Bobby As Imagined in 2022... Plus some recommended Instagram accounts!

 So today I have something awesome to show off! This is courtesy of a fan called Tanga, who was kind enough to make me aware of this youtube video: 

Child Actors that Died Young: How Would They Look If They'd Lived Longer

Needless to say, when she sent me this link, I RAN. 

This absolutely blessed my socks off, y'all. I can't tell you how many times I think about what Bobby would be like as an old man. Why, you ask, does it matter so much to me? 

I might have said this before, but I'm the activity director for a memory care facility (think Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia), and almost all of the residents I serve are somewhere within a two year of when Bobby was born. These were his peers, the people he would have grown old with. So I'm constantly wondering things like, would Bobby be one of the men I have to constantly remind to stay sitting in his wheelchair so he wouldn't take off down the hall and fall? Would he fight tooth and nail when the PCA's tried to change his clothes? Would he make suggestive remarks to every woman who passed him? Now keep in mind, before you yell "Bobby would NEVER do that!" that, when senility takes hold on a person's mind, it can change them at worst and cause their inhibitions to drop at best. 

Maybe he would never suffer from dementia at all, and would instead live over on the other side of the building with the "assisted living" folks. That's what I would hope for. 

Anyway, we do know he would have been SMALL. He was already short at 5'7, but then when you remember the inches people lose anyway in old age, he might have shrunk to 5'2 or so. I really like how these people have his nose as wider and no longer upturned as it had been in his youth, as that's something that happens in elderhood too. I found out not long ago that our noses never stop growing. 

I think I've said this before, and that is that if ever a Peter Pan documentary was made (and there have already been a couple of short versions) with Margaret Kerry, Kathryn Beaumont, etc. in an alternate reality when Bobby was still living, he would doubtlessly be the center of all the interview questions. In such a case, I view him being informative in his answers, intelligent in how he provided them, and very, very witty. It was said to be part of his charm that he had a good sense of humor and could be quite charismatic. What I see the most, though, is that at the very end of the production, he would look into the camera and give a merry wink. 

I know a lot of people say, and I agree, that Bobby didn't necessarily relish his involvement with Peter Pan in his adulthood. It's what he is best remembered for now, and we all like to add charm to him by quoting little things from the movie and all that. I know I definitely do it, because Peter Pan is an acknowledged fandom. Where we can't find memorabilia of Bobby Driscoll, we can find plenty for Peter Pan. However, it's safe to say that that's probably not what he would want to be known for. Chances are, it would have been the things he was keen to embark on in adulthood--his art, his poetry, and sure, maybe his acting, but probably in the other projects he hoped to be associated with if he ever made a comeback. 

But I also tend to think that, as an older man, he would have come back around to embrace Peter Pan and the fact that so many fans fondly remember him in that role. For that reason, I one hundred percent see him being involved in the interviews, documentaries, tributes, and so on. 

As it stands, though, Bobby will never be able to do that. It makes me sad sometimes to see things like this and be reminded of what he never had, all the memories he never got to make with his family and friends--and what he couldn't accomplish. It brings to mind the lyrics of the hauntingly beautiful song at the end of Jordan Allender's commentary on YouTube sung by Alex Sherman.

Say you love me
Say you do
'Cause there are so many things in this world that I couldn't do.

But we as his fans love him despite what he couldn't do. We love him instead for who he was. 

So! Let's focus on that, and let me change the melancholic ending of this post to a lighter one by telling you guys who to follow on Instagram if you want some quality Bobby content. Of course I want people to ALWAYS follow me, but I'm aware these good ol' blogs of the aughts and teens are dying out to make way for the newer tributes of TikTok and Insta. So, particularly for younger fans, here are some accounts worth following!

bobbydriscollcomfort
This person just did some really excellent, lifelike colorized photos of Bobby. These have been done before, but I feel like they were really nailed this time.

f0rbobby
Another really good account, this one containing good commentary and thoughts behind the things posted. 

xolostgirlxo
If you're more into the Peter Pan end of Bobby's career, this is a good one to follow. This person's content is made up mostly of the film/franchise, but they also have some good Bobby pictures and sentiments posted. 

Know of anyone else I should feature here? Let me know!