Puff the Magic Dragon (song)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

First written in 1959 by filmmaker Leonard Lipton and set to music in 1963 by Peter, Paul, and Mary's Peter Yarrow, "Puff, the Magic Dragon" tells the story of a boy who outgrows his childhood fantasies. The song also inspired a series of animated TV specials that recast the eponymous dragon as a sort of fantastical child psychologist coming to the aid of some deeply troubled children.

Tropes used in Puff the Magic Dragon include:
  • Banned in China: Banned in Singapore way back in 1963 due to concerns of references to Marijuana use. The ban has since been revoked.
  • Downer Ending: Jackie Paper grows up and Puff has a Heroic BSOD.
    • Belated Happy Ending: The book adaptation in 2007, with the authors' input, gives Puff another companion after Jackie Paper grows up.
  • Growing Up Sucks: The theme of the song is "putting away childish things."
    • Though in the movie, it is played out as important and not all bad.
  • Mood Whiplash: The final stanza, which would have established that Puff then goes on to play with some other child and (one assumes) repeats the cycle forever, has been Lost Forever. So the story about frolicking and kings and boats and sealing wax and stuff ends with Jackie Paper abandoning Puff, who slinks off to his cave to be sad for all perpetuity.
    • However, a 2007 book adaptation approved by the composers addresses this by having the adult Jackie Paper arrange for his daughter to become Puff's new friend. There are also many unofficial last verses, basically covering the same ground.
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