Though the film was a modest success, Walt Disney himself was dissatisfied with the finished product, feeling that the character of Peter Pan was cold and unlikable. However, experts on J.M. Barrie praise this as a success, as they insist that Pan was originally written to be a heartless sociopath.

In compliance with the tradition of the stage version, the same actor, Hans Conried, performed the roles of both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook; the two characters' looks were even modeled after his voice actor. Nana and the Crocodile are also a "dual role" on stage, which the animators acknowledge by giving the Crocodile canine qualities.

In the originally-planned version, Nana traveled with the children to Neverland. It also had a much darker ending.

The Darling children become very sleepy as their parents leave the room. This may not be merely because it is their bed time. The "tonic" given to the children by Nana may have been morphine. It was quite common in the early 20th century to give children "soothing syrups" and "tonics" to control their behavior. These concoctions turned out to consist of several different narcotics. However, J.M. Barrie, in his original draft script for the first film version of his play, the live-action Peter Pan (1924), identifies the mysterious medicine as - non-narcotic - castor oil, which he intended to be shown on the label in close-up. Doctor of Medicine Charles West, in his "Mother's Manual of Children's Diseases" from 1885, describes castor oil as perhaps the safest, and the most generally applicable medicine needed in the minor ailments of children, showing how popular the treatment was at the time, while also acknowledging its taste as "one of the great griefs of the nursery".

When Walt Disney was a child, he played Peter Pan in a school function.

Continuity

When Hook gets the idea to manipulate Tinker Bell, he calls for Smee to give him his best hook. Hook then takes a golden hook and replaces his normal silver one with it, screwing it into the silver base. However, in the next scene, after throwing Smee from the room, the base is inexplicably gold. It remains gold in the scene with Hook and Tinker Bell. Also, Hook previously placed a ring on his golden hook and it is not present during his scene with Tinker Bell.

When Hook sits down in a chair for his shave, he is well away from the side of the ship. But in the next shot, he leans back in his chair against the side of the ship. After the Crocodile arrives, Hook bolts from the chair into Smee's arms and the camera pans from the chair he was sitting on over to a second chair on the right. No second chair is seen before then.

After Mr. Smee gives Hook a shave, they see Peter Pan and the Darling children arriving at Neverland. Hook calls for Smee to raise the crew which he does with a whistle hanging around his neck - a whistle that wasn't there until that moment.

When the children are in the nursery being tucked into bed, Wendy's pillow changes from being striped to being white and then striped again.

Captain Hook is dueling Peter Pan in the scene with Tiger Lily. Hook almost falls when he steps off the ledge and his sword falls. In the next scene, Hook's sword is back in its scabbard as he hangs by his hook from a cliff.



Incorrectly regarded as goofs

When Peter Pan rescues Tiger Lily and he is flying her away, she spits out water and her lips move to say "thank you" but no words come out. This is a common occurrence when one's breathing has been impaired.



Revealing mistakes

Shortly after Wendy leaves Big Ben's hands, her face disappears. All that is showing is a blank pink area (play the DVD in slow-motion).

When Hook, Tink, and Smee are all in Hook's cabin and he goes to drag a drunken Smee out, he is dragging Smee with the hook surprisingly on his right arm.

As Peter, Wendy, John, Michael, and Tinker Bell near Neverland (toward the end of the "You Can Fly" sequence), Peter's shoes change from brown to green.

During the song "The Elegant Captain Hook", Wendy's hair color changes several times. Additionally in the same scene, there are shots where Wendy is not present at all.



Miscellaneous

In one scene, Wendy quickly goes from joy being at the redskins celebration to really being appalled by it. It's likely because she enjoyed seeing Peter Pan as the big hit there, but then got 'turned off' by the redskins culture (especially since her brothers John and Michael were enjoying it). Another suggestion is that John and Michael are seen with face paint and she doesn't (though she has a headband), meaning she likely refused that.

Peter Pan's or John Darling's hats never fly-off their heads when they're flying fast. But this is a common cartoon depiction.

During the scene at Skull Rock, Captain Hook could not be 'walking' on air for a few seconds before gravity drops him down. But cartoons do often use gigs like these. They have artistic licence.



Audio/visual unsynchronized

When Wendy is being splashed by the mermaids and she says "If you dare to come near me again..." her mouth isn't moving.



Plot holes

When at Skull Rock, how come Captain Hook noticed and heard Peter Pan imitating him (to trick Smee) the SECOND time Pan was doing it? not the first. He sure wasn't any quieter.

The pixie dust makes people fly, with no mention that it'll wear down. Sometime after flying to Neverland, Wendy is also seen briefly flying when she and Peter are at Skull Rock. Why didn't she (along with John and Michael) even try to fly off the pirate ship, in the time when the pirates had untied them?



Character error

Smee tells Hook that the cook told him that the first mate told him that he heard that Pan had banished Tinkerbell but technically Smee is the first mate.