Techtite DVD Reviews

The Film: This was a theatrically-released film that wanted us to believe that Disney went all-out to make a theater-quality Peter Pan sequel. Well, why not? After all, as the classic opening words of the original film stated, "This all happened before, and it will all happen again..." It was implied that Peter Pan had visited Wendy's house many times, for many generations. Now, he's returned, to help her overly-realistic daughter to imagine, to dream, and to believe. If that was the idea proposed on the storyboards, it was a cute one.

Where Peter Pan in 'Return to Neverland' fails is, its animation is irrefutably by their Television, Saturday-Morning-Cartoon department, and not their superior, feature-film department. The last time I saw the latter was in Disney's Tarzan, with Glen Keane once again in charge of drawing the title character (his prior work has helped bring to life The Little Mermaid, Beauty's Beast, and many other modern classics). Word is he's currently busy with Disney's next big thing, Treasure Planet; a sci-fi modernization of the classic Treasure Island story. That sounds like fun; the same childish fun that could've --and should've-- been present here.

Not that there isn't some fun here, for the littler kids. If your kids loved Lady & the Tramp 2 and Cinderella 2 on video, they should like this as well. In a sense, this is the type of "never lose your ability to dream" story that always makes you feel good inside, in every incantation it's offered in. It should also be noted that, regardless of its flaws, this might be the best Peter Pan "next generation" story ever attempted. Steven Spielberg attempted such a story, via the live-action Hook...and failed miserably. This film does, by comparison, have more than its fair share of charm. It's just that with a little spit and polish, it could have been so much more.

While the overall story here is a bit obvious, I'll summarize it anyway. Wendy has a daughter, Jane, who doesn't believe in fairy tales...or fairies...or, in particular, Peter Pan. Why should she...? A generation after the first film took place, this is a girl forced to grow up quickly, during World War 2...which Jane's soldier father may or may not return from. This is a lot of reality for such a young girl, and as a result, she's forgotten how to dream. She's given a rude wake-up call, when Hook kidnaps her, thinking she's Wendy. The rest of the story --Jane is saved by Peter Pan, she meets Tinkerbell, she must "think happy thoughts" to fly, etc.-- pretty much writes itself, yet still maintains its fair share of charm.

Animation quality aside, I had a bigger gripe with this film; its salute to modernized Peter Pan concepts like Hook, more than the classic Disney film. For one thing, nothing can happen in Neverland unless you believe it can. This led to one of the stupider scenes in Hook, where the Lost Boys must "imagine" food in order to eat it (yes, I'm serious). In a similar scenario here, Tinker Bell can't do her stuff until Jane believes in fairies. Shouldn't there be a democratic process here...? I mean, every other living soul in Neverland --not to mention millions of her fans through the years!-- would be more than ready to believe in Tinker Bell! After all, if Jane was already kidnapped via a flying pirate ship, why is she still so quizzical?

This film could have been a box office smash, if given the respect of most other Disney projects. I'm reminded of Pixar's original Toy Story deal with Disney, which was initially intended as a mere direct-to-video project, only to have Pixar scrap all their original work and reshoot every scene with quality worthy of a theatrical offering. Was the same respect given here, when an apparent TV-animation troupe was given the go-ahead to make a theatrical film? I wonder. In the end, one thing is certain; as admirable as the film is, Peter-Pan deserved better.

The DVD: First of all, if you're going to have a "storybook" as a bonus feature on a Peter Pan DVD, why make the story involve...Cubby? For those who don't know, Cubby is the chubby lost boy. However, why didn't the storybook on-screen (shown in slide-show format for kids, either narrated or read-along) pertain to a story about Peter Pan...or Tinkerbell...or Wendy's daughter, Jane? This is one disappointment among a few on this disc, since once again a child-oriented bonus selection means no audio commentary track.

A "rescue the lost boys" adventure game (playable right on your DVD player) is more on target. It's quick yet fun for kids, like most of the interactive games on Disney DVD these days (although my favorite is still the Seven Dwarves mine quest, in the Snow White Platinum Edition). This isn't half as cool, however, as the DVD-ROM demo of You Can Fly!, which is one of Disney Interactive's better game offerings for PC users (you'll need a PC with a DVD drive to install the demo, though).

Older kids & parents will more enjoy the music video featurette of "I'll Try" with Jonatha Brooke, which was the best new song to be offered in the film. There are also deleted scenes (for an animated feature!), which although there are only two of them are intriguing looks at early animation techniques prior to the final shots seen in theaters. One scene is an extension of the scene where Jane first meets Captain Hook, where she gives him the same "I don't believe in you" lip she later gives Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, with a less favorable reaction from Hook.

The second clip involves Tinker Bell, and an abandoned concept where the reason she feels so awful near the middle of the film is because Hook gave her a poisoned cake. They later chose to have her at risk of "losing her light" because Jane doesn't believe in fairies. The scene is suffixed by Sharon Morrill (Executive in Charge of Production) saying this choice ultimately made the story more strong. I don't know; I still think that the idea of one little skeptical girl (among so many Tinker Bell fans) causing Tinker Bell to nearly "die" was not a strong part of the film.

The bottom line is, that even the most marginally-thumbs-up of Disney fare is far better than most of what is offered to children elsewhere. As much as half of Cartoon Network's offerings are garbage. As for Nick Toons; don't get me started! Disney could've had a classic with just a little bit more faith, trust, and pixie dust. Without it, it's still a good video rental...and perhaps even to own. It just could've been so much more.

	Final Rating : Small Crater. Acceptable for younger kids, though even they'll agree: a sequel to Peter Pan deserved far more "pixie dust."
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Peter Pan :

Return to Neverland

A Techtite Review

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