In Disney’s 1953 Peter Pan, what substance helps characters fly?

In Disney’s 1953 Peter Pan, Pixie Dust helps characters fly.

Peter Pan tells Wendy, John, and Michael that they need happy thoughts and Pixie Dust to fly. Tinker Bell supplies the fairy dust, and the children use it as they leave London for Neverland.

The film’s flying sequence became one of its defining images. The combination of Pixie Dust and happy thoughts turns flight into a magical idea rather than a mechanical power or a natural ability.

This detail belongs especially to Disney’s version of the story. Barrie’s stage and literary works also connect fairies with flight, but the familiar phrase and visual sprinkling of Pixie Dust became strongly established through Disney and later adaptations.