Peter Pan: Return To Neverland
 

Viewed Peter Pan: Return To Neverland with the kids yesterday. We originally saw this in the theater. Enjoyed it then and enjoyed it yesterday. Not sure why people did not like this movie nor why they want to rag on Disney for releasing it. I am sure someone can try and resurrect the Peter Pan thread from earlier this year. I remember the thread talking about how dark this movie was due to the WWII excerpts and that kids would be scared etc...etc... If you spend time with your children as many do not in these times, sit down and watch the movie with them. Answer their questions as they WILL have questions regarding the planes and the bombing of England. This is an entertaining movie and not just more Disney trash as some will tell you or attempt to lead others into believing. Audio and Video were very good....I believe this movie is due out this coming Tuesday. Worth a purchase in my opinion....kids could not get enough of it yesterday and are watching it again this morning. :D :D

I'll have to agree, djones6746!
My firnds and wife are big Tinkerbell fans and wanted to see this film when it was in the theatre. In compromise, I went and really liked it. Now my wife and I wouldn't buy the original, though the artwork is fantastic, because of the stereo-types ( IOO) but we are looking to it on tuesday. I don't now if I'll get it on tuesday but we will get it and think when we have kids, we think they'll like it.

Here is our review, enjoy!

Peter Pan: Return to Never Land Review

I'll agree with all of the above. We saw this in the theaters and enjoyed it at home again last night. I remember thinking originally that the music was weaker in this one than the original Peter Pan, but the more I hear the Jonatha Brooke song "I'll Try" the more I really like it. It fits with the movie excellently and is a strong song in its own right. In some respects, but not all, I like the story of this one better than the original.

The included game seems more challenging than many of the ones I've seen on Disney discs. I think it will take quite a few tries (or a lot of luck) before someone gets it all right. It's basically a remember-where-things-are, three-strikes-and-you're-out game. Make 3 wrong choices and you have to start over. So you have to remember the good choices you made and avoid the bad ones each time you start over. There are a lot of permutations to it so it should keep a kid busy for a while.

There's a coupon that comes in the DVD for a Return To Never Land book for only $1. We've sent away for several of these from various Disney movies and they've been of good quality, come within a reasonable amount of time, and make for good bedtime reading for the kids.

While Return to never Land didn't deserve some of the bashing that it took, it wasn't that spectacular either. I'm sure that most of the criticism comes from Disney's sequel fever (I've given them my share of lumps). Overall, this is a well done film from the look and sound aspect. It is not the same cheap quality stuff that they have pawned off in the past. The voice casting is superb as most of the character's are dead wringers for their original counterparts so many years ago. The animation is of feature quality and has a nice look to it.
<P>However! Clocking in at a run time of just over an hour and ten minutes hurt this film. If I had paid to see it in the theater I would have been upset at paying for half a movie. The characters and the story could have been better served by just another 20 minutes. The story on paper is an excellent start, but there is very little development beyond the surface treatment.
<P>The music was also hampered by the short run time (you just cannot cram it all into 70 minutes). The theme song is beautiful and well suited, but there is little more to offer musically.
<P>2 1/2 stars for adults, 3 1/2 stars for kids.

Abob Teff-
I see your point...looking at it that way, Disney was sure cheap!

I did not see this in the theater, but have reviewed it for this site. I'm knowledgable about the history behind the show itself and I just had a problem with the "schizophrenic" animation in the film. I truly wonder how long the movie was before the 3D CGI and extra things were put in with the extra money Disney dished out for it to go to the big screen.

I actually liked the movie, but I certainly cannot recommend it over many a Disney animated feature and even some of their other direct-to-video sequels. I think Disney hurt themselves when they decided to release this in theaters. I probably would not have been so hard on its resemblances to Little Mermaid II and Lion King II: Simba's Pride had it come direct-to-video. Major motion pictures should not duplicate things we see in video releases.

I heartily recommend it to children though. I will say some of the story is a bit dark, especially in the beginning. Then again, small children won't understand that until they are older probably.

IMO, comparitively speaking, the animation on this sequel is surpassed only by Toy Story 2 -- which was one of the reason I enjoyed this. 98% of the animation for Disney sequels is terrible.

And the soundtrack is good too.

I saw it in the theatre with my kids and I didn't like it.
Well, I didn't like the 1st half anyway.

The 1st half of the movie was about the war.
Not really what you would expect for a Disney kids movie.

The 2nd half was much better.

I like AgtFox's description: "schizophrenic" is pretty accurate. I think he is dead on with his observation that you can tell that it was a DTV which had to be ramped up for theatrical release. I felt jilted at 70 minutes, how short was it supposed to have been!
<P>Like I said, good effort, but falls short. Kids will like it.