Peter Pan is a 1953 American
animated film produced by
Walt Disney and based on the play
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by
J. M. Barrie. It is the 14th film in the
Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by
RKO Pictures. Peter Pan is the final Disney animated feature released through RKO before Walt Disney's founding of his own distribution company,
Buena Vista Distribution, later in 1953 after the film was released. Peter Pan is also the final Disney film in which all nine members of
Disney's Nine Old Men worked together as directing animators. It is also the second Disney animated film starring
Kathryn Beaumont,
Heather Angel, and
Bill Thompson after their roles in the animated feature
Alice in Wonderland.