Return to Never Land

Return to Never Land (also known as Peter Pan in Disney's Return to Never Land) is a 2002 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation in Sydney, Australia and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is a sequel to the 1953 film Peter Pan, based on J. M. Barrie's most famous work Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up.
==Plot==
During the London Blitz of World War II in 1942, Peter Pan's former playmate, Wendy Darling, has grown up and married, and has two children: a daughter, Jane; and a son, Danny. Her husband, Edward, is sent to fight in the war. Wendy tries to keep their spirits up with stories of Peter Pan, but Jane has become cynical under the pressures of the war, belittling the stories her mother tells and unintentionally ridiculing her brother's faith in them. Jane has promised her father that she'll take care of her mother and family when he was gone. But when Wendy tells her that she must be evacuated to the countryside for her safety, Jane flies into a terrible tantrum that involves refusing to promise to take care of her brother and yelling at Danny. Afterwards, Wendy scolds Jane for her outburst and her behavior.
Captain Hook, still seeking revenge against Peter Pan (with Mr. Smee as his boss), breaks into the Darling home. Not knowing of the number of years that have passed, Hook mistakes Jane for her mother and kidnaps her to use as bait for Peter. Back in Never Land, he drops Jane into the waiting tentacles of "the beast" (a giant octopus), expecting Peter to also be devoured by it as he dives after "Wendy" to save her, along with Tinker Bell. Peter rescues Jane, and Hook gets a taste of his own medicine when the octopus attacks and almost eats him, but he is rescued by Smee. Meanwhile, upon finding Jane is Wendy's daughter, Peter 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 refuses, because she is more interested in getting back home. They try to make her have fun and to teach her to fly, but she fails, because she does not believe. Jane becomes angry and blurts out that she is fed up and that she does not believe in fairies, which leaves Tinker Bell slowly dying. Peter tells the Lost Boys that if Jane doesn't believe, "Tink's light's gonna go out".
When Slightly gives her a check up, the gang learns that Tinker Bell will perish unless they get Jane to believe in fairies. Pan and the others then set out to find Jane and make her the very first Lost Girl.
After Jane leaves them, she is approached by Hook, who tricks her with a deal. He promises to take her home and that he will not harm Peter, if she agrees to help him find his treasure. He gives Jane a whistle to signal him when she locates it. The Lost Boys search for Jane and eventually Peter finds her. Jane suggests they play a game of "treasure hunt". Peter and the Lost Boys show her how they have fun and she begins to change her serious image and learns to have fun too. When Jane finds the treasure, she takes the whistle Hook gave her and throws it away, refusing to help him. Peter and the Lost Boys make Jane the very first Lost Girl to which she is very moved by and they celebrate. However, one of the Lost Boys finds the whistle and blows it. Hook and his crew arrive, and captures Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, but let Jane go as thanks for "helping" them. Despite Jane denying she wanted to help Hook in this way, Peter angrily accuses her of being a traitor and tells her that because she does not believe in fairies Tinker Bell is dying.
Jane rushes to the Lost Boys' home, but gets to Tinker Bell too late. Jane is in tears realizing it is her fault Tinker Bell is gone. Jane's new-found belief, however, revives Tinker Bell at the last minute. After Tinker Bell is alive, Jane apologizes Tinker Bell for making her ill.
They both hurry to the Jolly Roger, where they find the Lost Boys tied up and Peter (tied to an anchor) about to walk the plank. Jane saves him, and with the help of "faith, trust, and pixie dust", she learns to fly and unties Peter. Hook's ship is sunk by the octopus (who's replaced the crocodile), leaving him and the pirates to exit via a rowboat with the octopus pursuing them. Now that she can fly, Jane is able to return home to Wendy and Danny. After apologizing to her mother for her behavior earlier, Jane reconciles with Danny and Wendy and Peter meet again, for the first time in years. Though Peter is disappointed that she has grown up, Wendy assures him that she has not really changed. Edward returns from the army and the family is reunited. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell watch for a few seconds before they quietly fly home.
==Characters==
*Jane
*Peter
*Wendy
*Danny
*Edward
*Nana II
*Tinker Bell
*Captain Hook
*The Lost Boys: Nibs, Sightly, the Twins, Cubby and Tootles
*Hook's Crew
*Mr. Smee
==Cast==
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 Studios later had Kath Soucie completely rerecord the role.Animated Views: Beaumont and Kerry: Peter Pan’s Leading Ladies, interview with Kathryn Beaumont
* Harriet Owen as Jane, with Jonatha Brooke providing Jane's singing vocals. Lianne Hughes served as the supervising animator for Jane.
* Blayne Weaver as Peter Pan. Andrew Collins and Pieter Lommerse served as the supervising animators for Peter Pan.
* Corey Burton as Captain Hook. Bob Baxter served as the supervising animator for Captain Hook.
* Jeff Bennett as Mr. Smee.
** Bennett also voices miscellaneous pirates.
* Spencer Breslin, Bradley Pierce, Quinn Beswick, Aaron Spann and Frank Welker as Lost Boys. The boys include:
** Spencer Breslin as Cubby
** Bradley Pierce as Nibs
** Quinn Beswick as Slightly
** Aaron Spann as the Twins
** Frank Welker as Tootles
===Minor Characters===
* Harriet Owen as Young Wendy
* Kath Soucie as Wendy Darling. Ryan O'Loughlin served as the supervising animator for Wendy.
* Andrew McDonough as Danny
* Roger Rees as Edward
* Frank Welker as Nana II and the Giant Octopus
==Soundtrack==
Joel McNeely composed the score of Return to Never Land.
===Track listing===
==Reception==
The film opened at the third position at the box office behind Crossroads and John Q. Return to Never Land grossed $48,423,368 domestically and $61,432,424 overseas, for a total of $109,862,682. With an estimated budget of $20,000,000, this made Return to Never Land a modestly successful theatrical release. This was before DVD sales, which had been the initially planned market for the film. Critical reaction was mixed, with a total score of 46% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Stephen Holden from the New York Times said the film the best film of our time you and your family will love it the animated fun for the whole family
==Release==
Return to Never Land was released on VHS and DVD August 20, 2002, and it took in only lukewarm sales. This version of the film went out of print on January 31, 2003. On November 27, 2007, Return to Never Land was released in a "Pixie-Powered Edition"; the movie was also released in a Peter Pan Trilogy, along with the Peter Pan Platinum Edition, and Tinker Bell, on December 18, 2008. The Pixie-Powered Edition went out of print on January 31, 2009.Ultimate Disney's Out of Print DVD List. It will be re-released again on a Blu-ray combo pack on Fall 2013 accompanying the Diamond Edition release of Peter Pan February 5, 2013.
== References ==
== External links ==
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Category:2002 films
Category:Walt Disney Pictures films
Category:Peter Pan films
Category:Children's films
Category:2002 animated films
Category:DisneyToon Studios animated films
Category:Films set in the 1940s
Category:Films set in London
Category:Battle of Britain films
Category:American animated films
Category:Peter Pan
Category:Disney animated films
Category:Australian animated films
Category:Disney's Peter Pan
Category:Films without opening credits
Category:Films with multiple vocal credit songs
Category:Sequels
Category:2000s films
Category:2000s animated films
Category:Films
Category:Films with a single song
Category:Films set in England
Category:Films set in Europe
Category:Films about fairies and sprites
Category:Rated G