Mrises Jane Darling

“*I'm her daughter, Jane!*”―Jane introducing herself to Peter Pan who mistook her for Wendy

**Jane** is the female protagonist of Disney's 2002 film, *Return to Never Land*, the sequel to the 1953 film, *Peter Pan*.

## Background

Jane is the daughter of Wendy and Edward and the sister of Danny. Edward's, and thus, her last name is never revealed. She is most likely based on the character of the same name, from the original books. In the books, she is Wendy's daughter and she goes to Neverland with Peter Pan after Wendy grows up. She somewhat resembles her mother, Wendy and her grandmother, Mary, in facial appearance. However it seems she got her dirty blonde hair color from her Uncle Michael and her practical attitude from her grandfather, George.

### Personality

Jane initially had a very level-headed and mature personality, giving her a brilliant intellect and strong moral code. Also, because she apparently grew up too fast and never had a chance to meet Peter Pan by the start of World War II, she has trouble believing in magic, which becomes a problem once she enters Neverland. Once she spends enough time in Neverland, her personalities change and she comes to terms with the fact that magic exists, which allows her to use pixie dust and, overall, survive in Neverland.

### Appearance

Jane is slender and fair-skinned, with chin-length dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She apparently looks enough like a younger Wendy, who she is mistaken for by both Captain Hook and Peter Pan. She wears a purple sweater over a lavender nightgown, with gray socks. Prior to this, she wears a long coat over her skirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a hat, and a pair of boots. She is a tomboyishly beautiful young girl. Tinker Bell can tolerate her due to them having similar strong personalities.

## Biography

### Return To NeverLand

**As a young child, Jane enjoys hearing Wendy's stories about Peter Pan. However, when World War II breaks out, Edward is called to serve in the war and Jane is asked to take care of Wendy and Danny. This serves to shape her mindset as rational and level-headed, but it also makes a skeptic that refuses to believe in magic and the supernatural.** That night, Jane and Nana II go out to get Danny a birthday present, and get in a middle of an attack while in doing so, through they manage to get home safely, while Jane gives Danny a pair of socks as his present. Later when the family goes upstairs, Jane criticzes her mother's stories, and she is later told that she and her brother are going to be sent away to the country for their safety, to which Jane angrily refuses and ridicules her mother's stories, which causes her to have an argument with her brother, making him cry, to which Wendy scolds her and leaves. When she sleeps, Captain Hook, Smee, and the pirate crew show up in the nursery and kidnap her (having mistaken her for Wendy), taking her to Neverland in his flying pirate ship, the Jolly Roger. When it lands, he uses her (still believing her to be Wendy) as bait to lure Peter to his doom. He attempts to feed her to an octopus but Peter and Tinker Bell dive in and save her. Peter soon discovers that she isn't Wendy, but is actually her daughter. **Peter excitedly assumes that Jane wants to be a mother like Wendy, and he takes her to meet the Lost Boys, which makes Tinker Bell jealous. She soon arrives at Peter's hideout, Hangman's Tree. He introduces her as the Lost Boys' new mother and attempts to have her entertain them. This doesn't work, as she is not good at telling stories, whereas they are not good at listening to stories. They attempt to get her to play a game with them, but she would rather return home. She builds a raft and attempts to sail there, but it sinks. Peter tells her that the only way out of Neverland is to fly out and he decides to teach her. He asks Tinker Bell to give her some pixie dust, but she refuses until he tells her that if Jane can't fly, she will have to live with them. Tinker Bell complies and Jane is thrown off a cliff in an attempt to get her to fly. Instead of flying, she lands in a hole; she can't fly because she doesn't believe in magic.** Later, the Lost Boys find Jane's notebook and play with it, eventually ruining it. This makes her angry, and she goes as far to proclaims that she doesn't believe in any of it, especially fairies. As a result of her words, Tinker Bell becomes sick. Unless Peter and the Lost Boys can make Jane believe in fairies, Tinker Bell's light will go out forever. They decide to convince her to believe by making her the first Lost Girl. **That night, as Jane is sitting alone in the woods, she hears someone crying. She follows the sound and discovers that it is Captain Hook. She grabs his sword and points it at him. He lies, telling her that all he wanted to do was get his treasure back from Peter, who stole it. Because his crew won't leave without it, he can't return home. Jane offers to get it back if he promises not to harm Peter, the same way Tinker Bell said to him in the original film. So he gives both his word not to harm a single hair on Peter's head and a whistle to Jane for her to blow when she locates his treasure.** When Jane finds Peter and the Lost Boys, she asks them to play Treasure Hunt with her. During it, she starts acting like a Lost Girl. When she finds the treasure, she throws away the whistle, and Peter and the Lost Boys make her the first Lost Girl. However, as they're celebrating, Tootles finds the whistle and (not knowing what it was for) blows it loudly. Captain Hook, Smee, and the pirate crew show up and capture Peter and the Lost Boys. Jane tells Captain Hook about keeping his promise, and he pulls off one of the hairs on Peter's head and gives it to her to keep, which means that he technically kept his promise. **Peter berates Jane for her betrayal and lies, telling her about Tinker Bell's light going out forever because of her inability to believe in fairies. She runs to Tinker Bell's house and finds her dead. She, ashamed of what she had done, apologizes, saying that she believes in fairies. This revives Tinker Bell, and she and Jane rush off to save Peter and the Lost Boys. They arrive just in time as Captain Hook is about to make Peter walk the plank (he is strapped to an anchor, so he can't fly). Jane steals one of the swords from the pirate crew and cuts the Lost Boys free while Tinker Bell manages to throw Smee overboard into the rowboat. Jane and the Lost Boys throw Captain Hook's treasure overboard, inciting his crew to jump in after it. He chases Jane up onto the sails and tells her to give up.** Jane refuses, telling Captain Hook that he'll never win as long as the ideals of Neverland live. Tinker Bell sprays some pixie dust on Jane, and she is finally able to fly, having shed her skepticism and finally believing in magic. Peter, the Lost Boys, and the pirate crew in the rowboat cheer for her. She frees Peter, but Captain Hook grabs her. However, Peter manages to cut the rope. Captain Hook falls into the water, but the octopus quickly chases him back onto the Jolly Roger. This makes it sink, but he manages to swim into the rowboat, where he, Smee, and the pirate crew are forced to flee the octopus. The Lost Boys congratulate Jane on her victory, but then Peter says sadly that she can go home now that she can fly. Jane tells the Lost Boys she will miss them but that she'll always remember them. She also notes that she can now tell Danny all the adventures of Peter and the Lost Boys. **Peter and Tinker Bell escort Jane back home. When she gets there, she reconciles with Wendy and tells Danny all about her adventures in Neverland. Wendy is reunited with Peter for a short time and convinces him that she hasn't changed. As he and Tinker Bell fly home, Jane says, "I'll always believe in you, Peter Pan". Then a truck pulls up; Edward has returned home from the war. Wendy, Jane, and Danny go to greet him.**

## Trivia

* In the original story by J.M. Barrie, Jane is an only child and Peter himself brings her to Neverland. Also, she would later have a daughter named Margaret who is brought to Neverland by Peter too.
* Jane is the fifth offspring of a predecessor's protagonist to take over as the main character in a sequel (taking over from Wendy), the first being Nikki Ferris from *The Parent Trap II* (taking over from Sharon McKendrick), the second being Kiara from *The Lion King II: Simba's Pride* (taking over from Simba), the third being Melody from *The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea* (taking over from Ariel), the fourth being Scamp from *Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure* (taking over from Lady) the sixth being Patch from *101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure* (taking over from both Pongo and Perdita) and the seventh being Sam Flynn from *TRON: Legacy* (taking over from Kevin Flynn).
* Jane was Harriet Owen's only major acting role. She then left acting to teach religious education at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Surrey.