No matter how often society or time itself changes, some people just never seem to grow up. It was true in J.M. Barrie’s legendary children’s novel PETER PAN AND WENDY, which introduced generations of children and their families to Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinker Bell, and the villainous pirate Captain Hook.

However, while the 1991 Steven Spielberg blockbuster HOOK viewed Peter Pan as a more mature adult (played in the film by Robin Williams), it didn’t quite lend itself to a more realistic interpretation of its characters as people nor did it take place in an entirely modern real life setting. The hilarious new comedy web series THE NEW ADVENTURES OF WENDY AND PETER achieves that goal, but with a distinctively adult twist on the classic tale and its characters.

Created by Shawn deLoache and series co-star Kyle Walters, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY is an incredibly unique modern take on the literary classic.

The series debuted its first season of 24 episodes on, of all days, May 9th – J.M. Barrie’s 154th birthday, and its premiere party 3 days earlier catapulted the series into the national Twitter ‘trending’ column. (Photos of the gala event are available on the show’s Facebook page). New episodes air twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays via its official web site and Youtube pages.

In addition to the main series, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY also involves its large viewership through unique transmedia content that does more than serve as a mere extension of the series itself. It puts viewers in touch with the show’s characters through social media, and provides plenty of opportunities for fan interaction through role playing the characters on the official web site of Neverland, Ohio’s hometown newspaper, The Kensington Chronicle.

The site, designed to appear like a typical online news hub and with stories depicting the town’s people and its daily happenings, also features a digital comic book that serves as a mashup of Peter Pan and popular sci-fi movies and TV series. (More on all that later).

Like the novel and its many film and TV adaptations, Peter Pan is just as youthful, fun loving and high flying as ever. Only this time, the boy who never grew up (played by Walters) is now in his late ‘20s, lives in a small town called Neverland, Ohio, and works – though not that much – as a cartoonist for The Kensington Chronicle. Despite the fact that he’s grown older, Peter isn’t necessarily wiser or more mature, although he’s got a job and plenty of responsibilities that he just can’t seem to take seriously.

Of course, his love for Wendy Darling (played by Paula Rhodes) is just as apparent, but unlike Peter, she wants to become an adult and to fully understand how better her life can be. Furthermore, she’s ready to break away from Neverland and to realize her full career potential as an advice vlogger, but she also wants to keep the fun in her life too.

Her brothers, Michael (played by Brennan Murray) and John (Graham Kurtz), could not be any more different from each other. While Michael only serves to emulate Peter’s “man-child” like lifestyle, John is more strait laced, business oriented and out to conquer the corporate world.

Along with the twinkling, magical fairy Tinkerbell, the story’s main characters are rounded out by Lily (Lovlee Carroll), and while she’s not necessarily a fairy tale princess, she’s got just as much power through the almighty dollar than she would through a golden crown – and she’s also got a thing for Peter. Together, they’ve all got to face the challenges of growing older, but can they do it without losing out on the fun parts of life?

Primarily inspired by J.M. Barrie’s time honored tale of childhood innocence, the idea for updating the adventures of Peter Pan and his friends to bring a more modern, adult perspective to the classic children’s tale began, rather innocently, through modern technology.

“The original idea for the show actually came from a fan of Kyle’s who put his head on Peter Pan’s body for a gif. A few months later, Kyle wanted to do a new project and lo, The New Adventures of Peter & Wendy was born! It was destiny, and the internet, which tells you your destiny if you Google it at midnight during a full moon,” deLoache recalls.

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY is not only an amazingly funny comedy, but it also transcends the boundaries of episodic storytelling by blending the traditional feel of a sitcom with the opportunities provided by modern web technology. As a result, viewers can see the story’s action from multiple perspectives.

Adds deLoache: “Well, like some of our brother and sister shows, we use the blog format, but we also wanted to be able to move around a bit and have more of a sitcom feel. To accomplish this we see the show from two POV’s. The first is Wendy’s computer cam, which is the traditional vlog style. The second is from Tinkerbell’s POV. This allowed us to have a moving camera who is also a main character of the show that we never actually see!”

Although shooting each episode of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY had its difficulties, deLoache, Walters, Rhodes and the entire cast and crew overcame them thanks to their combined talents.

“Production was one of the most fun, exhausting, and exhilarating experiences of my career thus far. When you’re shooting a feature length script on less than an indie film budget, you know everyone involved is there for the love of the project. Everyone involved was amazing, from our incredible DP to our PAs. We had a lot of fun on set, there was a good energy, and when you mix good energy with talented people you get a great product,” deLoache remembers.

In addition to the main series, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY also has a strong transmedia element that further adds to the overall experience, through character vlogs, Twitter accounts and even a comic book version of the show, THE ADVENTURES OF PAN SOLO (a mashup of PETER PAN and classic sci-fi/space films like the STAR WARS saga).

Even the town’s newspaper, the Kensington Chronicle, takes on a life of its own outside the series itself. As Rhodes explains, the show’s fans are a huge part of it.. “…Fans are registering on the Kensington Chronicle site as residents of Neverland, OH and role playing together online – it’s becoming such a magical community, we’re loving it!” (Links for all social media sites related to the series are below.)

Already, the series has achieved incredible success online, plus an enormous fan following that continues to grow through the series proper and through its supplemental social media content.

Yet, no matter how successful THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY becomes, deLoache and Rhodes feel they have already achieved that success through stories well told, and characters who anyone that’s trying to grow up, or hasn’t yet, can instantly identify with.

Says deLoache: “My goal as a writer is always to entertain, educate, to inspire. The best part of this process has been reading the fan reactions. If this show can get one person to smile when they are having a bad day, then it is a success for me. From a business standpoint, I hope we get the financing to do the next two seasons. I hope that this show leads to new jobs for all the people involved, myself included, and if we make enough money so I can buy the name brand toilet paper and cereals I like so much then…WINNING!”

Adds Rhodes: “Yeah, the healthiest way to go into any indie passion project is to know you’re doing it for the art and as a calling card. Anything else is icing. I do, however, have an excellent feeling about our chances at icing here.” THE ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY proves that no matter how old we get, we’re all still young at heart. Yet, through its hilarious comedy and characters, the challenge of balancing the serious parts of life and the fun side of it is truly an adventure all the same.

(Note: The series is not currently closed captioned, but Walters says he’s working on it. However, Walters adds that it’s already subtitled in Portuguese thanks to a group of dedicated fans.)

ON THE WEB: http://thenewpeterandwendy.com

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/EpicRobotTV

For all social media accounts related to THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY, please visit:

http://thenewpeterandwendy.com/connect

To visit THE KENSINGTON CHRONICLE’s web site, log on to:

http://kensingtonchronicle.com

The first episode of THE ADVENTURES OF PETER AND WENDY can be viewed here: