"Peter Pan In Return To Never Land" is Disneys animated sequel to their truly classic 1953 adaptation of J.M. Barries beloved childrens story. Times moved on since the first movie and although Peter Pan never grew up, Wendy did. Its now World War Two and an adult Wendy is living in London, still telling tales of Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and all the other inhabitants of Never Land to her two children; Danny, an awe struck little boy and Jane, a more cynical, pragmatic older girl who has no time for fairytales. However when Hook flies his sailing ship to London, kidnaps Jane and takes her to Never Land, she soon wishes she has paid more attention to her mothers stories.
With a budget of a mere $20M the film was produced by Disneys TV animation department (who have previously toiled over straight to video/DVD sequels for other Disney movies including "Cinderella," "The Lady And The Tramp," "The Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid"),but this was apparently always planned as a cinematic release. The film succeeds in combining the traditional feel of the original 50s animation with a more contemporary look, particularly for the intrepid young heroine Jane (whose modern looking bobbed haircut was actually highly fashionable during World War Two!). The use of computer generated animation does successfully enhance certain scenes, sometimes so subtly you dont even notice, and sometimes in the case of Tinkerbells magical pixie dust to spectacular effect. However Hooks computer generated ship, while certainly impressive, unfortunately stands out uncomfortably from the traditionally animated environments that surround it. Overall though "Peter Pan In Return To Never Land" only the second sequel to a Disney feature to be released on the big screen more than deserves a cinematic outing, and will no doubt go down well with the latest generation of Disney fans, who have grown up with a VHS copy of the original at home.
Peter Pan 2: Return to Never Land
2002
Action / Adventure / Animation / Family / Fantasy
Plot summary
The classic tale of 'Peter Pan' continues in Disney's sequel 'Return to Never Land'. In 1940 on a world besieged by World War II, Wendy, now grown up, has two children, one of them is her daughter, Jane. She wears her trench coat during the air raid, and later that night, Wendy tries to give her own children hope by telling them of her magical experiences with Peter Pan in Never Land. However, Jane, Wendy's daughter, sees it all as make believe and refuses to believe in the tales. That is, until the villainous Captain Hook mistakes her for Wendy and abducts her to Never Land in an attempt to lure and capture Peter Pan. Peter Pan's quest to return Jane safely home is jeopardized until she can begin to believe in the magic of imagination.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
He's back....
Rather unimpressive!
Return To Neverland isn't terrible, but it does fail on many levels, so can't be classed as a good sequel. The animation and the story were the redeeming qualities, but unfortunately the songs and the characters fall flat.
The animation is mostly bright and colourful, but falls flat in the dark backgrounds. The story wasn't bad either, trying to keep Hook from getting the treasure and everything. I also liked the war scene, because that was quite interesting on an animation perspective, and brought some intrigue on a contextual level. I was unimpressed by the trailer, but the film itself wasn't bad, but loses the charm about 15 minutes in. I will say it has a great message about cherishing your childhood.
The first problem was that the kidnapping scene took far too long, despite the breathtaking animation of Hook's ship, and I hated the change to Hook. In the original and the criminally underrated TV series Peter Pan and the Pirates, which are both classics, he is complex and vindictive, but here he was manipulative in a negative way, and lacked menace. The best character was Jane, but that isn't saying much, and Peter's new voice was horrible, too bolshy. The songs were terrible and forgettable immediately after you've finished watching the movie, likewise with the dialogue. The main problem was that it isn't a true sequel at all, compared to the first film and the book. And the octopus, why replace the crocodile may I ask?
I'm sorry that this is mostly negative, but Return To Neverland was very disappointing. Though better than the trailer suggested, it is still a pretty charmless film, with a 3/10(Adequate) Bethany Cox
Return to Never Land
I may have seen the trailer at the cinema, and like the critics I thought it looked more like the kind of Disney film better released straight to video, same goes for the atrocious The Jungle Book 2, but when it was available I watched. Basically Wendy Darling (Kath Soucie) has grown up and had two children, maturing daughter Jane (Harriet Owen) and little son Danny (Andrew McDonough) who enjoys the stories Peter Pan and Never Land. With father Edward (Roger Rees) leaving home to fight for the country, and the constant London bombings during the Blitz of the Second World War, Jane is very cynical, especially when it comes to the bedtime stories. But her opinion is to change when she gets kidnapped by Captain Hook (Corey Burton),mistaking her for Wendy, as bait for his enemy, the still not growing up Peter Pan (Blayne Weaver). Even Peter mistakes her for Wendy, and not being up for fun with him, Tinker Bell or the Lost Boys she really wants to get back home, but this cannot happen until she believes in the magic of imagination and finds a happy thought with pixie dust. Meanwhile Captain Hook and his silly sidekick Smee (Jeff Bennett) are trying to find out where Pan is as well as a way to get rid of him once and for all, while the Captain is also terrified by not the crocodile, but a giant octopus. In the end, after realising everything around her is real and that she should believe in it and save the life Tinker Bell, Jane does fly, Captain Hook is defeated, and Peter takes her back home and sees her mother before flying away, and Edward returns home. Also starring The Cat in the Hat's Spencer Breslin as Cubby, Jumanji's Bradley Pierce as Nibs and Additional Voices from The Simpsons' Dan Castellaneta and Jim Cummings. Essentially it is recycling all the themes from the J.M. Barrie book, the voices all sounding different doesn't help, the animation is average, and there isn't much to the story, but for the kids, not a terrible family animated musical adventure. Okay!