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A lot has changed for Peter Pan since 1953 when his story was first brought to the screen in Walt Disney's classic animated adaptation. First he got a brand of peanut butter named after him, then his own psychological syndrome, and now at long last, a full-length sequel, "Return to Never Land." Only in America, as they say. Panzer peter
By Scott Vogel
svogel@starbulletin.com"The trick was finding a natural, logical extension of the original tale that would allow audiences to revisit the characters and locales of the original while providing an all-new experience," says the Disney press kit, answering the obvious question: Why was Peter Pan spared the Roman numeral treatment for almost 50 years?
You might be able to answer that question yourself after seeing "Return to Never Land" which, while completely serviceable, hardly rises to the imaginative or animated heights of the original (or, for that matter, most of Disney's justly celebrated recent efforts). But thanks to vivid characters and a brief running time, it's never painful, and little ones making their first acquaintance with Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, etc., will no doubt be captivated.
"Return to Never Land"
Rated G
Playing at Consolidated Kahala, Kapolei, Ko'olau, Mililani, Pearlridge & Ward; Signature Dole Cannery, Pearl Highlands & Windward, Wallace Enchanted Lake & Laie
It may seem odd that "Peter Pan," firmly rooted in Fantasyland, would inspire a sequel set in London during the Blitzkrieg, but so it has. Wendy, Peter's Never Land cohort, is now grown up, possessing a husband, two children and a pair of disarming cornflower blue eyes. Her eldest child, Jane, is a stock Disney figure: Pragmatic and precocious, she is not the sort to believe in fairy stories about boys in tights. In fact, she discourages her mother from filling her brother's head with nonsense tales of this sort. (And she has a point, when you think about it. With bombs raining all around them and German tanks roaming the streets, Mom's fascination with Pan rather than Panzer does seem a bit delusional.)
Jane's prejudice against children's literature is dashed after she's abducted by Captain Hook and his men one night, the buccaneers - mistaking her for her mom - hoping to hook Peter with a little cheesecake bait. Thus Jane is plunged into the world of the first "Peter Pan," where she finds that social customs have changed little since 1953 (e.g., the Lost Boys see her as a potential cook, Tinkerbell as a bitter female rival, Peter Pan as a wife and mum).
For budding feminist Jane, this sexist stew must make wartime '40s London seem like a NOW convention. Nevertheless, when she expresses her desire to return home, it's not for greater self-actualizing possibilities but to fulfill a promise she made to her dad before he left for the war - something to the effect that Jane should take care of her mother and brother while he's off fighting Hitler. (Perhaps he shares Jane's skepticism about mum's mental health.)
After some lackluster songs, endless references to "faith, trust and pixie dust" and a few pratfalls that scored medium-sized laughs during the kiddie screening we attended, all ends happily. And the lessons learned in Never Land are mostly unobjectionable, if obvious - the importance of play and fantasy, say, and of dreaming without boundary. But these are prescriptions that bear repeating. They are easily forgotten, as this by-the-numbers sequel demonstrates.
"Return to Never Land" - heal thyself.
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