Don't you ever worry about what your kids will be exposed to? Years from now when I have kids with an insatiable need for videos, I don't want to sit them in front of corporate branding investments. I've already picked out the modern classics I will force them to sit through'every Muppet and non-Muppet Jim Henson film, every Pixar movie, \The Iron Giant""'but, what is that, like twelve hours? When global warming means we can't go outside, twelve hours of videos will seem like the blink of a dry, UV-addled eye. That's why now is the time to pick through those second-tier children's movies, scanning for quality.
Disney's ""Return to Never Land"" definitely takes the reign over its churchy propagandistic or visually spastic straight-to-video competition. It has high ideals while staying true to the original, and maybe that's why it made it to the big screen.
The film starts in London during the Blitz, where a grown-up Wendy watches her husband go off to war. Her daughter Jane, hardened by this, refuses to believe the stories of Peter Pan Wendy tells to Danny, Jane's little brother. Captain Hook, though, comes to kidnap Jane to use as bait in Never Land. Once there, Jane is caught'she's too good to side with Hook and too mature to put up with the Lost Boys and Peter.
While it doesn't sink its teeth into the material like the live-action ""Hook"" did, ""Return to Never Land"" does a fine job. Jane is a fully-realized role model for young girls, strong and organized, yet playful and funny. The film sets up an enjoyable dichotomy between the ravaged London and the cartoony Never Land. There is good music throughout, especially a song by They Might Be Giants for the Lost Boys.
But at a certain point, with the budget to carry it to the big screen, a movie has to be about the lack of problems. The animation of Jane and Tinkerbell is wonderful, but even someone not looking for them will see problems in other parts. Wendy's head mushes into different shapes as she turns. The computer-generated ship and other CGI elements stand out as cheap and harsh compared to those in ""Atlantis."" Captain Hook's accent changes from British to Italian to Scottish to Irish. And the dog's name is Nanatwo. These are all things that should have been vetoed on an executive level.
But the executives at Disney are too busy trying to keep the company afloat. They've got to pump money into politicians' campaigns in order to extend their copyrights on characters. (Mickey's would have been up in 2003 had Disney not paid off the right people.) They're resting on the respect they receive from partner Pixar's work. One day soon, however, that partnership will break up, and Disney will have to start making better-than-average movies again. ""Return to Never Land"" gives me hope. Keep it coming, because there's no way I'm showing my kids the abysmal ""Shrek.""
Recommendations: Why haven't you rented ""The Iron Giant"" yet? How many times do I have to tell you that it's the greatest film ever made? All right, ""The Iron Giant"" is the greatest film ever made. The Superman part? C'mon. It's so good.
