The Graduate

# The Graduate

## Abstract

The Graduate is a 1967 American independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson, but then falls for her daughter, Elaine.

The Graduate was released December 21, 1967, to critical and commercial success, grossing $104.9 million in the United States and Canada, making it the highest-grossing film of 1967 in North America. Adjusted for inflation (as of 2021), the film's gross is $857 million, making it the 22nd highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, with inflation taken into account.

It received seven nominations at the 40th Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Best Director, the latter being the film's sole win. In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is currently (as of the 2007 rankings) ranked by the American Film Institute as the 17th greatest American film of all time, having been ranked 7th in 1997. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time.

## Plot

After earning his bachelor's degree, Benjamin Braddock returns to his parents' home in Pasadena, California. During the graduation party hosted by his parents, Benjamin cringes as they and their guests praise him, and he retreats to his bedroom, where Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, insists that he drive her home. Once there, she tries to seduce him. He initially resists her advances but later changes his mind and soon invites Mrs. Robinson to the Taft Hotel, where he registers under the surname "Gladstone".

Benjamin spends the summer floating in his parents' swimming pool by day and meeting Mrs. Robinson at the hotel by night. During one of their trysts, Mrs. Robinson reveals that she and her husband married after she accidentally became pregnant with their daughter, Elaine. When Benjamin jokingly suggests that he date Elaine, Mrs. Robinson angrily forbids it. However, Benjamin's parents and Mr. Robinson, unaware of the affair, are eager for Benjamin to date Elaine, and relentlessly pester him to ask her out.

Benjamin gives in to his parents' wishes, and he reluctantly takes Elaine on a date, to Mrs. Robinson's displeasure. Ben attempts to sabotage the date by ignoring Elaine, driving recklessly and taking her to a strip club. She flees the club in tears, but Benjamin, feeling remorseful, goes after her, apologizes, and kisses her. They eat at a drive-in restaurant, where they bond over their shared uncertainty about their future plans. After they visit the Taft Hotel for a late-night drink and the staff greet Benjamin as "Mr. Gladstone", Elaine deduces that Benjamin is having an affair. Benjamin admits his affair was with a married woman he does not name. He tells Elaine the affair is over, and asks to see her again.

To prevent Benjamin from dating Elaine, Mrs. Robinson threatens to tell Elaine about their affair. To thwart this, Benjamin reveals to Elaine that the married woman is her mother. Elaine is so upset that she throws Benjamin out of the house. Soon, she returns to school at Berkeley. Benjamin follows her there, hoping to regain her affections. Elaine initially rejects him and briefly dates medical student Carl Smith, but then learns that her mother lied to her when she claimed Benjamin raped her, and the pair reconcile. Benjamin pushes for an early marriage, but Elaine is uncertain despite her feelings for him. Later, an angry Mr. Robinson arrives at Berkeley and confronts Benjamin in his boardinghouse room, where he informs him that he and his wife will be divorcing soon and threatens to have Benjamin jailed if he continues to see Elaine. He then forces Elaine to leave college to marry Carl.

Benjamin drives back to Pasadena, breaks into the Robinson home searching for Elaine, and confronts Mrs. Robinson, who calls the police claiming her house is being burglarized. She tells Benjamin that he cannot prevent Elaine's marriage to Carl. Benjamin flees and drives over 300 miles back to Berkeley. There, he discovers the wedding is in Santa Barbara that day. He speeds over 300 miles to Santa Barbara but his car runs out of gas a short distance from the church. Benjamin runs to the church, arriving just as the ceremony is ending. His desperate appearance in the glass church gallery stirs Elaine into defying her mother and fleeing the sanctuary. Benjamin fights off Mr. Robinson and repels the wedding guests by swinging a large cross, which he uses to barricade the church doors, trapping everyone inside. Benjamin and Elaine, in her wedding gown, escape aboard a bus and sit among the startled and staring passengers. As the bus drives on, their ecstatic smiles slowly change into neutral expressions as they begin to ponder their uncertain future.

## Cast

- Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson

- Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock

- Katharine Ross as Elaine Robinson

- William Daniels as Mr. Braddock

- Murray Hamilton as Mr. Robinson

- Elizabeth Wilson as Mrs. Braddock

- Buck Henry as Room Clerk

- Brian Avery as Carl Smith

- Walter Brooke as Mr. McGuire

- Norman Fell as Mr. McCleery

- Alice Ghostley as Mrs. Singleman

- Marion Lorne as Miss DeWitte

Richard Dreyfuss makes a brief, uncredited appearance in his second film role as one of the tenants in Mr. McCleery's building. Ben Murphy also has an uncredited appearance, as the shaving fraternity brother who comes out with a double entendre. Mike Farrell was uncredited as a hotel bellhop.

## Production

Getting the film made was difficult for Nichols, who, while noted for being a successful Broadway director, was still an unknown in Hollywood. Producer Lawrence Turman, who wanted only Nichols to direct it, was continually turned down for financing. Turman also said that every studio turned down the project, saying "they read the book and hated it, and no one thought it was funny". He then contacted producer Joseph E. Levine, who said he would finance the film because he had associated with Nichols on the play The Knack, and because he heard Elizabeth Taylor specifically wanted Nichols to direct her and Richard Burton in Virginia Woolf.

With financing assured, Nichols suggested Buck Henry for screenwriter, although Henry's experience had also been mostly in improvised comedy, and he had no writing background. Nichols said to Henry, "I think you could do it; I think you should do it." Nichols was paid $150,000, and was to receive one-sixth of the profits.

### Casting

Nichols' first choice for Mrs. Robinson was French actress Jeanne Moreau. The motivation for this was the cliché that in French culture, "older" women tended to "train" the younger men in sexual matters. Casting for the project was challenging. Doris Day turned down an offer because the nudity required by the role offended her. Shelley Winters, Ingrid Bergman, Eva Marie Saint, Ava Gardner, Patricia Neal, Susan Hayward, Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Geraldine Page were also considered for the role of Mrs. Robinson.

Dustin Hoffman was cast as Liebkind in the Mel Brooks film The Producers (1967), but before filming began Hoffman begged Brooks to let him go to audition for The Graduate. When Dustin Hoffman auditioned for the role of Benjamin, he was just short of his 30th birthday at the time of filming. He was asked to perform a love scene with Ross, having previously never done one, and believed that, as he said later, "a girl like would never go for a guy like me in a million years". Ross agreed, believing that Hoffman "looked about 3 feet tall... so unkempt. This is going to be a disaster." Producer Joseph E. Levine later admitted that he at first believed Hoffman "was one of the messenger boys". Despite – or perhaps because of – Hoffman's awkwardness, Nichols chose him for the film.

"As far as I'm concerned, Mike Nichols did a very courageous thing casting me in a part that I was not right for, meaning I was Jewish," said Hoffman. "In fact, many of the reviews were very negative. It was kind of veiled anti-Semitism.... I was called 'big-nosed' in the reviews; 'a nasal voice'." Hoffman was paid $20,000 for his role in the film, but netted just $4,000 after taxes and living expenses. After spending that money, Hoffman filed for New York State unemployment benefits, receiving $55 per week while living in a two-room apartment in the West Village of Manhattan.

Before Hoffman was cast, Robert Redford and Charles Grodin were among the top choices. Redford tested for the part of Benjamin (with Candice Bergen as Elaine), but Nichols thought Redford did not possess the underdog quality Benjamin needed. Grodin turned down the part at first because of the low $500/week salary offered by producer Lawrence Turman. Grodin was offered more money, but declined again because he did not believe he could prepare for a screen test for the film overnight. "If they had given me three days to prepare, I think I would have gotten the role," he said.

Harrison Ford also auditioned for the role of Benjamin Braddock but was turned down.

Burt Ward was informally offered Hoffman's role, but was already committed to the role of Robin in the Batman television series.

Jack Nicholson, Steve McQueen, Anthony Perkins, Warren Beatty, George Peppard, George Hamilton, Keir Dullea, Brandon deWilde and Michael Parks were also considered for the role of Benjamin Braddock.

Ronald Reagan was considered for the part of Benjamin's father Mr. Braddock, which eventually went to William Daniels. Nichols cast Gene Hackman as Mr. Robinson, but he was later fired after a few days of rehearsals; he was replaced by Murray Hamilton. Hackman would later say being fired from the film still hurts him.

Despite playing mother and daughter, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross were only eight years apart in age. Bancroft and Hoffman differed less than six.

### Filming

The quality of the cinematography was influenced by Nichols, who chose Oscar winner Robert Surtees to do the photography. Surtees, who had photographed major films since the 1920s, including Ben-Hur, said later, "It took everything I had learned over 30 years to be able to do the job. I knew that Mike Nichols was a young director who went in for a lot of camera. We did more things in this picture than I ever did in one film."

Many of the exterior university campus shots of Berkeley were actually filmed on the brick campus of USC in Los Angeles.

The church used for the wedding scene is actually the United Methodist Church in La Verne. In an audio commentary released with the 40th anniversary DVD, Hoffman revealed he was uneasy about the scene in which he pounds on the church window, as the minister of the church had been watching the filming disapprovingly. The wedding scene was highly influenced by the ending of the 1924 comedy film Girl Shy starring Harold Lloyd, who also served as an advisor for the scene in The Graduate.

### Music

The film boosted the profile of folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Originally, Nichols and O'Steen used their existing songs like " The Sound of Silence " merely as a pacing device for the editing, until Nichols decided that substituting original music would not be effective, and decided to include them on the soundtrack, an unusual move at that time.

