Remember when Disney was releasing sequel after sequel after sequel direct to video diluting the average quality of their franchise films? About 10 years ago one of these was actually good enough to get a theatrical release, and it worked. Return To Never Land is the 2002 sequel to Disney’s own 1953 version of Peter Pan, which had been available on VHS before, but the DVD release in 1999 sparked renewed interest in making it a franchise (see the current Tinker Bell and Disney Fairies lines as well as “Jake And The Never Land Pirates” for current exploration of this).
What gets me is just how dark the film is initially. Set against the backdrop of war, we find that indeed Wendy has grown up and has children of her own. London is being bombed, and Wendy’s husband Edward is off fighting on the front. This isn’t the typical fare you would find in a “G” rated film. When it was first made available to my kids over the years the younger they were (below say, 5 or so) the more scared they were at these opening scenes. Getting past this, however, we get back into the general fun and adventure one expects from a Peter Pan sequel, but does take quite a bit of explaining for younger kids – provided they still want to keep watching.
Captain Hook, ever on the lookout for a way to get back at Peter Pan decides to kidnap Wendy. Only thing is, on Never Land time sort of stands still and nobody ages (which is why the Lost Boys are still boys). Hook doesn’t realize that time has passed and Wendy is grown up. Instead he winds up kidnapping her daughter and son, Jane and Danny.
What comes after this is a sort of exploration of belief, childhood, your parents’ stories, and adventure. One of the main plot threads is Tinker Bell’s possible death by disappearance because Jane doesn’t believe in fairies. There’s a lot of potential death in this kids’ film.
Everything works out alright in the end, of course, and the ending even made me tear up a little. It’s not a bad film, really, but it could have been a lot better. The animation is good, better than “made for television” quality but not up to the standards of the typical theatrical fare. The voice acting is decent and the music works but is mostly unremarkable.
Now on Blu-ray we get the film in a package that pretty much replicates what was offered before. There’s the film on Blu-ray, a DVD and digital copy, and special features, such as they are, carried directly over from the previous home video release. We only get a couple of deleted scenes and a music video. The only new things are some newer trailers and clips from the Tinker Bell movies.
If you’re a fan of the Peter Pan franchise, Return To Never Land is certainly worth buying. It doesn’t hold up on its own, however. As sequels go, it’s serviceable, but as Blu-ray releases go, it falls short. I really do wish there was an audio commentary of “making of” featurette that explored the genesis behind this film as well as the franchise as a whole.