Thousands Protest ‘Peter Pan’s’ White Tiger Lily

Peter Pan is getting a reboot, but not without a bit of a fight. A new petition, protesting against Warner Bros.’ announcement of Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily in Pan, has collected more than 4,000 signatures, after launching on Tuesday.

The Care2 petition notes that the character Tiger Lily character in the J. M. Barrie classic is a Native American princess, stating: “The casting choice is particularly shameful for a children’s movie. Telling children their role models must all be white is unacceptable.”

STORY: Young Peter Pan Cast for Warner Bros.’ ‘Pan’

The petition also reads, “Yet it stars Mara and two white guys — Hugh Jackman and Garrett Hedlund. Not so multi-racial after all, Warner Bros. Tell Warner Bros. to stop casting white actors to play characters originally written as people of color!” The activists point to an “unapologetic” statement from the studio. However, the “statement” appears to be taken from a news article, and was not issued by the studio. 

The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o was being considered for the part of Tiger Lily in the reboot.

Pan — which will tell the tale of a young orphan boy from London who is spirited away to the magical Neverland — also stars Jackman as Blackbeard, Hedlund as Hook, and Levi Miller as Peter Pan. Joe Wright is directing from a script by Jason Fuchs, and Sarah Schechter, Greg Berlanti and Paul Webster are producing. Courtenay Valenti is overseeing for the studio.

Pan is slated for release on July 17, 2015.