According to a Variety article by Peter Bart in the May 15, 2005, issue, Lawrence Turman, his producer, then made a deal for Simon to write three new songs for the movie. By the time they had nearly finished editing the film, Simon had written only one new song. Nichols begged him for more, but Simon, who was touring constantly, told him he did not have the time. He did play a few notes of a new song he had been working on: "It's not for the movie... It's a song about times past — about Mrs. Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio and stuff." Nichols advised Simon, "It's now about Mrs. Robinson, not Mrs. Roosevelt."

## Release

The Graduate had a dual world premiere in New York City December 20, 1967, at the Coronet Theatre, and at the Lincoln Art Theatre on 57th Street. Its general release began on December 21, 1967.

### Home media

The Graduate was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment in 1999 and 2007. A Blu-ray release was first issued by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in 2009 and later by StudioCanal in 2010. A 4K digital restoration of the film was released by The Criterion Collection in 2016.

## Reception and legacy

### Critical response

The Graduate was met with generally positive reviews from critics upon its release. A.D. Murphy of Variety and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, with Murphy describing it as a "delightful satirical comedy drama", and Ebert claiming it was the "funniest American comedy of the year".

However, Life critic Richard Schickel felt the film "starts out to satirize the alienated spirit of modern youth, does so with uncommon brilliance for its first half, but ends up selling out to the very spirit its creators intended to make fun of... It's a shame – they were halfway to something wonderful when they skidded on a patch of greasy kid stuff."

Pauline Kael wondered, "How could you convince them that a movie that sells innocence is a very commercial piece of work when they're so clearly in the market to buy innocence?"

Critics continue to praise the film, if not always with the same ardor. For the film's thirtieth anniversary reissue, Ebert retracted some of his previous praise for it, noting that he felt its time had passed, and that he now had more sympathy for Mrs. Robinson than for Benjamin (who he considered "an insufferable creep"), viewing one's sympathy for Mrs. Robinson and disdainful attitude toward Ben as a function of aging and wisdom.

He, along with Gene Siskel, gave the film a positive, if unenthusiastic review on the television program Siskel & Ebert. Furthermore, the film's rating in the American Film Institute list of the greatest American films fell from seventh in 1997 to 17th in the 2007 update. Lang Thompson, however, argued that "it really hasn't dated much".

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 86% based on 87 reviews, with an average rating of 8.90/10. The site's consensus reads: "The music, the performances, the precision in capturing the post-college malaise – The Graduate ' s coming-of-age story is indeed one for the ages." On the similar website, Metacritic, the film holds a score of 83 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

### In popular culture

Numerous films, TV shows, music videos, and commercials have referenced The Graduate. The climactic sequence in which Benjamin crashes the wedding and leaves with Elaine is frequently parodied and referenced. TV show episodes that reference the scene include the Family Guy episode " When You Wish Upon a Weinstein ", The Simpsons episode " Lady Bouvier's Lover ", the Archer episode " Skin Game ", the New Girl episode " Elaine's Big Day ", and The Office episode " Two Weeks ".

The scene was referenced in the music video for " If You Go " by Jon Secada, as well as the song " Crashed the Wedding " by Busted. The scene was also referenced in the 1998 finale of the Papa and Nicole advertising campaign in the United Kingdom for the MK1 Renault Clio, featuring Reeves and Mortimer and tying in with the release of the MK2 Renault Clio. The 1999 film The Other Sister contained a reference.

The leg-framing scene where Mrs. Robinson seduces Benjamin has been parodied in the Roseanne episode "David and Goliath", which includes a fantasy scene in which Jackie assumes the Bancroft role and attempts to seduce David. This scene is also parodied in The Simpsons episode, " Lisa's Substitute ", when Mrs. Krabappel tries to seduce Mr. Bergstrom, who was voiced by Dustin Hoffman.

The car Benjamin drives in the movie is an Alfa Romeo Spider. Based on its iconic role, Alfa Romeo sold a version of the Spider in the United States from 1985 to 1990 under the name "Spider Graduate".

In the 1992 film The Player, Robert Altman 's satire of Hollywood, Buck Henry pitches a sequel to The Graduate to producer Griffin Mill (played by Tim Robbins) during the film's opening sequence. A parody of Hollywood high concept films, Henry describes the plot as Ben and Elaine living in a haunted house in Northern California, with an invalid Mrs. Robinson living in the attic.

George Michael 's 1992 song, " Too Funky," features a clip of the Anne Bancroft lines, "I am not trying to seduce you... Would you like me to seduce you? Is that what you're trying to tell me?", as an intro of the song, and is repeated during the final crescendo.

In conjunction with the film's 25th anniversary home video release, alternative rock band The Lemonheads recorded a punk -style cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson". The music video includes scenes from the film.

The film Kingpin parodied the leg-framed shot, showing Woody Harrelson framed by his landlady's leg, and features an excerpt of "The Sound of Silence" after Harrelson's character has sex with the landlady to make up for back rent.

Hoffman recreated the church wedding scene for a 2004 Audi commercial, in which he stops his daughter (played by Lake Bell) from getting married, and tells her "you're just like your mother" as they drive off, implying he is an older Benjamin who has a daughter with Elaine.

The plot of the 2005 romantic comedy film Rumor Has It, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine and Mark Ruffalo, revolves around a story in which a woman learns that her mother and grandmother may be the inspiration for The Graduate, and the 1963 novel of the same name it was based on.

(500) Days of Summer features a scene in which the protagonist, Tom, watches The Graduate with his then girlfriend Summer. He is said to misinterpret the ending, a fact that serves to characterize his naivety concerning relationships. This moment can be considered a turning point in the film, as it reveals to her the issues with their relationship.

### Accolades

In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and placed #22 on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, adjusted for inflation.

The film is listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

The film appears on the following American Film Institute lists:

- 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #7

- 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #9

- 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #52

- 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: " Mrs. Robinson " – #6

- " Mrs. Robinson " – #6

- 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: Mr. McGuire: "Plastics." – #42 Benjamin Braddock: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" – #63

- Mr. McGuire: "Plastics." – #42

- Benjamin Braddock: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" – #63

- 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #17

## Stage adaptation

Terry Johnson 's adaptation of the original novel and the film ran on both London's West End and Broadway, and has toured the United States. There is a Brazilian version adapted by Miguel Falabella. Several actresses have starred as Mrs. Robinson, including Kathleen Turner, Lorraine Bracco, Jerry Hall, Amanda Donohoe, Morgan Fairchild, Anne Archer, Vera Fischer, Patricia Richardson and Linda Gray.

The stage production adds several scenes not in the novel nor the film, as well as using material from both film and novel.

The soundtrack uses songs by Simon & Garfunkel also not used in the film, such as " Bridge Over Troubled Water ", as well as music from other popular musicians from the era, such as The Byrds and The Beach Boys. The West End production opened at the Gielgud Theatre on April 5, 2000, after previews from March 24, with Kathleen Turner starring as Mrs. Robinson. Jerry Hall replaced Turner from July 31, 2000, followed by Amanda Donohoe from February 2001, Anne Archer from June 2001, and Linda Gray from October 2001. The production closed in January 2002. The 2003 U.K. touring production starred Glynis Barber as Mrs. Robinson.

The Broadway production opened at the Plymouth Theatre April 4, 2002, and closed March 2, 2003, after 380 performances. Directed by Terry Johnson, the play featured the cast of Jason Biggs as Benjamin Braddock, Alicia Silverstone as Elaine Robinson, and Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Robinson. The play received no award nominations. Linda Gray briefly filled in for Turner in September 2002. Lorraine Bracco replaced Turner from November 19, 2002.

The Graduate ran at the Cape Playhouse (Dennis, Massachusetts) in July 2011, and starred Patricia Richardson.

## Possible sequel

Charles Webb wrote a sequel to his original novel, titled Home School, but initially refused to publish it in its entirety because of a contract he signed in the 1960s. When he sold the film rights to The Graduate, he surrendered the rights to any sequels. If he were to publish Home School, the French media company that owns the rights to The Graduate, Canal+, would be able to adapt it for the screen without his permission. Extracts of Home School were printed in The Times on May 2, 2006. Webb told the newspaper there was a possibility he would find a publisher for the full text, provided he could retrieve the film rights using French copyright law. On May 30, 2006, The Times reported Webb had signed a publishing deal for Home School with Random House, which he hoped would enable him to instruct French lawyers to attempt to retrieve his rights. The novel was published in Britain in 2007.


Mikkelin Jukurit

# Mikkelin Jukurit

## Abstract

Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli (known since 2016 as Ikioma Areena). The team has won 7 Mestis (2nd highest level) championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2013, 2015, and 2016).

## History

Mikkelin Jukurit was founded in 1970. During the 1970s Jukurit played on the second highest level but the 80's and 90's they spent on lower levels. The season of 1998-99 was a turning point for the team, when Matti Turunen became the executive director and Risto Dufva from Jyväskylä became head coach. In the 1999–2000 season they won their first championship in the newly established Suomi-sarja league, and returned to the Mestis after a 20-year break. Jukurit won the Mestis championship on their first three seasons in Mestis and made the semifinals consecutively on their first 8 seasons. When Jukurit had won a fourth championship in spring 2006, Risto Dufva left the team. After this, Finnish hockey legend Reijo Ruotsalainen was hired as head coach but he was replaced mid-season by a long-time assistant coach Pekka Lipiäinen. The season 2008-2009 was the only Mestis season Jukurit didn't make the playoffs.

In 2009 an incorporation Jukurit HC Oy was founded. Until this the team had operated as an association.

After hiring Jarno Pikkarainen as head coach for the 2010-11 season, Jukurit returned to the finals but lost to Sport. Under Pikkarainen Jukurit won another championship in 2012-13 and two more in 2015 and 2016 with Antti Pennanen as head coach.

