Disney Heroines: A Return

The third and final heroine in the tales of Peter is Jane, Wendy’s daughter and oldest child.

Peter Pan 2: Return to Neverland was produced by DisneyToon Studios in Sydney, Australia and released in 2002 by Walt Disney Pictures. It is set during World War II during the London Blitz, which was the bombing of England by the Germans in an attempt to invade and conquer the country and its other United Kingdom counterparts.

The movie is ultimately a sequel to the 1953 Disney film instead of a sequel to Barrie’s Peter and Wendy. Though it was based on the final chapter, which briefly introduces Wendy as an adult and her daughter Jane. And rather than in the book, Jane being just like Wendy (motherly and domestic), Disney’s Jane is tomboy-ish, independent, and fully capable of taking care of herself. Wendy’s husband, Edward, and her son Danny were actually made for the film and are not even mentioned in the novel.

There are several other differences between the novel’s and Disney’s Jane, one being that in the movie she refuses to believe in her mother’s stories of Peter and is taken to Neverland by force (by Hook). In the novel Jane is eager to believe in Peter, and with her mother’s permission flies away with him much like Wendy had done.

Jane (Peter Pan 2: Return to Never Land):

1.      Childhood is precious and should be cherished.

2.      Family is important.

3.      Our wants shouldn’t blind us to our needs and what we know is right.

4.      If we allow it, we can change for the better.

5.      Friends are precious.

6.      Know where you’re needed.

Many would wonder why I’ve added a sequel heroine, since Disney has a habit of making sequels that don’t quite measure up. The reason for this is simple: Return to Neverland, in my opinion, was by far one of their best; with a realistically troubled girl who had her childhood stolen from her by war.

I haven’t seen any themes that berate Jane, and I’m sure that this is because she’s a sequel heroine. And because of this I’m going to address her, just who she is, and her story.

The beginning of Jane’s story, as I’ve said, is set in the London Blitz. Her father, Edward, has been sent to fight in the war, leaving Wendy to care for the two children by herself. Under the pressures and circumstances of war Jane became cynical, berating and belittling her mother and brother for having faith in the stories of Peter. Mostly doing so unintentionally to her younger brother.

Before her father left he told Jane to look after her brother and mother, and I think that this is that main reason for why she acted the way she did towards the stories. The war had lasted longer that thought, and she didn’t want her brother’s hopes crushed.

Jane, on the outside, seems cynical and too grown up for her age, but the truth was that she was actually worse off than her brother or mother. And I think the main song that everyone remembers from this movie, I’ll Try, states it quite bluntly and eloquently.

In her adventures in Neverland Jane was much different than her mother when it came to everything. She was more interested in getting back home than being a mother to the Lost Boys (because she wants to apologize to her mother and brother for the things she said), though they tried to teach her to have fun and fly. But she failed in these because she didn’t believe. When they accidently destroy her notebook she becomes angry and berates them for their behavior, and that she doesn’t believe in fairies. (Putting Tink’s life on the line)

When she’s confronted and tricked into a deal by Hook she only thinks of herself and getting home. But when all is said and done, after she learns to finally have fun and her serious façade melts away, that she threw away the whistle Hook gave her, refusing to help him. Her eyes were, in an effect, opened.

And even when she became banished, she knew she needed to fix her mistakes; and took action on that knowledge, by saving Tinkerbell, Peter, and the Lost Boys. This action, in the end, was the gateway to her belief. When she could finally fly she knew where she needed to be, much like her mother, and headed home.

In truth, Jane is one of the much stronger characters I’ve seen in a Disney sequel: And though she had a moment not that different from Ariel’s, when she realized her mistake she took action on it. We need to remember that that is the most important thing, for how many times do we say one thing and do another?

Disney Heroines: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

The next in line for the Neverland tales is Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell, as many know her, is Peter’s right hand pixie. 

Tinker Bell (Peter Pan):

1.      We all get jealous: Just don’t get carried away.

2.      We need to fix our mistakes ourselves.

3.      Protect those you care about.

4.      Think of others before yourself.

5.      Use your talents to help those who cannot help themselves.

Tinker Bell (Peter Pan 2: Return to Never Land):

1.      When you change for the better, there’s no going back.

2.      Forgiveness: To those who intentionally or unintentionally do harm unto you, and to yourself.

3.      Help others find themselves.

At first glance I’m pretty sure that some are confused as to why I’ve added this character (since she is only a supporting role), and maybe why her new movies are not included. Please allow me to enlighten you as to why.

Her new movies teach lessons in their own right and way. And I will not discredit them in any way, shape, form, ect. I haven’t added them simply because I’m more familiar with her old roles and movies. If I was more acquainted with her new adventures then maybe I would add them. All together I wasn’t certain that I should, and I think it best to go with my gut.

The themes that I wish to address are built around the notions that Tinkerbell isn’t a character that deserves to be put up with the Disney heroines; and that she teaches lessons of jealousy and hate. Themes that I’m sure everyone is familiar with. I would like to politely disagree, with all intentions and purposes of offending no one. To me Tinkerbell is one of the best entities of forgiveness and personal change.

In the first movie, Tinkerbell starts off as jealous and spiteful towards Wendy. And to me this is easily explained in the context of Peter. Peter is the boy who never grows up, and, is therefore, wanting to flirt and sometimes doesn’t even know that he does. He flirted with at least three separate girls in the first movie, and in an effect caused the tension between Wendy and the pixie.

Tinkerbell, therefore, only lashed out at Wendy because of her feelings for Peter. Her jealousy did get the best of her when she made the deal with Hook. But it was later, when she realized her mistake, that she took it upon herself to fix what she had done. And it was in this action that she saved Peter from the bomb Hook had planted, sacrificing her own life for his (even though he had dubbed her a traitor and banished her), that she told Peter to go save the other’s first. In an effect, telling him that she didn’t deserve being saved or forgiven for what she had done. She hated herself for letting her jealousy get the way of the other’s safety and what she knew was right.

In the end, when everything was said and done, she used her gift of pixie dust to help the darling children return to where they were needed most. She didn’t berate Wendy like she had done before, but rather the two came to a silent and permanent understanding. They became friends, in various meanings of the word.

And later, when Wendy’s children were old enough the believe the stories of the boy who never grew up, Tinkerbell would once again befriend. Even through everything that Jane did, ultimately, putting Tinkerbell’s life in danger, she did not blame or berate. She loved and forgave with every fiber of her tiny being; thus showing that change is, for the most part, permanent.

You see, I do not judge her because she was quick to be hot headed, we all have those times. (Her little body could only hold one emotion at a time.) I judge her on what she did about it. Her ultimate change of heart, what I strive to be like on a daily basis. She may have been only able to feel one emotion at a time; but the truth is, what she did with them speaks louder that any rumbling voiced echo that ever was or has been or will be.