Return To Neverland DVD Review

Disney’s recent trend of releasing two or three sequels to their classic films of yesteryear has always seemed blasphemous to me. From Cinderella II: Dreams Come True to The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, whenever I see another one of those titles at the store a small part of my childhood dies inside. However, after seeing Peter Pan’s modern sequel entitled Return to Neverland (2002) in its new “Pixie-Powered Edition” DVD re-release, I’m starting to change my tune a bit. Sure, it doesn’t approach the classic status of the original, but it actually makes for a faithful and heart-warming sequel that does a lot of things right.

To start with, Return to Neverland is an actual two-dimensional cartoon. Disney’s last two-dimensional animated feature to be released theatrically was 2004’s little-seen Home on the Range, and their last reasonably successful 2D feature was Brother Bear, released a year before that. Aside from those two films, audiences of late have been bombarded with nothing but computer animated films that may look technically brilliant, but often lack the visual simplicity of a good old fashioned cartoon.

Thankfully, when making Return to Neverland the filmmakers opted for the traditional old-school style of animation rather than modernizing it as a computer animated film. As such, the art style is very much in keeping with the original film. Sure, the animation looks “newer” (more depth and shading) and there are CGI elements interspersed throughout, but by and large, the film looks like a legitimate sequel to the original.

Similar to the visual style, the music is a natural extension of the classical score found in Peter Pan. It has the same whimsical tone and vibrant orchestrations as many of the classic Disney films. Multiple themes from the original film pop up throughout Return to Neverland, providing a welcome feeling of nostalgia for everyone who grew up on the original.

The only misstep in the music is the occasional song performed by a vocalist as part of the soundtrack. These songs are a little off-putting because although they are presumably being sung from Jane’s (the protagonist’s) perspective, Jane herself isn’t actually singing. All I can figure is that the songs are meant to represent Jane’s thoughts and feelings, but it probably would have been less awkward and more effective to let the character actually sing the songs herself.

The filmmakers also did a commendable job casting sound-alike voice actors for each of the characters to match those in the original film. The characters may not always sound exactly the same when compared side by side to their original vocal incarnations, but they at least sound similar to the way we remember them.

The opening sequences of the film prove to be the most original and impacting parts, as they involve Wendy’s daughter Jane facing the harsh realities of life due to constant Blitzkrieg attacks. Jane’s refusal to indulge in childhood fantasies juxtaposed with her younger brother’s insistence on doing so makes for a surprisingly substantive set-up to the film that never really pays off. This introduction paves the way for a film that could have fully explored the psychology of a child during wartime, and been America’s answer to the classic Japanese animated war film Grave of the Fireflies.

However, after the brave introduction, the filmmakers opt for the safe route, as the film quickly becomes a warm-hearted children’s fantasy that we all expect from Disney. Once Jane is kidnapped by Captain Hook and takes to the skies on her way to Neverland the film essentially becomes a predictable retread of the original. Friends are made, enemies are defeated, lessons are learned, and everyone lives happily ever after. However, even if it is a by-the-numbers journey, Return to Neverland still carries the joyful spirit of the original film, making it an endearing piece of entertaining fluff.

Return to Neverland was released once before on DVD back when it first came out in 2002. However, as is their way, Disney locked the original DVD in the vault after six months, and this new “Pixie-Powered Edition” is the latest incarnation for Peter Pan fans to spend their money on. Given the title of this edition and judging from the extras contained therein, pixie dust must not be all that powerful, because there’s hardly anything here in the way of bonus features.

The only actual behind the scenes related material (which was already available on the previous DVD release) is a set of two deleted scenes which are book-ended by video introductions. The introductions are actually quite informative, albeit disappointingly brief. Aside from that, all that’s offered is an annoying DVD game that confused even my adult mind, as well as three sneak peaks at the upcoming Fairies spin-off of Peter Pan, which unlike Return to Neverland, is indeed computer animated. My advice: see Return to Neverland instead.