After the team's 7th Mestis championship, Jukurit was granted a permission to purchase a licence to Liiga, the top league in Finnish ice hockey. During the team's 16 seasons in Mestis, they achieved 7 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and one bronze medal.

Since the season 2016-2017 Jukurit has played in Liiga. During the first 4 seasons, the team has yet to make the playoffs, finishing 11th, 13th, 14th, and 13th in the regular season.

Coached by former NHL player Olli Jokinen, Jukurit sensationally finished second in the regular season of 2021-2022, reaching their first ever playoff spot.

## Personnel

### Current roster

Updated 15 September 2024

### Team officials

Updated January 8, 2022

### Retired numbers

- # 12 Antti Laakso

- # 22 Martti Salminen

- # 24 Lasse Kanerva

- # 31 Petri Lehtonen

Number 21 is not in circulation, it belonged to Sami Lehmusmetsä who died in a traffic accident.

### Notable players

- G Tero Leinonen

- G Mikko Strömberg

- D Kalle Kaijomaa

- D Marko Kauppinen

- D Tommi Kovanen

- D Jukka-Pekka Laamanen

- D Mikko Mäenpää

- D Simo Mälkiä

- D Joni Tuominen

- D Ilkka Vaarasuo

- F Mikko Hakkarainen

- F Iivo Hokkanen

- F Juha-Pekka Hytönen

- F Petri Koskinen

- F Niko Laakkonen

- F Pentti Nöyränen

- F Olli Sipiläinen

- F Erkka Westerlund

- F,C Pentti Matikainen

- C Sergei Krivokrasov

- HC Risto Dufva

- HC Olli Jokinen

- HC Reijo Ruotsalainen

Notes: G = Goaltender, D = Defenceman, F = Forward, HC = Head coach, C = Coach


2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado

# 2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado

## Abstract

The 2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado was a large, long-lived, and devastating EF5 tornado that impacted several towns in rural northern Alabama before tearing through the northern suburbs of Huntsville and causing damage in rural portions of southern Tennessee on the afternoon and early evening of April 27, 2011. It was the deadliest tornado of the 2011 Super Outbreak, the largest tornado outbreak in United States history. The second of four EF5 tornadoes to touch down on April 27 (along with Philadelphia, Smithville, and Rainsville), the tornado reached a maximum width of 1.25 miles (2.01 km) and was estimated to have had peak winds of 210 mph (340 km/h).

The tornado first touched down at 3:05 p.m. CDT (2005 UTC) southwest of Hamilton, Alabama, before quickly becoming violent and reaching EF5 intensity as it approached and struck Hackleburg, destroying a large portion of the town. The tornado maintained EF5 intensity as it struck Phil Campbell, again sweeping numerous homes off foundations, and then peaking in intensity and width shortly afterwards as it entered more rural areas. It weakened somewhat thereafter but re-strengthened as it hit Tanner (previously hit by two F5s in the 1974 Super Outbreak). It fluctuated afterwards before significantly weakening as it crossed into Tennessee, before re-strengthening again briefly for the last time, causing EF3 damage in rural areas before dissipating in the mountainous areas further east near Huntland at 5:40 p.m. CDT (2240 UTC). In total, the tornado was on the ground for well over two hours, making it the second-longest lived tornado of the outbreak. Hundreds of homes were either destroyed or reduced to foundations as a result of the tornado.

In total, this tornado killed 72 people, all in Alabama. This made it the deadliest single tornado ever to strike the state of Alabama as well as (at the time) the deadliest in the United States since a 1955 tornado in Udall, Kansas killed 80 people – the 2011 Joplin tornado a month later killed 158. In addition to being the deadliest, this tornado also had the longest track of any tornado in the outbreak, with its path extending 132 miles (212 km) across Northern Alabama and into Tennessee. Damage wrought by the tornado amounted to $1.29 billion (2011 USD), making it the seventh-costliest tornado in U.S. history.

## Meteorological synopsis

The environmental conditions leading up to the 2011 Super Outbreak were among the "most conducive to violent tornadoes ever documented". On April 25, a vigorous upper-level shortwave trough moved into the Southern Plains states. Ample instability, low-level moisture, and wind shear all fueled a significant tornado outbreak from Texas to Tennessee; at least 64 tornadoes touched down on this day. An area of low pressure consolidated over Texas on April 26 and traveled east while the aforementioned shortwave trough traversed the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Another 50 tornadoes touched down on this day. The multi-day outbreak culminated on April 27 with the most violent day of tornadic activity since the 1974 Super Outbreak. Multiple episodes of tornadic activity ensued with two waves of mesoscale convective systems in the morning hours followed by a widespread outbreak of supercells from Mississippi to North Carolina during the afternoon into the evening.

Tornadic activity on April 27 was precipitated by a 995 mbar (hPa; 29.39 inHg) surface low situated over Kentucky and a deep, negatively tilted (aligned northwest to southeast) trough over Arkansas and Louisiana. A strong southwesterly surface jet intersected these systems at a 60° angle, an ageostrophic flow that led to storm-relative helicity values in excess of 500 m s —indicative of extreme wind shear and a very high potential for rotating updrafts within supercells. Ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was brought north across the Deep South, leading to daytime high temperatures of 77 to 81 °F (25 to 27 °C) and dewpoints of 66 to 72 °F (19 to 22 °C). Furthermore, convective available potential energy (CAPE) values reached 2,500–3,000 J/kg.

## Tornado summary

### Formation and EF5 intensity into Hackleburg

The tornado initially touched down in Marion County, Alabama about 5 miles (8.0 km) west-southwest of Hamilton around 3:05 pm CDT and tracked to the northeast, causing significant tree and roof damage. Damage at the beginning of the path ranged from EF1 to EF2. The tornado reached EF4 strength as it approached US 43. As it approached Hackleburg, moving parallel to US 43, the tornado further strengthened to EF5 intensity and widened to 0.75 miles (1.21 km), sweeping away numerous homes along the highway. One large brick home along Hayfield Road was swept completely away, with vehicles from the house thrown 150 yards (140 m). Patches of scoured grass were also noted on the property. The tornado maintained EF5 strength as it struck Hackleburg directly, sweeping away numerous homes, destroying three schools, a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, a shopping center, and a Wrangler Jeans plant, and tossing cars as far as 200 yards (180 m) from where they originated. At least one of the homes swept away in Hackleburg was bolted to its foundation, and a brick home in the city's southwest portion had its poured concrete stem walls sheared off at ground level. Extensive wind-rowing of debris was also noted in the area. Jeans from the Wrangler plant reportedly fell from the sky in Courtland, Alabama, roughly 40 miles (64 km) away. Photographs were recovered as far away as Tennessee. The tornado completely debarked numerous trees in town, and even tore up poured concrete from the ground at one location. Several buildings in downtown Hackleburg were badly damaged as well. According to the Red Cross, 75% of the town was destroyed. A total of 18 people died in the Hackleburg area. While the damage was initially rated EF3, after further analysis of the damage in and around Hackleburg, the rating was increased to EF5, making it the first F5 or EF5 tornado in Alabama since the Birmingham tornado of April 8, 1998. The presence of well-built homes swept away, extensive wind-rowing, and cars thrown hundreds of yards were the main factors that led to the EF5 rating in Hackleburg.

### Phil Campbell–Mount Hope

Continuing parallel to US 43, the tornado crossed into Franklin County, reducing additional homes to their foundations as it neared the town of Phil Campbell. The tornado then tore right through Phil Campbell at EF5 intensity, sweeping away numerous homes, a few of which even had their block foundations destroyed as well. Some of the homes swept away were well-constructed. A 25-foot (7.6 m) section of pavement was scoured from a road in Phil Campbell, with chunks of asphalt scattered up to 1 ⁄ 3 mile (0.54 km) away, and numerous trees were completely denuded and debarked, one of which had a car wrapped around it. Three churches were destroyed, one of which was reduced to a bare slab. Multiple mobile homes were obliterated as well, with their mangled frames tossed up to 50 yards (46 m) away. An underground storm shelter in town had its concrete roof torn off, and grass was scoured from hillsides.

EF4 and EF5 damage continued as the tornado exited Phil Campbell and tore through rural areas, sweeping away additional homes as it roughly followed County Roads 81 and 82. The tornado then reached its maximum intensity as it tore through the rural community of Oak Grove, with the damage intensity reaching well into the EF5 range and a path width over a mile wide. Oak Grove suffered a large swath of total devastation as large and well-built brick homes with extensive anchoring were swept completely away, with the debris strewn and wind-rowed long distances through nearby fields. A Corvette was thrown 641 feet (195 m) and severely mangled, and a vehicle missing from one residence was never found. A large metal chicken house completely vanished, with nothing recovered at the site but a single piece of metal truss, and numerous large trees in this area were completely debarked. A total of 27 people were killed in Franklin County, mainly in and around Phil Campbell. The tornado continued into Lawrence County and maintained EF5 strength as it struck the small town of Mount Hope, where significant devastation was incurred to single-family homes and a restaurant. Nothing but the foundation and a pile of debris remained at the restaurant site, and a small portion of the restaurant's foundation slab buckled. Thousands of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped, with a significant number of trees twisted and debarked with only stubs of branches remaining. Many mobile homes were also destroyed with the frames mangled, and a single-family home was completely destroyed, with the walls and contents strewn over a hundred yards. WAAY-TV meteorologist and Mount Hope resident Gary Dobbs spotted the tornado from his front window but was unable to get to his storm shelter because he was giving a live report to viewers of WAAY. While the house was destroyed around him, Dobbs was thrown 40 feet (12 m) from his residence. The door of the storm shelter on the property was torn off, but no friends therein were seriously injured. Dobbs required hospitalization.

