video prints don't include such a caption.
Additionally, every serious scene with Christopher Walken as Captain Hook is unintentionally funny. And pretty much every scene of his that's meant to be funny is funny for the wrong reasons.
Most obviously there's the moment where he blatantly forgets his line and takes a good couple of seconds to figure out what to do.
The moment when he's supposed to finish off one of his songs with a big high note and whiffs so badly that it's barely audible.
In general, compared to his much more lively fellow pirates, Walken looks perpetually bored throughout the show. This is most clear when he's dancing alongside them. Walken's dancing skills are still quite strong for a man in his 70s, and while he keeps up with them, the sheer energy and character emitting from his crew just exposes how half assed he's looking.
Many have criticized Allison Williams' clearly feminine appearance as making it impossible for anyone to buy her as a boy.
Narm Charm: Sure, it's not the best delivery, but Christopher Walken's unimpressed "That's it?" to Wendy's attempted inspiring words towards the Lost Boys is probably the only time that his half asleep performance comes to an intentional laugh.
Many observers' reaction to the decision to cast Christopher Walken as Captain Hook, since Walken looks nothing like the character out of makeup. His makeup for the actual production didn't help much either.
Another main criticism was that Alison Williams looks too feminine for the role, looking more like a Tomboy or Butch Lesbian than a boy. Musical Hell adds that her performance is "too sophisticated and introspective" for someone that's supposed to be "thoughtless, arrogant, and self-centered".
Many of the same people who disagree with Walken being cast as Hook are in agreement that Christian Borle would have been a much better choice, both because he was already playing Mr. Darling, a role typically double-cast with Hook, and he was already a Tony Award winner with much more experience in live theatre. Not to mention that the aforementioned Tony Award was for playing (a younger version of) Captain Hook.
Sophomore Slump: Among NBC's first three musicals of The New '10s (The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, and The Wiz), Peter Pan received by far the worst premiere night ratingsnote 9.21 million viewers vs. 18.5M for The Sound of Music and 11.5M for The Wiz, and also became the only one of the three to receive zero Emmy Awards.
Special Effect Failure: The HD cameras used for the 2014 performance made it rather hard to hide the actors' wires, and sometimes even the overhead lighting.
, this was not a substantial-enough change.