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Review by Susan Granger
3 stars out of 4
When Disney animation made sequels like "The Lion King II: Simba's
Pride," "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas," "Scamp's Adventures,"
"Return of Jafar" and "Aladdin and the King of Thieves," they've gone
direct-to-video - until now. The theatrical release of "Return to Neverland"
continues the 1953 "Peter Pan" classic with visual consistency. Wendy (Kathie
Soucie) is now grown up and raising a family of her own in London during the
W.W.II blitz when fathers are off fighting the war and children are being sent
to the countryside for safety. The skeptical heroine is Jane (Harriet Owen),
Wendy's war-weary daughter who certainly doesn't believe in her mother's magical
tales of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell - until, one night, she's kidnapped by
fiendish Captain Hook (Corey Burton), who thinks she's Wendy and is plotting to
lure Peter Pan (Blayne Weaver) to his doom. Once in Neverland, she's rescued by
the still-prepubescent Peter, who is bewildered until she explains that she's
Wendy's daughter. Then Jane meets the new crop of Lost Boys and embarks on her
own adventure, involving an orange octopus and buried treasure. But, above all,
Jane feels a sense of duty to return to London and care for her little brother
and - to that end - she is tricked into making a deal with Captain Hook, who
agrees to fly her home. But, of course, the tricky Captain is not to be trusted,
and Jane learns that if she really believes in fairies - with "faith, trust and
pixie dust" - she can fly home on her own. And who can blame writer Temple
Mathews and director Robin Budd for borrowing that bit of "Wizard of Oz"
folklore to augment J.M. Barrie's original story? On the Granger Movie Gauge of
1 to 10, "Return to Neverland" is a spirited 7, aimed at families with
single-digit kidlets..
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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out of 4