### Moulton/Trinity–Tanner

Past Mount Hope, the tornado weakened to EF3 strength. More trees were found snapped and twisted before the tornado reached SR 24. At this location, four chicken houses were completely destroyed with much of the debris wrapped around debarked trees. TVA high voltage power line trusses were also destroyed at this location. The tornado continued northeast at EF3 strength as it struck Langtown, where multiple homes lost their roofs or had only interior walls left standing, and a gas station and a store sustained significant damage. The tornado re-intensified to high-end EF4 strength as it passed northwest of Moulton and Trinity, completely destroying multiple homes and mobile homes. Several cars were tossed into fields and wrapped around debarked trees along County Road 291 and 292. Tree and mobile home damage continued along County Roads 217 and 222, where a handful of large high voltage TVA power poles were destroyed, cutting off electricity delivery from Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. EF4 damage continued northeast towards SR 20, where a restaurant was completely destroyed and two single-family houses were significantly damaged. A total of 14 people were killed in Lawrence County. Tree damage continued into extreme northwestern Morgan County.

The tornado continued a short stretch through the northwest corner of Morgan County, crossing Wheeler Lake, and into Limestone County, coming within approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant and toppling nearly a dozen high voltage power lines in Limestone County, snapping concrete power poles at their bases. These power lines delivered electricity from Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, and without the outlet, the plant had to be shut down. The tornado continued towards the small community of Tanner.

Tanner experienced a large swath of EF4 damage and a narrow corridor of "high-end EF4 to near-EF5 damage". The storm completely swept away several well-constructed homes with anchor bolting. One home was scattered over 300 yards (270 m) with large items carried completely away. Intense ground scarring occurred in this area. The storm also tossed a large cargo container approximately 600 yards and carried several cars airborne for hundreds of yards. Several homes, a mobile home park, and a church that were destroyed by the 1974 Tanner tornadoes and later rebuilt, were destroyed once again by this tornado. As it crossed US 72 in eastern Limestone County, the tornado destroyed a privately owned radar and tower camera operated by NBC affiliate WAFF and continued into East Limestone, a more populated area of Limestone County where numerous homes were damaged or destroyed, with several leveled at high-end EF3 intensity in a subdivision at the corner of McCulley Mill Road and Capshaw Road. (Imagery from WAFF's radar, as seen during the station's coverage of the tornado outbreak, showed the graphical linear "sweep" indicating the scanning antenna dish briefly swaying violently in a ~70° horizontal curve as the tornado blew the dome and equipment off the radar tower. The tornado was viewed on the camera shortly before it was destroyed.) The tornado then crossed into Madison County, tearing through the suburban communities of Harvest and Toney. Many homes in Harvest were damaged or destroyed, especially in the Anderson Hills subdivision (which was also significantly impacted by a violent tornado in 1995). Numerous two-story homes were destroyed at that location, with a few that were flattened or reduced to their block foundations. Numerous trees were snapped and debarked, and several mobile homes were swept completely away. The tornado destroyed a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Harvest, and also severely damaged a convenience store and local bank, which was shut down for months following the event. Damage in Harvest was rated low-end EF4. In Toney, the Carter's Gin subdivision was devastated as multiple poorly-anchored homes were leveled at high-end EF3 strength. The tornado then weakened significantly, twisting irrigation equipment and producing only intermittent EF0 tree damage southwest of Hazel Green and through rural areas. The tornado would rapidly dissipate after this, with its final damage being inflicted near the community of Gladstone. In all, hundreds of homes received moderate to major damage along the path from Limestone to Madison County with many of these being total losses, and 13 people were killed.

## Aftermath and response

In total, this tornado killed 72 people, all in Alabama. This made it the deadliest single tornado ever to strike the state of Alabama as well as (at the time) the deadliest in the United States since the 1955 Udall, Kansas tornado that killed 80 people. This death toll would go on to be exceeded by the Joplin EF5 tornado, which killed 158 people on May 22 of the same year. Damage from the tornado amounted to $1.29 billion, making this one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history. This tornado also had the longest track of any tornado in the outbreak, with its path extending 132 miles (212 km) across Northern Alabama and into Tennessee.

In response to the damage in Phil Campbell, one of the hardest hit communities, writer Phil Campbell organized a fundraising and relief effort composed of 20 people with the name Phil Campbell or variations thereof. These Phil Campbells traveled to the community from places as far away as Australia to aid in the cleanup effort. Many of these people had planned to attend a convention in June, 2011 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the city's incorporation.


Peter Pan

# Peter Pan

## Abstract

Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys, interacting with fairies, pirates, mermaids, Native Americans, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside Neverland.

Peter Pan has become a cultural icon symbolizing youthful innocence and escapism. In addition to two distinct works by Barrie, The Little White Bird (1902, with chapters 13–18 published in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens in 1906), and the West End stage play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up (1904, which expanded into the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy), the character has been featured in a variety of media and merchandise, both adapting and expanding on Barrie's works. These include several films, television series and many other works.

Barrie commissioned a statue of Peter Pan by the sculptor George Frampton, which was erected overnight in Kensington Gardens on 30 April 1912 as a surprise to the children of London. Six other statues have been cast from the original mould and displayed around the world. In 2002, Peter Pan featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail on the centenary of Barrie's creation of the character.

## Origin

Peter Pan first appeared as a character in Barrie's The Little White Bird (1902), a novel for adults. In chapters 13–18, titled "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", Peter is a seven-day-old baby and has flown from his nursery to Kensington Gardens in London, where the fairies and birds taught him to fly. He is described as "betwixt-and-between" a boy and a bird. Barrie returned to the character of Peter Pan, putting him at the centre of his stage play titled Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which premiered on 27 December 1904 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Following the success of the 1904 play, Barrie's publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, extracted the Peter Pan chapters of The Little White Bird and published them in 1906 under the title Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, with the addition of illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Barrie later adapted and expanded the 1904 play's storyline as a novel, which was published in 1911 as Peter and Wendy.

J. M. Barrie may have based the character of Peter Pan on his older brother, David, who died in an ice-skating accident the day before his 14th birthday. His mother and brother thought of him as forever a boy.

## Physical appearance

Barrie never described Peter's appearance in detail, even in his novel, leaving it to the imagination of the reader and the interpretation of anyone adapting the character. In the play, Peter's outfit is made of autumn leaves and cobwebs. In the book and play, he also carries a dagger and a rapier, although in some versions he only has one of the two. His name and playing the flute or pipes suggest that he is based on the Greek god and mythological character Pan. Barrie mentions in Peter and Wendy that Peter Pan still had all his " first teeth ". He describes him as a "lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees". In The Little White Bird (1902) and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), he is seven days old.

Traditionally, the character has been played on stage by a female, but can also be played by a male. In the original productions in the UK, Peter Pan's costume was a reddish tunic and dark green tights, such as that worn by Nina Boucicault in 1904. This costume is exhibited at Barrie's Birthplace. The similar costume worn by Pauline Chase (who played the role from 1906 to 1913) is displayed in the Museum of London. Early editions of adaptations of the story also depict a red costume but a green costume (whether or not made of leaves) becomes more usual from the 1920s, and more so later after the release of Disney's animated movie.

In the Disney films, Peter wears an outfit that consists of a short-sleeved green tunic and tights apparently made of cloth, and a cap with a red feather in it. He has pointed elf -like ears, brown eyes, and reddish hair.

In Hook (1991), the character is played as an adult by Robin Williams, with blue eyes and dark brown hair; in flashbacks to him in his youth, his hair is light brown. His ears appear pointed only when he is Peter Pan, not as Peter Banning. His Pan attire resembles the Disney outfit (minus the cap) and he wields a gold bladed sword.

In the live-action 2003 Peter Pan film, he is portrayed by Jeremy Sumpter, with blond hair, green eyes, bare feet and a costume made of leaves and vines.

In the prequel to the main story 2015 Pan film, he is portrayed by Levi Miller, a young boy who was left as a baby by the orphanage until he gets captured by Blackbeard's pirates and taken to Neverland. Here he wears just simple clothes.

## Personality

Peter is an exaggerated stereotype of a boastful and careless boy. He claims greatness, even when such claims are questionable (such as congratulating himself when Wendy re-attaches his shadow). In the play and book, Peter symbolises the selfishness of childhood, and is portrayed as being forgetful and self-centred.

Peter has a nonchalant, devil-may-care attitude, and is fearlessly cocky when it comes to putting himself in danger. Barrie writes that when Peter thought he was going to die on Marooners' Rock, he felt scared, yet he felt only one shudder. With this blithe attitude, he says, "To die will be an awfully big adventure." In the play, the unseen and unnamed narrator ponders what might have been if Peter had stayed with Wendy, so that his cry might have become, "To live would be an awfully big adventure!", "but he can never quite get the hang of it".

## Abilities

Peter's archetypal quality is his unending youth. In Peter and Wendy, it is explained that Peter must forget his own adventures and what he learns about the world in order to stay childlike.

Peter's ability to fly is explained, but inconsistently. In The Little White Bird, he is able to fly because he is said to be part bird, like all babies. In the play and novel, he teaches the Darling children to fly using a combination of "lovely wonderful thoughts" and fairy dust. In Barrie's Dedication to the play Peter Pan, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow up, the author attributes the idea of fairy dust being necessary for flight to practical needs:

...after the first production I had to add something to the play at the request of parents (who thus showed that they thought me the responsible person) about no one being able to fly until the fairy dust had been blown on him; so many children having gone home and tried it from their beds and needed surgical attention. – J. M. Barrie

Peter has an effect on the whole of Neverland and its inhabitants when he is there. Barrie states that although Neverland appears different to every child, the island "wakes up" when Peter returns from his trip to London. In the chapter "The Mermaids' Lagoon" in the book Peter and Wendy, Barrie writes that there is almost nothing that Peter cannot do. He is a skilled swordsman, rivalling even Captain Hook, whose hand he cut off in a duel. He has remarkably keen vision and hearing. He is skilled in mimicry, copying the voice of Hook and the ticking of the clock in the crocodile.

