Mr. Smee

Mr. Smee
Peter Pan character
Edward Kipling as Smee in the 1924 film Peter Pan
First appearance	Peter Pan (1904)
Created by	J. M. Barrie
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Pirate
Nationality	Neverland

Mr. Smee is Captain Hook's bo'sun in J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and the novel Peter and Wendy.

Mr. Smee seems an oddly genial man for a pirate; Barrie describes him as "Irish", the only Nonconformist among Hook's crew, and "a man who stabbed without offence" – and is portrayed in the multiple pantomimes or movies of Peter Pan as a rather stupid but entertaining man interested in loot rather than Hook's more evil pleasures. Smee typically represents a humorous side to pirating, often portrayed as a portly man with a bulbous nose and red cheeks, although Barrie hinted at a darker side. When captured by Hook, every child in the brig loves Smee – he cannot lay a fist on them and does their darning – despite his belief that they fear him. Hook considers that Smee has good form without knowing it, which is of course the best form of all. He almost tears into Smee for this but knows that clawing a man for having good form is very bad form. Smee offers to save Wendy from the plank, if only she promises to be his mother – an offer she refuses, in Barrie's words, "Not even for Smee". Smee's position on the Jolly Roger is presented inconsistently (in a sense, it could be said that "no two 'Smees' are alike"). In Peter and Wendy, he is identified as the ship's bo'sun. He is one of the two pirates (the second is Starkey) who survive the final battle between the children and the pirates, and "henceforth wandered about the world in his spectacles, making a precarious living by saying he was the only man that Jas. Hook had feared."

In Peter Pan in Scarlet, he has moved into the Underground Home of the Lost Boys. He leaves Neverland by the end of the book and opens up a shop that sell souvenirs collected from Neverland.

In Peter Pan and the Pirates, Mr. Smee (voiced by Ed Gilbert in an Irish accent) is Captain Hook's right-hand man. His weapon is named Johnny Corkscrew. He is small, but not very thick, has grey hair and pale blue eyes. His biggest difference from the other pirates is that he is often clumsy and not really able to capture one of the Lost Boys (as seen in "Slightly Duped" and "Play Ball").

In Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook, Smee (played by Bob Hoskins) and Hook's relationship takes on an almost intimate tone, at times even resembling an old married couple or a master/servant arrangement. Smee is allowed access to Hook's private quarters, is seen preparing meals for the Captain and even helps him disrobe before bed. When Hook threatens suicide, he makes it obvious that he expects Smee to stop him, to which Smee replies "not again". Hook also confides all of his darkest and most personal thoughts and concerns to Smee, seemingly exclusively. When Hook admits (untruthfully) that he wants to die, Smee embraces the captain and kisses him on the cheek to dissuade him. He also talks Hook into trying to persuade Peter's children, Jack and Maggie, to remain in Neverland permanently by using their father's repeated broken promises and prolonged absences as examples. Though Hook is successful with Jack, Maggie refuses to be swayed and retains her faith in Peter. Smee eventually abandons Hook when he realizes how much Peter loves his children. Near the end of the film, a man bearing a striking resemblance to Smee is seen sweeping garbage in Kensington Gardens but whether or not he is the real Smee is left unclear.