It's been rare for a Disney animated feature to have a sequel hit the big screen. The more recent Disney movies such as "Aladdin," "The Lion King" and "Pocahontas" have had sequels released directly to video. And even earlier Disney classics such as "The Lady and the Tramp" and "Cinderella" have gotten similar treatment. Now, we have "Return To Never Land," the sequel to "Peter Pan" go to movie houses. You'd think that such a movie would be worthy of debuting in theaters instead of on video. "Toy Story 2" was indeed worthy of such honors, but I didn't find "Return To Never Land" quite good enough. This movie has Wendy from the original story all grown up, in the era of World War II, and now it's her no-nonsense, mature-beyond-her-years daughter Jane who meets Peter Pan, a character she only knew and wrote off from her mother's stories. The movie isn't so bad, but the glories of earlier animated movies seem to have made "Return To Never Land" pale in comparison. The addition of the giant squid as the creature that pursues Captain Hook does not really measure up to the crocodile from the original. At least they did not include too many clichés. I almost expected Peter Pan to take on the Luftwaffe, but thankfully, they didn't go there. Thinking about this movie released during America's war on terrorism, I get the message that in times of trouble, one must have something to believe in, even "faith, trust and pixie dust." All in all, I'd say this movie might as well have gotten the direct-to-video treatment.