Peter has the ability to imagine things into existence and he is able to sense danger when it is near.

In Peter and Wendy, Barrie states that the Peter Pan legend Mrs. Darling heard as a child, was that when children died, he accompanied them part of the way to their destination so they would not be frightened.

In the original play, Peter states that no one must ever touch him (though he does not know why). The stage directions specify that no one does so throughout the play. Wendy approaches Peter to give him a "kiss" (thimble), but is prevented by Tinker Bell. However, John Caird and Trevor Nunn 's introduction to the script for the 1997 Royal National Theatre production, states that this was never Barrie's original intention, and was only added for a production in 1927, where Jean Forbes-Robertson took the title role, and played the part with a lighter, more fairy-like, physicality. Robertson was to play the part almost every year until 1939.

## Cultural allusions

The character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the five Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired the story, and Pan, a minor deity of Greek mythology who plays pipes to nymphs and is part human and part goat. This is referenced in Barrie's works (particularly Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens) where Peter Pan plays pipes to the fairies and rides a goat. The god Pan represents Nature or Man's natural state in contrast to Civilisation and the effects of upbringing on human behaviour, and he experienced a significant revival of interest among English artists, poets and novelists during the Edwardian period.

Peter Pan is a free spirit, being too young to be burdened with the effects of education or to have an adult appreciation of moral responsibility. As a "betwixt-and-between", who can fly and speak the language of fairies and birds, Peter is part animal and part human. According to psychologist Rosalind Ridley, by comparing Peter's behaviour to adults and to other animals, Barrie raises many post- Darwinian questions about the origins of human nature and behaviour. As "the boy who wouldn't grow up", Peter exhibits many aspects of the stages of cognitive development seen in children and can be regarded as Barrie's memory of himself as a child, being both charmingly childlike and childishly solipsistic.

## Relationships

### Family

Peter Pan ran away from his parents when he was a baby as told in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and Peter and Wendy. Finding the window closed and seeing a new baby boy in the house when he returned some time later, he believed his parents no longer wanted him and never came back. This younger sibling is referred to in the chapter "Lock-Out Time" in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens but is not mentioned again.

### Friends

#### Maimie Mannering

While in Kensington Gardens, Peter meets a lost girl named Maimie Mannering and the two quickly become friends. Peter proposes marriage to Maimie. While Maimie wants to stay in the Gardens with Peter, she comes to realise that her mother is so worried that she must return to her. Maimie promises to always remember Peter and goes back to her mother. When Maimie grows up, she continues to think of Peter, dedicating presents and letters to him. To remember Maimie, Peter rides the imaginary goat that Maimie created for him. She is considered to be the literary predecessor of Wendy Darling.

#### The Darlings

##### Wendy Darling

It is hinted that Wendy may have romantic feelings for Peter, but unrequited because of his inability to love.

In the original novel, Peter later befriends Wendy's daughter Jane (and her subsequent daughter Margaret), and it is implied that this pattern will go on forever. From time to time, Peter visits the real world, and befriends children. Wendy Darling, whom he recruited to be his "mother", is the most significant of them; he also brings her brothers John and Michael to Neverland at her request. It is mentioned that Wendy was the only girl who captured his attention.

In the 1991 film Hook, an older Wendy implies that she used to (and perhaps, still does) have feelings for Peter, saying that she was shocked that he did not prevent her wedding day. In the 2002 sequel to the 1953 Disney film, Return to Neverland, Peter and a grown-up Wendy are briefly, but happily, reunited after many years and continue to show feelings for each other. In the 2003 film Peter Pan, the feeling is mutual. Captain Hook can only take away Peter's ability to fly by thoughts of Wendy leaving him, growing up, and replacing him with a husband. Wendy saves Peter by giving him her hidden kiss which gives him the will to live, signifying she is his true love.

##### John Darling and Michael Darling

John is Wendy's younger brother. He is fascinated with piracy and imitates Captain Hook while playing at home with his siblings. He is also courageous and smart. Michael, the youngest of the Darlings, is convinced that Peter Pan is a real person after hearing Wendy's vivid narratives about him. During nursery games, it is Michael who plays the role of Peter Pan. Peter Pan In Scarlet reveals that Michael died in World War I.

##### Mary and George Darling

The parents of Wendy, John and Michael. Mr. Darling works as a clerk in the City, and is named after George Llewelyn Davies. Mrs. Darling is named after Mary Ansell, Barrie's wife.

#### Neverland inhabitants

##### Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily is the daughter of Great Big Little Panther, the chief of the Native American tribe resident in Neverland. Barrie refers to her as "a princess in her own right", and she is often described as such. She is kidnapped by the pirates and left to die on Marooners' Rock but is rescued by Peter. It is hinted later that she may have romantic feelings for Peter but he does not return them, as he is completely oblivious to other people's feelings. In the Disney film, Tiger Lily shows her gratitude by performing a dance for Peter and kissing him. The kiss makes him turn bright red and makes Wendy jealous of Tiger Lily.

##### Tinker Bell

Tinker Bell is a common fairy who is Peter Pan's best friend and is often jealously protective of him. He nicknames her "Tink". She is the friend who helps him in his escapades. Tink's malicious actions are usually caused by her jealousy; these lead to the Lost Boys shooting arrows at Wendy, and eventually revealing Peter's hideout to Captain Hook, in the hope that Wendy will be captured rather than Peter. When Tink realises her serious mistake, she risks her own life by drinking the poison Hook has left for Peter. Her extreme loyalty and dedication to Peter are everlasting.

##### The Lost Boys

Peter is the leader of the Lost Boys, which include Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and The Twins. The Lost Boys is a band of boys who were lost by their parents after they "fall out of their perambulators " and came to live in Neverland. In Barrie's novel Peter and Wendy (but not the original play Peter Pan), it is stated that Peter "thins them out" when they start to grow up.

In the song "I Won't Grow Up" from the 1954 musical, the boys sing "I will stay a boy forever", to which Peter replies "And be banished if I don't".

In Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006), the official sequel to Barrie's Peter and Wendy, what happens to the Lost Boys when they begin to grow up is revealed when Slightly starts to grow older, as Peter banishes him to Nowhereland (which means that he and all his allies will ignore the banished person's existence), the home of all the Long Lost Boys whom Peter has banished in times past.

##### The Crocodile

The crocodile is Captain Hook's nemesis. After Peter Pan cut off Captain Hook's hand in a fight and threw it into the sea, the crocodile swallowed it and got a taste for Hook, so it now seeks to consume him whole. It also swallowed a ticking clock, which alerts Hook of its presence.

### Adversaries

#### Captain Hook

Captain Hook, whose right hand was cut off in a duel, is Peter Pan's arch-enemy who leads a large group of pirates. Captain Hook's two principal fears are the sight of his own blood (which is supposedly an unnatural colour) and one saltwater crocodile. His name plays on the iron hook that replaced his hand cut off by Peter Pan and eaten by the aforementioned crocodile, which continues to pursue Hook. In the 1991 film Hook Captain Hook kidnaps the children of Peter Banning (the adoptive identity of Peter Pan) when he left Neverland to grow up and married Moira Darling (the Granddaughter of Wendy Darling) with whom he would have the two children whom Hook would kidnap: Maggie and Jack. Hook in this film is also shown to questioning his existence due to the fact Banning/Pan has been away from Neverland so long does not remember anything when he first returns to Neverland. At Smee's suggestion Hook conjures up plan to defeat plan Pan by having his own children turn against him. Although Maggie is never swayed by this plan Jack initially sides with the pirates due to the prior broken promises of his father. However upon realising that his dad is Peter Pan Jack has a change of heart and betrays Hook. Hook is eventually defeated by Pan eaten by the crocodile which the pirate himself had killed in Pan's prior absence and had converted into clock.

#### Mr. Smee

Mr. Smee is Captain Hook 's boatswain ("bo'sun") and right-hand man in J. M. Barrie 's play Peter Pan and the novel Peter and Wendy. Mr. Smee is Captain Hook's direct confidant. Unlike the other pirates, Smee is often clumsy and incapable of capturing any of the Lost Boys. Rather than engaging in Hook's evil schemes, Smee finds excitement in bagging loot and treasures.

## Original works

- Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up (1904 play), a play in which Peter brings Wendy and her brothers to Neverland, where he has a showdown with his nemesis, Captain Hook. Barrie adapted this play as a novel; numerous variations and other adaptations have been produced in various media

- Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), an origin story wherein the infant Peter flies away from his home, takes up residence in Kensington Gardens, and befriends the fairies. It is a "book-within-a-book" that was first published in Barrie's The Little White Bird (1902)

- When Wendy Grew Up – An Afterthought (1908), Barrie's sequel play

- Peter and Wendy (1911), a novel Barrie adapted from the 1904 play, later republished as Peter Pan and Wendy; it also incorporates events of Barrie's sequel play, When Wendy Grew Up – An Afterthought (1908)

## Popular culture

### Motion pictures and television

- Peter Pan appeared for the first time on screen in the 1924 American silent adventure film Peter Pan released by Paramount Pictures as an adaptation of the original stage play.

