In 1964, Walt Disney screwed over a hospital for sick children and cost Audrey Hepburn an iconic role: “I find his behaviour unconscionable”
Great Ormond Street Hospital’s dispute with Walt Disney’s company over the rights to Peter Pan helped derail a planned live-action film starring Audrey Hepburn. The proposed adaptation might have raised money for the hospital, which held rights to the original stage production, but Disney’s opposition prevented the project from going ahead.
In 1964, director George Cukor was preparing the film with Hepburn as Peter Pan and Laurence Olivier considered for Captain Hook; its proposed budget was $10 million. Disney had acquired rights to make an animated version in 1939, and its film was released in 1953. The hospital’s legal action was settled in 1969, bringing £14,000 in compensation and £30,000 towards costs, but Cukor and Hepburn had moved on.
In short
- Disney’s Peter Pan rights dispute derailed a planned Hepburn film.
- Great Ormond Street Hospital received £14,000 in compensation.
- Cukor criticised Disney’s conduct in a 1964 letter.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Disney had acquired the rights to make its animated adaptation in 1939, so the company could reasonably seek to protect its understanding of those rights and its investment in the 1953 film. A proposed live-action version could have created legal or commercial uncertainty, and Disney may have believed that opposing it was necessary to defend its legitimate interests.
The case against
Great Ormond Street Hospital held rights to the original stage production, and the proposed film offered a possible way to raise money for children’s care. Disney’s opposition helped prevent the project from proceeding, while the eventual settlement came too late to revive it; critics can argue that the company could have pursued its interests without blocking a potentially valuable charitable adaptation.
Explained simply
Peter Pan began as a play by J. M. Barrie, who gave its rights to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children’s hospital in London. The gift was intended to help fund the hospital, and it meant the hospital had a financial interest in later uses of the story.
Walt Disney’s company had acquired rights to make an animated Peter Pan film, released in 1953. In 1964, director George Cukor planned a live-action version with Audrey Hepburn as Peter and Laurence Olivier considered for Captain Hook, but a dispute over the rights stopped the project.
The disagreement mattered because a film could have brought money to the hospital, while the proposed roles offered a striking new take on a familiar story. The legal dispute was settled in 1969, after the planned film and its potential cast had moved on.