Tiger Lily is a fictional character in

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

's 1904 play ''

Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...

'', his 1911 novel ''

Peter and Wendy ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...

'', and their various adaptations.

History

Tiger Lily is the daughter of Great Big Little Panther, the chief of the Piccanniny tribe, the fictional tribe of Native Americans living in

Neverland Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. Altho ...

. Barrie describes her as "a princess in her own right. The most beautiful of dusky Dianas and the belle of the Piccaninnies, coquettish, cold and amorous by turns." She is apparently old enough to be married, but refuses any suitors because of her feelings towards Peter. She is jealous of

Wendy Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

and

Tinker Bell Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation ''Peter and Wendy''. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 an ...

. Tiger Lily is kidnapped by

Captain Hook Captain James Hook is a fictional character and the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain ...

and his pirates but is rescued by Peter Pan.

In other media

*In the 1924 silent film ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'', she is played by

Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain intern ...

. *In the Disney animated film of the same name, Captain Hook kidnaps Tiger Lily. This leads her father Big Chief to suspect that the Lost Boys were responsible. Hook leaves her to drown at Skull Rock, but she is saved by Peter. He returns Tiger Lily to her tribe. While the tribe celebrates, Wendy becomes jealous of how Tiger Lily is flirting with Peter. Unlike other females in Neverland, Tiger Lily has no hostility towards Wendy herself. *In ''

Cheshire Crossing ''Cheshire Crossing'' is a fantasy webcomic written and originally illustrated by Andy Weir from 2006 to 2008, and later illustrated by Sarah Andersen for Tapas (syndicate), Tapas from 2017 to 2019. The latter version was published as a graphic ...

'', an older Tiger Lily is responsible for saving Wendy's life after she is stabbed, both having previously been romantically involved. *Tiger Lily appears in '' Peter Pan & the Pirates'' voiced by

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is a American-Canadian actress and singer. She has worked extensively in animation, voicing long-running characters such as Susie Carmichael in ''Rugrats'' and Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and r ...

. She and her brother Hard-to-Hit sometimes tag along with and aid their friends Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the Darling children and the Lost Boys on their many adventures. *In

P. J. Hogan Paul John "P. J." Hogan (born 30 November 1962) is an AACTA Award-winning Australian film director and writer. Early life Hogan was born in Brisbane, Queensland. As a teenager, he lived on the North Coast of New South Wales and attended Mt ...

's 2003 film, she is played by Carsen Gray. In this version Tiger Lily is attracted to Wendy's younger brother John. *In ''

'', she is portrayed as Aaya, played by

Q'orianka Kilcher Q'orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher (; born February 11, 1990) is an American actress, singer, and activist. Her best known film roles are Pocahontas in Terrence Malick's 2005 film ''The New World'', and Kaʻiulani in ''Princess Kaiulani'' (2009). In ...

. Aaya means "lily of tiger" in her native language. *Tiger Lily appears in '' Pan'' portrayed by

Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...

as love interest to a younger James Hook, a casting that created controversy due to claims of whitewashing. *Tiger Lily appears in ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...

'' portrayed by Sara Tomko. In this version, she started out as a

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

that was the

fairy godmother In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...

to a baby

Rumplestiltskin "Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; german: Rumpelstilzchen) is a German fairy tale. It was collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about a little imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a ...

and a friend of the

Blue Fairy The Fairy with Turquoise Hair ( it, La Fata dai Capelli Turchini; often simply referred to as The Blue Fairy, ''La Fata Turchina'') is a fictional character in the 1883 Italian book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi, repeatedly appea ...

. At some point, Tiger Lily gave up her fairy wings and relocated to

where she had a history with Captain Hook. *She is the protagonist of the book ''Tiger Lily'' (2012) written by

Jodi Lynn Anderson Jodi Lynn Anderson is an American children's writer. Anderson grew up in northern New Jersey. Anderson attended college in the University of Maryland where she graduated with a BA in British Literature. She went on to get an MFA in Writing and Lit ...

, told from the point of view of Tinker Bell. *Tiger Lily appears in Jonathan Green's role-playing gamebook ''Neverland: Here Be Monsters!'' as a playable character. This version is a fierce warrioress who rides a saber-toothed tiger as a steed and has proven herself in battle against the dinosaurs roaming Neverland. *Canadian

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk will be portraying Tiger Lily in the film ''

Peter Pan & Wendy ''Peter Pan & Wendy'' is an upcoming American fantasy adventure film directed by David Lowery, who wrote the screenplay with Toby Halbrooks. Jim Whitaker and Joe Roth served as producers in the production of Walt Disney Pictures, which is a liv ...

'', which is due for release in 2023 on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

Reception

The character has attracted controversy due to

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and Native American stereotyping. Controversy also arose from the name given to her tribe, "Piccanniny" - a term which is now widely understood to be a racial slur.

References

External link

* {{Peter Pan Theatre characters introduced in 1904 Peter Pan characters Fictional Native American people Fictional princesses Fictional tribal chiefs Child characters in film Child characters in literature Female characters in film Female characters in literature Female characters in television Fictional Native American women