- Since their 1953 animated film, Disney has continued to use Peter Pan as a character, as in the sequel film Return to Never Land (voiced by Blayne Weaver), and in the Disney Parks, both as a meetable character based in Fantasyland and as the protagonist of the dark ride Peter Pan's Flight. He also appears in the television series House of Mouse and its film Mickey's Magical Christmas, several Disney video games including the Kingdom Hearts series (voiced by Mitsuo Iwata, and later by Yū Hayashi), and the television series based on Peter Pan, Jake and the Never Land Pirates (voiced by Adam Wylie). An older and darker interpretation of this Peter Pan appears as an antagonist in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, voiced by Will Arnett. Peter Pan also appears in the short film Once Upon a Studio, voiced primarily by Lee Slobotkin, with archival recordings of Bobby Driscoll also being used.

- Peter Pan appears in Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates, voiced by Jason Marsden.

- In 1991, Robin Williams portrayed Peter Pan in the live-action film Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg, also starring Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook and Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell.

- In 2003, Jeremy Sumpter portrayed Peter in the live-action film directed by P. J. Hogan.

- Peter Pan appears in The New Adventures of Peter Pan, voiced by Matt Hill and Jake Paque.

- In 2013, Robbie Kay portrayed Peter Pan in the ABC drama series Once Upon A Time.

- In 2015, Levi Miller portrayed Peter Pan in Pan, a live action origin film.

- In 2015, Peter and Wendy aired on ITV, produced by Headline Pictures, with Zac Sutcliffe portraying Peter.

- In 2023, Disney released Peter Pan & Wendy, a live-action reimagining of the 1953 Disney animated film, with Peter Pan being portrayed by Alexander Molony.

### Manga/anime, games, and comics

- In the early 1930s, Edward Mason Eggleston painted a series of images for calendars that included Peter Pan, Native American princesses and pirates

- J. R. R. Tolkien 's biographer Humphrey Carpenter has speculated that Tolkien's impressions of a 1910 production of Barrie's Peter Pan in Birmingham "may have had a little to do with" his original conception of the Elves of Middle Earth

- He appears in the Italian comic series Martin Mystère

- Japanese manga artist Mayu Sakai appropriated the English term for her series Peter Pan Syndrome

- Game author Diana Gaeta developed a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting named Neverland - The Impossible Island that allows players to interact with Peter Pan in an environment based on Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie

- Fiction writer Jonathan Green published a role-playing gamebook titled Neverland: Here Be Monsters! in which Peter Pan appears as a playable character. This version's background story attributes his flight ability and eternal youth to cybernetic implants installed by his genius father after Peter was severely injured by one of the dinosaurs roaming Neverland.

- Peter Pan appears in Disney Villains' Revenge, voiced primarily by Michael Welch and by Kevin Schon as an adult.

### Music

- Todd Rundgren recorded Never Never Land from the 1954 production with Mary Martin, written by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne. From Todd's 1973 album A Wizard, A True Star.

- Canadian singer-songwriter Ruth B. released the piano ballad " Lost Boy " in 2015, featuring Peter Pan and Neverland, and inspired by the character's appearance in Once Upon a Time

- Italian songwriter Edoardo Bennato released a concept album "Sono solo canzonette" in 1980 based on Peter Pan and other characters created by Barrie. Eventually created a musical named "Peter Pan" using his songs.

- Norwegian-Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad recorded the song "Peter Pan" by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus in 1969

- Swiss singer Paola del Medico performed a song themed on the Peter Pan tale in 1982

- Pop-rock musicians The Jonas Brothers ' song " Fly With Me " makes direct references to Peter Pan and Wendy in the lyrics

- Country singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini released a top-charting country single and song titled "Peter Pan", in 2016

- South Korean boy-band BTS released a music video called "Adult Child", the song makes reference to the Peter Pan story

- British musician Kate Bush included her song "In Search of Peter Pan" on her second album Lionheart (1978). Another song on the same album, "Oh England My Lionheart", makes direct reference to Peter Pan in the lyrics

- Korean boy-band EXO released a track called "Peter Pan" on both the Mandarin and Korean versions of the album XOXO (2013)

- Serbian and Yugoslav rock band Petar Pan was named after the character

- Peterpan is the former name for an Indonesian pop-rock band, now called Noah

- The eleventh track of singer-songwriter Troye Sivan 's debut studio album Blue Neighbourhood (2015) is titled "Lost Boy", inspired by Peter Pan

- In Chance The Rapper 's song ' Same Drugs ', featured in the album Coloring Book (2015), he makes multiple references to Peter Pan and Wendy, another major character in the novel

- Taylor Swift 's songs " Cardigan " and " Peter " include multiple references to Peter Pan

- Blues/psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker included the track "Peter Pan RIP" featured in their fourth album Pilgrims Progress

- Italian singer-songwriter Ultimo named his second album Peter Pan (2018). It contains the song “Peter Pan (Vuoi Volare Con Me?)”, meaning "will you fly with me?"

- Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish make references to Peter Pan in some of their songs, notably Fantasmic from their 2000 album Wishmaster, and in their 2011 single Storytime from their seventh album Imaginaerum

- South Korean girl-group (G)I-DLE released a track called "Peter Pan" (Korean: 어린 어른; RR: eorin eoreun; translation: Young Adult) on their sixth EP " I Feel " (2023)

### Other uses in popular culture

The name Peter Pan has been adopted for various purposes over the years:

- Several businesses have adopted the name, including Peter Pan Bus Lines, Peter Pan peanut butter, Peter Pan Records, and Peter Pan Seafoods

- Three Thoroughbred racehorses have been given the name, the first, Peter Pan I, was born in 1904

- In the early 1960s, some Cuban families sent their children to resettle in Miami in an emergency effort calculated to save the children from perceived potential mistreatment under the Castro socialist regime; the program was called Operation Peter Pan (or Operación Pedro Pan)

- American psychologist Dr. Dan Kiley popularised the Peter Pan syndrome (puer aeternus) in his book The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up (1983). He described individuals (usually male) with underdeveloped maturity. His next book, The Wendy Dilemma (1984), advises women romantically involved with "Peter Pans" how to improve their relationships

## Public sculptures

Barrie commissioned a statue of Peter Pan by the sculptor George Frampton, which was erected overnight in Kensington Gardens on 30 April 1912 as a May Day surprise to the children of London. Seven statues have been cast from the original mould. The other six are located in:

- Egmont Park, Brussels, Belgium, 1924

- Bowring Park, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, 1925

- Johnson Park on the campus of Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey, United States, 1926

- Queens Gardens, Perth, Western Australia, 1927

- Sefton Park, Liverpool, England, 1928

- Glenn Gould Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1929

Other statues are:

- In 1925, the town council of Melbourne, Australia, commissioned a statue of Peter Pan by Paul Montfort; it is now located in Melbourne Zoo

- In 1928, Charles Andrew Hafner created a bronze statue for a fountain in the lobby of the old Paramount Theater in Times Square, but it is now situated in Carl Schurz Park, New York

- In 1949, a statue of Peter Pan by Alex Proudfoot RSA, Principal of Glasgow School of Art, was erected at the Mearnskirk Hospital for children in Glasgow, commissioned by Alfred Ellsworth in memory of his friend Dr John A Wilson, first superintendent of Mearnskirk Hospital. Wilson had also been a school friend of J.M. Barrie's

- A statue by Ivan Mitford-Barberton was commissioned by Vyvyan and Gwen Watson in remembrance of their son Peter and given in 1959 to the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Western Cape, South Africa

- A pair of statues by Cecil Thomas, one showing Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, and the other Wendy and the Darling children, have been located in Dunedin Botanic Gardens in Dunedin, New Zealand since the 1960s. A slightly different version of the Peter Pan statue, also by Thomas, can be found close to Rotokawau Virginia Lake in Whanganui, New Zealand

- A bronze statue by Alistair Smart, originally commissioned by the Angus Milling Company in 1972, is situated in the main square of Kirriemuir, Scotland.

- In 1976, Ronald Thomason sculpted a bronze statue in front of the Weatherford, Texas public library honouring Weatherford native Mary Martin, who had portrayed Peter Pan in the 1954 Broadway musical production and several subsequent telecasts

- A bronze statue by Diarmuid Byron O'Connor was commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and unveiled in 2000, showing Peter blowing fairy dust, with Tinker Bell added in 2005


Lucid dream

# Lucid dream

## Abstract

In the psychology subfield of oneirology, a lucid dream is a type of dream wherein the dreamer realizes that they are dreaming during their dream. The capacity to have lucid dreams is a trainable cognitive skill. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of volitional control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment, although this control of dream content is not the salient feature of lucid dreaming. An important distinction is that lucid dreaming is a distinct type of dream from other types of dreams such as prelucid dreams and vivid dreams, although prelucid dreams are a precursor to lucid dreams, and lucid dreams are often accompanied with enhanced dream vividness. Lucid dreams are also distinct state from other lucid boundary sleep states such as lucid hypnagogia or lucid hypnopompia.

In formal psychology, lucid dreaming has been studied and reported for many years. Prominent figures from ancient to modern times have been fascinated by lucid dreams and have sought ways to better understand their causes and purpose. Many different theories have emerged as a result of scientific research on the subject. Further developments in psychological research have pointed to ways in which this form of dreaming may be utilized as a therapeutic technique.

The term lucid dream was coined by Dutch author and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden in his 1913 article A Study of Dreams, though descriptions of dreamers being aware that they are dreaming predate the article.

Psychologist Stephen LaBerge is widely considered the progenitor and leading pioneer of modern lucid dreaming research. He is the founder of the Lucidity Institute at Stanford University.

## Definition

Paul Tholey laid the epistemological basis for the research of lucid dreams, proposing seven different conditions of clarity that a dream must fulfill in order to be defined as a lucid dream:

- Awareness of the dream state (orientation)

- Awareness of the capacity to make decisions

- Awareness of memory functions

- Awareness of self

- Awareness of the dream environment

- Awareness of the meaning of the dream

- Awareness of concentration and focus (the subjective clarity of that state)

Later, in 1992, a study by Deirdre Barrett examined whether lucid dreams contained four " corollaries " of lucidity:

- The dreamer is aware that they are dreaming

- They are aware actions will not carry over after waking

- Physical laws need not apply in the dream

- The dreamer has a clear memory of the waking world

Barrett found less than a quarter of lucidity accounts exhibited all four.

