The Very First Lost Girl (Disney's Return to Neverland, 2002)

Wendy is all grown up, with children of her own, and as the blitzkrieg rages, she calms them with tales of Peter Pan. Wendy's stubborn 12-year-old daughter, Jane, has no patience for such nonsense until Captain Hook uses the girl as a pawn in capturing his arch-rival. Peter Pan. Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys come to her aid; however, even they cannot make Jane a believer in the magic of imagination. Unless she believes, she cannot fly, and there is no other way for her to return home. - Google

Story

     Released several years after the original Peter Pan, Return to Neverland takes place during World War II.   Wendy is now grown up and married with two children of her own, Jane and Danny.   When Wendy's husband Edward goes off to war, he puts Jane in charge of taking care of the family.   Jane takes her job very seriously and puts away "childish nonsense," such as stories of Peter Pan.   After Captain Hook sneaks through Jane's window and captures her, Peter Pan has to save her and try to get her back home.   This is actually one of the better sequels Disney has made.   It was captivating and true to the original animated film.

Visuals

     I was very impressed with these visuals!   Usually, Disney's sequels are less-than-spectacular in the animation department.   However, this film really tried its best to up the animation game.   There were some parts I didn't like, such as a tacky combination of CGI and hand-drawn animation.   However, I've never been a fan of Disney's CGI/hand-drawn hybrids (not counting Beauty and the Beast), so it may be just me.   ☺   I also didn't like Jane's character design, but that's also a personal opinon.

Music

     This film reprises songs from the original film, such as "The Second Star to the Right," while still adding in new songs.   My only problem is I hate when movies (especially musicals) have someone singing over the scene who is not a character.   I enjoyed the song "I'll Try," but I disliked that it was sung over the entire scene instead of Jane singing it herself.   Only two songs were sung by characters, "Here We Go Another Plan" and "You're One of Us Now."

Final Rating

     It's technically a three-star film, but since it was one of the best animated sequels I've seen, I gave it an extra Mickey.   It's worth a watch if you're a Peter Pan fan or if you're looking for hope in the sequel department.   Plus, Tinker Bell gets a LOT more screen time in this movie!   ☺

Bonus gif: