Peter Pan gets gender transformation in latest Disney movie

Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up, is now the girl who never grows up in a new Disney movie due for release later this year, although Peter will still be called Peter.

In the original book and all subsequent adaptations, Peter spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys.

However, Disney’s retelling of Peter Pan will include girls among the Lost Boys as well as some transgender, cisgender, gender fluid, gender-variant, bi-gender, semi-gender, demi-gender and gender-bender children.

David Kapalski, the film’s American director, defended the decision to break from tradition following a backlash on social media, tweeting: “Get with the times people. Boys and girls are so yesterday.”

Kapalski has made controversial changes to existing material before, like in his 2016 adaptation of A Hard Day’s Night – The Story of The Beatles, when he cast Beyonce as Paul McCartney.

In this latest movie, Peter Pan will be played by Yari Shahudu, a young and upcoming African American actress. Kapalski said he thought that in all previous versions, Peter was “an incredibly unlikable character”.

“He was a straight white boy for Christ’s sake. How more unlikable can you get?”

Captain Hook, the moustache-twirling villain, will be played by Oprah Winfrey.