Subsequently, Stephen LaBerge studied the prevalence among lucid dreams of the ability to control the dream scenario, and found that while dream control and dream awareness are correlated, neither requires the other. LaBerge found dreams that exhibit one clearly without the capacity for the other. He also found dreams where, although the dreamer is lucid and aware they could exercise control, they choose simply to observe.

## History

### Eastern

The practice of lucid dreaming, is central to both the ancient Indian Hindu practice of Yoga nidra and the Tibetan Buddhist practice of dream Yoga. The cultivation of such awareness was a common practice among early Buddhists.

### Western

Early references to the phenomenon are also found in ancient Greek writing. For example, the philosopher Aristotle wrote: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream." Meanwhile, the physician Galen of Pergamon used lucid dreams as a form of therapy. In addition, a letter written by Saint Augustine of Hippo in AD 415 tells the story of a dreamer, Doctor Gennadius, and refers to lucid dreaming.

Philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) was fascinated by dreams and described his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici, stating: "...yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof."

Samuel Pepys, in his diary entry for 15 August 1665, records a dream, stating: "I had my Lady Castlemayne in my arms and was admitted to use all the dalliance I desired with her, and then dreamt that this could not be awake, but that it was only a dream."

In 1867, the French sinologist Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys anonymously published Les Rêves et Les Moyens de Les Diriger; Observations Pratiques ("Dreams and the ways to direct them; practical observations"), in which he describes his own experiences of lucid dreaming, and proposes that it is possible for anyone to learn to dream consciously.

In 1913, Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932) coined the term "lucid dream" in an article entitled "A Study of Dreams".

Some have suggested that the term is a misnomer because Van Eeden was referring to a phenomenon more specific than a lucid dream. Van Eeden intended the term lucid to denote "having insight", as in the phrase a lucid interval applied to someone in temporary remission from a psychosis, rather than as a reference to the perceptual quality of the experience, which may or may not be clear and vivid.

## Cognitive science

In 1968, Celia Green analyzed the main characteristics of such dreams, reviewing previously published literature on the subject and incorporating new data from participants of her own. She concluded that lucid dreams were a category of experience quite distinct from ordinary dreams and said they were associated with rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). Green was also the first to link lucid dreams to the phenomenon of false awakenings.

In 1975, Dr. Keith Hearne had the idea to exploit the nature of rapid eye movements (REM) to allow a dreamer to send a message directly from dreams to the waking world. Working with an experienced lucid dreamer (Alan Worsley), he eventually succeeded in recording (via the use of an electrooculogram or EOG) a pre-defined set of eye movements signaled from within Worsley's lucid dream. This occurred at around 8 am on the morning of April 12, 1975. Hearne's EOG experiment was formally recognized through publication in the journal for The Society for Psychical Research. Lucid dreaming was subsequently researched by asking dreamers to perform pre-determined physical responses while experiencing a dream, including eye movement signals.

In 1980, Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University developed such techniques as part of his doctoral dissertation. In 1985, LaBerge performed a pilot study that showed that time perception while counting during a lucid dream is about the same as during waking life. Lucid dreamers counted out ten seconds while dreaming, signaling the start and the end of the count with a pre-arranged eye signal measured with electrooculogram recording. LaBerge's results were confirmed by German researchers D. Erlacher and M. Schredl in 2004.

In a further study by Stephen LaBerge, four subjects were compared either singing while dreaming or counting while dreaming. LaBerge found that the right hemisphere was more active during singing and the left hemisphere was more active during counting.

Neuroscientist J. Allan Hobson has hypothesized what might be occurring in the brain while lucid. The first step to lucid dreaming is recognizing one is dreaming. This recognition might occur in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is one of the few areas deactivated during REM sleep and where working memory occurs. Once this area is activated and the recognition of dreaming occurs, the dreamer must be cautious to let the dream continue but be conscious enough to remember that it is a dream. While maintaining this balance, the amygdala and parahippocampal cortex might be less intensely activated. To continue the intensity of the dream hallucinations, it is expected the pons and the parieto-occipital junction stay active.

Using electroencephalography (EEG) and other polysomnographical measurements, LaBerge and others have shown that lucid dreams begin in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. LaBerge also proposes that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) brain wave activity experienced by lucid dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process.

Paul Tholey, a German Gestalt psychologist and a professor of psychology and sports science, originally studied dreams in order to resolve the question of whether one dreams in colour or black and white. In his phenomenological research, he outlined an epistemological frame using critical realism. Tholey instructed his subjects to continuously suspect waking life to be a dream, in order that such a habit would manifest itself during dreams. He called this technique for inducing lucid dreams the Reflexionstechnik (reflection technique). Subjects learned to have such lucid dreams; they observed their dream content and reported it soon after awakening. Tholey could examine the cognitive abilities of dream figures. Nine trained lucid dreamers were directed to set other dream figures arithmetic and verbal tasks during lucid dreaming. Dream figures who agreed to perform the tasks proved more successful in verbal than in arithmetic tasks. Tholey discussed his scientific results with Stephen LaBerge, who has a similar approach.

A study was conducted by Stephen LaBerge and other scientists to see if it were possible to attain the ability to lucid dream through a drug. In 2018, galantamine was given to 121 patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the only one of its kind. Some participants found as much as a 42 percent increase in their ability to lucid dream, compared to self-reports from the past six months, and ten people experienced a lucid dream for the first time. It is theorized that galantamine allows acetylcholine to build up, leading to greater recollection and awareness during dreaming.

### Two-way communication

Teams of cognitive scientists have established real-time two-way communication with people undergoing a lucid dream. During dreaming they were able to consciously communicate with experimenters via eye movements or facial muscle signals, were able to comprehend complex questions and use working memory. Such interactive lucid dreaming could be a new approach for the scientific exploration of the dream state and could have applications for learning and creativity. Researchers have also demonstrated that individuals in a lucid dream can control and respond to feedback within a virtual environment.

### Alternative theories

Other researchers suggest that lucid dreaming is not a state of sleep, but of brief wakefulness, or "micro-awakening". Experiments by Stephen LaBerge used "perception of the outside world" as a criterion for wakefulness while studying lucid dreamers, and their sleep state was corroborated with physiological measurements. LaBerge's subjects experienced their lucid dream while in a state of REM, which critics felt may mean that the subjects are fully awake. J. Allen Hobson responded that lucid dreaming must be a state of both waking and dreaming.

Philosopher Norman Malcolm was a proponent of dream skepticism. He has argued against the possibility of checking the accuracy of dream reports, pointing out that "the only criterion of the truth of a statement that someone has had a certain dream is, essentially, his saying so."

## Prevalence and frequency

In 2016, a meta-analytic study by David Saunders and colleagues on 34 lucid dreaming studies, taken from a period of 50 years, demonstrated that 55% of a pooled sample of 24,282 people claimed to have experienced lucid dreams at least once or more in their lifetime. Furthermore, for those that stated they did experience lucid dreams, approximately 23% reported to experience them on a regular basis, as often as once a month or more. In a 2004 study on lucid dream frequency and personality, a moderate correlation between nightmare frequency and frequency of lucid dreaming was demonstrated. Some lucid dreamers also reported that nightmares are a trigger for dream lucidity. Previous studies have reported that lucid dreaming is more common among adolescents than adults.

A 2015 study by Julian Mutz and Amir-Homayoun Javadi showed that people who had practiced meditation for a long time tended to have more lucid dreams. The authors claimed that "Lucid dreaming is a hybrid state of consciousness with features of both waking and dreaming" in a review they published in Neuroscience of Consciousness in 2017.

Mutz and Javadi found that during lucid dreaming, there is an increase in activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the bilateral frontopolar prefrontal cortex, the precuneus, the inferior parietal lobules, and the supramarginal gyrus. All are brain functions related to higher cognitive functions including working memory, planning, and self-consciousness. The researchers also found that during a lucid dream, "levels of self-determination" were similar to those that people experienced during states of wakefulness. They also found that lucid dreamers can only control limited aspects of their dream at once.

Mutz and Javadi also have stated that by studying lucid dreaming further, scientists could learn more about various types of consciousness, which happen to be less easy to separate and research at other times.

## Suggested applications

### Treating nightmares

It has been suggested that those who suffer from nightmares could benefit from the ability to be aware they are indeed dreaming. A pilot study performed in 2006 showed that lucid dreaming therapy treatment was successful in reducing nightmare frequency. This treatment consisted of exposure to the idea, mastery of the technique, and lucidity exercises. It was not clear what aspects of the treatment were responsible for the success of overcoming nightmares, though the treatment as a whole was said to be successful.

Australian psychologist Milan Colic has explored the application of principles from narrative therapy to clients' lucid dreams, to reduce the impact not only of nightmares during sleep but also depression, self-mutilation, and other problems in waking life. Colic found that therapeutic conversations could reduce the distressing content of dreams, while understandings about life—and even characters—from lucid dreams could be applied to their lives with marked therapeutic benefits.

Psychotherapists have applied lucid dreaming as a part of therapy. Studies have shown that, by inducing a lucid dream, recurrent nightmares can be alleviated. It is unclear whether this alleviation is due to lucidity or the ability to alter the dream itself. A 2006 study performed by Victor Spoormaker and Van den Bout evaluated the validity of lucid dreaming treatment (LDT) in chronic nightmare sufferers. LDT is composed of exposure, mastery and lucidity exercises. Results of lucid dreaming treatment revealed that the nightmare frequency of the treatment groups had decreased. In another study, Spoormaker, Van den Bout, and Meijer (2003) investigated lucid dreaming treatment for nightmares by testing eight subjects who received a one-hour individual session, which consisted of lucid dreaming exercises. The results of the study revealed that the nightmare frequency had decreased and the sleep quality had slightly increased.

