Disney Cast's It's First Actor With Down Syndrome in A Leading Role

With every flick of its wand, Disney is slowly but surely making strides to become more inclusive, which is something that they have faced criticism for several times in the past. Noah Matthews Matofsky is playing Slightly, the leader of the Lost Boys in the upcoming Peter Pan and Wendy film that will release on Disney+ on April 28th.


Disney has depicted several animated characters that portray some form of a disability such as Dory’s short-term memory loss in Finding Nemo, Quasimodo’s hunchback in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Massimo’s Amelia disease in Luca. However, these characters do not represent those with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities.

This new film is a tremendous deal for the production company since this is its first live-action representation of disabilities and the casting of disabled actors. According to Buzzfeed, “While the entertainment industry has made strides toward inclusivity over the last few years, onscreen representation for people with disabilities is still incredibly low” (Harris, 2021).

The film tells the familiar and beloved story of Wendy Darling and Peter Pan in Neverland, along with his adventurous crew the Lost Boys, and their valiant and continuous battle with the nefarious Captain Hook. Growing up, I would (and still) watch Disney movies with my older brother Carlos, who is on the autism spectrum. Some of his favorites were Tarzan and Toy Story, and like me, he also enjoyed watching Peter Pan. My best friend’s brother Chris has Down syndrome, and he is also a big Disney fanatic, loving characters like Jessie from Toy Story.

In his role as the leader of the clan, Matthews Matofsky takes on a heroic part both on and off screen, finally bringing Disney fans everywhere with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities like my brother and Chris into the story.

In the words of Noah Matthews Matofsky, “You can do anything. . .Always dream big.”