Return to Never Land

Infobox_Film | name = Return to Never Land


caption = Promotional poster for "Return to Neverland".
director = Robin Budd
Donovan Cook (co-director)
producer = Cheryl Abood
Christopher Chase
Dan Rounds
writer = Temple Matthews (screenwriter)
Carter Crocker (additional material)
(based on J.M. Barrie's characters and Walt Disney's 1953 film
music = Joel McNeely
editing = Antonio F. Rocco
starring = Harriet Owen
Blayne Weaver
Corey Burton
Jeff Bennett
Kath Soucie
Spencer Breslin
Jim Cummings
Frank Welker
Dan Castellaneta
Rob Paulsen
company = DisneyToon Studios
distributor = Buena Vista Pictures
released = February 15, 2002
runtime = 72 minutes
country = United States
language = English
budget = $20 million
preceded_by = "Peter Pan" (1953)
followed_by =
imdb_id = 0280030Infobox movie certificates
Thailand=G
Malaysia=U
Argentina=Atp
Australia=G
Brazil=Livre
Canada=G
Finland=S
France=U
Germany=o.Al.
Hong Kong=I
Netherlands=AL
Norway=7
Peru=PT
Philippines=G
Portugal=6
Spain=T
Sweden=Btl
Switzerland=6 (canton of the Grisons), 7 (canton of Vaud)
United_Kingdom=U
United_States=G

"Return to Never Land" (also known as "Peter Pan: Return to Never Land") is a 2002 animated feature produced by the DisneyToons studio in Sydney, Australia and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. It included digitally animated sequences and an all-new voice cast. "Return to Never Land" was re-released on a DVD on November 27, 2007.

Plot

The story begins in World War II London, during the Blitz. Peter Pan's former playmate Wendy Darling has grown up and married, and has two children of her own: a 11-year-old daughter Jane, and a 4-year-old son Danny. Her husband Edward is sent to fight in the war, leaving her to raise the children by herself. She tries to keep their spirits up with stories of Peter Pan, but Jane has nevertheless become cynical under the pressures of war, belittling the stories her mother tells and ridiculing her brother's faith in them.

Captain Hook, who has sailed through the skies on his pixie-dust-enchanted pirate ship, finds her sleeping by the window, and – thinking she is Wendy – abducts her to use in a scheme to defeat Peter Pan. However his ship triggers an alarm and is mistaken for an Luftwaffe airplane and Hook has to escape for his life as the Germans attack London. Back in Neverland, he drops the girl into the waiting tentacles of a giant octopus, expecting Peter to also be devoured by it as he dives after "Wendy" to save her.

Peter rescues Jane, and upon finding she is Wendy's daughter, assumes she would like to follow in her mother's footsteps. He takes her to his home to be mother to the Lost Boys, but Jane can't stand Neverland or the rowdy gang of boys. They try to make her have fun and to teach her to fly, but she fails because she doesn't believe. She blurts out that she doesn't even believe in fairies, which leaves Tinker Bell slowly dying.

Jane leaves them, and is approached by Hook, who tricks her with a deal. He promises to take her home and lies that he won't harm Peter, and she agrees to help him find his treasure. He gives Jane a whistle to signal him when she locates it. She returns to the Lost Boys to play a game of "treasure hunt", and they try to win her into becoming one of them, so she'll believe in fairies and restore Tink's health. When Jane finds the treasure, she throws Hook's whistle away, but Tootles finds it and blows it. Hook and crew arrive, capture Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, but let Jane go as thanks for "helping" them.

Back at the Boys' home, Jane finds Tinker Bell on the verge of death, but heals her. She and Tinker Bell hurry to the "Jolly Roger", where they find Peter walking the plank. Jane saves him, and with the help of "faith, trust, and pixie dust" learns to fly. Hook grabs Jane, and Peter saves her, also sinking the ship. Hook and the pirates exit via a rowboat, pursued by the giant octopus.

Now that she can fly, Jane is able to return home to Wendy and Danny; Peter and Tink escort her. Peter and Wendy are briefly reunited, and he is displeased that she's grown up, but she assures him that she hasn't really changed. Edward returns from the army, the family is reunited, and Peter Pan and Tinker Bell quietly fly home.

Differences from the novel

The final chapter of Barrie's "Peter and Wendy" briefly introduces Wendy as an adult, and her daughter Jane, serving as the premise for "Return to Never Land". Disney's Jane is modern: tomboyish and independent, and fully capable of taking care of herself; but Barrie's Jane plays the part of a new Wendy: motherly and domestic. In the film, Jane refuses to believe her mother's stories about Peter Pan, and is brought to Neverland by force (by Hook); in the book Jane is eager to believe in Peter Pan, and she meets and flies away with Peter much as Wendy did (but with her mother's knowledge and permission). Wendy's son Danny and husband Edward are new characters created for "Return to Never Land"; they are not in the novel.

The film is more properly a sequel to Disney's 1953 animated film rather than the novel, and reflects the ending of the film instead. For example, Captain Hook was not killed by the crocodile, and Tinker Bell has not died as explained by Barrie. In the novel, the Lost Boys returned to London with Wendy and grew up like normal children, but in "Return to Never Land" they have stayed as young as Peter Pan himself.

Voice cast

* Harriet Owen as Jane and Young Wendy Darling
* Blayne Weaver as Peter Pan
* Corey Burton as Captain Hook
* Jeff Bennett as Smee and the Pirates
* Kath Soucie as Adult Wendy Darling
* Andrew McDonough as Danny
* Roger Rees as Edward
* Spencer Breslin as Cubby
* Bradley Pierce as Nibs
* Quinn Beswick as Slightly
* Aaron Spann as Twins
* Dan Castellaneta, Jim Cummings, Rob Paulsen, Clive Revill, Frank Welker, Cameron Jesse King and Wally Wingert as the additional voices

Because nearly five decades had passed since the original Disney film, a new cast of voice actors was used for this sequel. Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice of Wendy in the original, recorded all of the now-adult character's dialogue for "Return to Never Land", but Disney later had Kathie Soucie completely rerecord the role. [ [http://animated-views.com/2007/beaumont-and-kerry-leading-ladies/ Animated Views: Beaumont and Kerry: Peter Pan’s Leading Ladies] , interview with Kathryn Beaumont]

Soundtrack

Joel McNeely composed the score of "Return to Never Land".

Track listing

# "Do You Believe in Magic?"
#* BBMak
# "Main Title"
# "Second Star to the Right"
#* Jonatha Brooke
# "Tale of Pan"
# "I'll Try"
#* Jonatha Brooke
# "Jane Is Kidnapped"
# "Childhood Lost"
# "Here We Go Another Plan"
#* Jeff Bennett
# "Summoning the Octopus/Pan Saves Jane"
# "Flight Through Never Land"
# "So to Be One of Us"
# "Meet the Lost Boys"
# "Now That You're One of Us"
#* They Might Be Giants
# "Longing for Home"
# "Hook and the Lost Boys"
# "Hook Deceives Jane"
# "Jane Finds the Treasure"
# "Pan Is Captured"
# "I'll Try (Reprise)"
#* Jonatha Brooke
# "Jane Saves Tink and Pan"
# "Jane Can Fly"
# "Flying Home"
# "Reunion"

Reception

"Return to Neverland" grossed $48,423,368 domestically and $26,481,222 overseas, for a total of $74,904,590. With an estimated budget of $20,000,000, this made "Return to Neverland" a modestly successful theatrical release. This was before DVD sales, which had been the initially planned market for the film.

References

External links

*bcdb title|id=23329|title=Return To Never Land
*imdb title|id=0280030|title=Return to Never Land