Holzinger, Klösch, and Saletu managed a psychotherapy study under the working name of ‘Cognition during dreaming—a therapeutic intervention in nightmares’, which included 40 subjects, men and women, 18–50 years old, whose life quality was significantly altered by nightmares. The test subjects were administered Gestalt group therapy and 24 of them were also taught to enter the state of lucid dreaming by Holzinger. This was purposefully taught in order to change the course of their nightmares. The subjects then reported the diminishment of their nightmare prevalence from 2–3 times a week to 2–3 times per month.

### Creativity

In her book The Committee of Sleep, Deirdre Barrett describes how some experienced lucid dreamers have learned to remember specific practical goals such as artists looking for inspiration seeking a show of their own work once they become lucid or computer programmers looking for a screen with their desired code. However, most of these dreamers had many experiences of failing to recall waking objectives before gaining this level of control.

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold (1990) discusses creativity within dreams and lucid dreams, including testimonials from a number of people who claim they have used the practice of lucid dreaming to help them solve a number of creative issues, from an aspiring parent thinking of potential baby names to a surgeon practicing surgical techniques. The authors discuss how creativity in dreams could stem from "conscious access to the contents of our unconscious minds"; access to "tacit knowledge"—the things we know but can't explain, or things we know but are unaware that we know.

The Dreams Behind the Music book by Craig Webb (2016) details lucid dreams of a number of musical artists, including how they are able not just to hear, but also compose, mix, arrange, practice, and perform music while conscious within their dreams.

## Risks

Though lucid dreaming can be beneficial to a number of aspects of life, some risks have been suggested. Those who have never had a lucid dream may not understand what is happening when they experience it for the first time. This could cause those individuals to feel a variety of different emotions as they are going through a completely new psychological experience. Feelings of stress, worry, or confusion could arise. On the other hand, the feeling of empowerment could also come up as they realize that they are now in control of their dreams. Someone struggling with certain mental illnesses could find it hard to be able to tell the difference between reality and the actual dream (psychosis).

A very small percentage of people may experience sleep paralysis, which can sometimes be confused with lucid dreaming. Although from the outside, both seem to be quite similar, there are a few distinct differences that can help differentiate them. A person usually experiences sleep paralysis when they partially wake up in REM atonia, a state in which said person is partially paralyzed and cannot move their limbs. When in sleep paralysis, people may also experience hallucinations. Although said hallucinations cannot cause physical damage, they may still be frightening. There are three common types of hallucinations: an intruder in the same room, a crushing feeling on one's chest or back, and a feeling of flying or levitating. About 7.6% of the general population have experienced sleep paralysis at least once. Exiting sleep paralysis to a waking state can be achieved by intently focusing on a part of the body, such as a finger, and wiggling it, continuing the action of moving to then the hand, the arm, and so on, until the person is fully awake.

Long-term risks with lucid dreaming have not been extensively studied, although many people have reported lucid dreaming for many years without any adverse effects.


Stamford Town Center

# Stamford Town Center

## Abstract

Stamford Town Center is an urban shopping mall located in Downtown Stamford, Connecticut. The 761,000-square-foot (70,700 m) mall is the eighth largest in Connecticut, with space for about 130 stores and restaurants. The mall's two anchors are a 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m) Macy's and a Barnes and Noble. An 80,000-square-foot (7,400 m) Todd English Food Hall is scheduled to open by 2024.

## History

### Construction

Built by F.D. Rich Co and Taubman Centers, Stamford Town Center opened in 1982 as part of an urban renewal project and had been the location of tenement structures that once lined Greyrock Place, the street which is its primary address.

The mall was a significant part of Stamford's urban renewal efforts, and thus its construction was not without controversy. Upon the mall's opening, the city of Stamford reoriented nearby Bedford Street and Summer Street to be one-way, in order to make the mall more accessible via car, a move which harmed surrounding businesses. An opinion piece in the New York Times lamented the destruction of once lively housing complexes which hosted lower-income residences, which was done to make way for the mall.

### Launch and success

The mall launched with two anchors: Macy's and J.C. Penney. Saks Fifth Avenue opened its store in the mall on March 12, 1983, and served as the mall's third anchor. From its opening, the mall was very popular and drew shoppers and tourists from as far as the New York City boroughs and even internationally, and was considered "one of the country's most successful malls" by the 1990s, despite stiff nearby competition. In July 1994, it was announced the mall's J.C. Penney would move out, and would be replaced by a Filene's.

### 2000s redevelopment

In May 2006, the southern portion of the mall, along Tresser Boulevard, was demolished and redeveloped. The redevelopment of the former Filene's anchor emphasized being more pedestrian-friendly, and improving the nearby better streetscape. This portion of the mall, which included Filene's, was replaced with space for six new restaurants, and Connecticut's largest Barnes & Noble, the latter of which opened in 2008.

The initial opening of the Plaza (which included Barnes & Noble, H&M, California Pizza Kitchen, Così, Kona Grill, and P.F. Chang's) occurred on November 1, 2007. Mitchell's Fish Market opened on December 8, 2007, while the Capital Grille opened on February 25, 2008. Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que had planned to open in this new space, but pulled out of the project. Plan B Burger Bar opened on August 4, 2012.

### Decline

On February 15, 2013, it was announced that Saks Fifth Avenue would be closing by early 2014, which left Macy’s as the only anchor left.

On March 10, 2014, Mitchell’s Fish Market closed.

On January 14, 2015, it was announced that Saks OFF 5TH would replace the former Saks Fifth Avenue and open by June 2015.

On April 21, 2016, P.F. Chang’s closed, and was later announced that The Cheesecake Factory would replace the space. The Cheesecake Factory opened on October 18, 2016.

On October 12, 2016, Cosi closed their space after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2016.

On August 10, 2017, Rascal Flatts opened in the former Mitchell’s Fish Market space.

On November 17, 2017, Pieology opened in the former Cosi space.

On January 12, 2018, California Pizza Kitchen closed.

On July 1, 2018 FYE closed in the 7th Level It Sat Vacant, until Soccer Fun Zone gets into the Old FYE Space

On September 2, 2018, Peter Chang opened in the former California Pizza Kitchen space.

On April 17, 2019, Kona Grill, the last remaining original restaurant tenant at The Plaza, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed their location at the mall. This left the mall without any of its original restaurant tenants at The Plaza.

### Further decline and attempted comeback

During the course of 2019, 2020 and 2021, many stores closed, either due to companies filing for bankruptcy, the COVID-19 pandemic or relocation to the nearby SoNo Collection mall. These include Gap, LOFT, Godiva, Go!, GameStop, American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, GNC, The Cheesecake Factory, Justice, Brooks Brothers, Apple, Clarks, H&M, UNIQLO, Boost Mobile, Papyrus, Chico's, Pandora, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Gymboree, Ann Taylor, J.Crew, and Armani Exchange.

On October 23, 2020, Taubman sold the mall to furniture chain Safevieh.

On December 9, 2021, it was announced that Saks OFF 5TH would be closing by December 18, 2021. This once again left Macy’s as the only anchor left. However, Saks Off 5th later returned to Stamford in the former Lord & Taylor spot in October 2022, almost a year after closing their Stamford Town Center store.

With all of these closings, multiple businesses that were apart from retail opened in many of these old spaces, in an effort to transform the mall. Some of these new tenants include a dance center in the former Ann Taylor, a fitness gym in the former Apple Store, a Fun Palace play center in the former Foot Locker, and a 30,000 square foot multi-purpose hub called The Living Room in the former UNIQLO and Gap spaces, which is set to have a lounge, cafe, gaming spaces, and a theater.

On January 9, 2022, it was confirmed that an 80,000 square feet (7,400 m) Todd English Food Hall would be coming to the mall, and is scheduled to open in the former Saks OFF 5TH space by 2024.

On September 8, 2022, Plan B Burger Bar was confirmed permanently closed after being closed since 2020. New York Comedy Club later opened in the space in early 2023.

On October 22, 2022, Terra Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse opened in the former Cheesecake Factory space.

On April 5, 2023, Pickleball America announced that they would be opening a 28-court indoor pickleball court in the old Saks Off 5th space. This would make it the largest indoor pickleball court in America, and is set to open by the end of July 2023.

On April 24, 2023, Puerto Vallarta Mexican Restaurant opened in the former Kona Grill space, which made The Plaza’s restaurant area fully occupied for the first time since 2014.

On June 25, 2023, Forever 21 closed its store at the mall, but owners of the mall are currently finding a tenant to replace the space.

## Layout and design

The mall's design has been criticized for not being pedestrian-friendly, something that its developers sought to address in a redevelopment during the mid-2000s.

## Anchors

- Macy's (250,000 sq ft, 23,000 m) – opened in 1982

- Barnes and Noble – opened in 2008

- Pickleball America - opened in July 2023

### Former anchors

- JCPenney (160,000 sq ft, 15,000 m) – opened in 1982, closed in 1994

- Filene's (160,000 sq ft, 15,000 m) – opened in 1994, closed in 2005, demolished in 2006

- Saks Fifth Avenue (78,000 sq ft, 7,200 m) – opened in 1983, closed in 2014, reopened as Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH in 2015

- Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH (78,000 sq ft, 7,200 m) – opened in 2015, closed in 2021, relocated to the old Lord & Taylor store at High Ridge Road in 2022