I love the Disney animated version.
I also saw the play on TV when I was a child, and didn't understand why Peter was a woman--and I was disturbed--haha. It took a few years for me to realize that was the origional stage tradition, and it is beautiful in it's own way.
I know your kids are young, but when they get a wee bit older, Return to Neverland is an amazing movie, and a good way to learn the origins of the story. It has no cursing, violence, sexual activity, or anything like that(pretty sure it's PG)....it just had me blubbering like a baby. Gorgeous, gorgeous film. I love when Peter Davies (boy who inspired Peter Pan) is talking to Barrie near the beginning:
Peter--"This is absurd. It's just a dog."
J.M. Barrie-- "Just a dog? Porthos dreams of being a bear, and you want to shatter those dreams by saying he's just a dog? What a horrible candle-snuffing word. That's like saying, 'He can't climb that mountain, he's just a man,' or 'That's not a diamond, it's just a rock.' ...Just."
*sigh*
Anyways, back to the Disney movie--I think that's a great way to introduce Peter into your children's lives. I like how Hook and Mr. Darling's voices are done by the same person, in the same fashion that in the stage production, the same actor must be used. And I love how Neverland is like a metaphor for forgotten childhood days, something we so easily forget in our quest to "grow up." When Mr. Darling finally sees the light at the end, and says his final line, it always brings tears to my eyes: "You know, I have the strangest feeling that I've seen that ship before, a long time ago, when I was very young."
