Other Titles • Return to Never Land • Peter Pan II: Peter and Jane (2001) • Peter Pan II: Return to Neverland (2001) • Peter Pan: Return to Neverland (2001) • Peter and Jane (2001)
Walt Disney Television Animation's music staff went beyond the call to find an eclectic combination of talent to write and record the songs within "Return to Never Land."
Jonatha Brooke gives an endearing take on the Sammy Cahn-Sammy Fain standard, "Second Star to the Right" during the film's opening moments, then frames Jane's state of mind with her own original work, "I'll Try." The filmmakers met with Brooke to discuss the scene and its musical need, and Brooke returned the following day with words and music. It was a perfect fit.
"Jonatha's voice is fantastic and she really captured a nice quality for Jane's inner voice," says Budd. "It really shows that she wants to believe, she just can't do it. It effectively plays out Jane's inner conflict — you see how she feels she has to be grown up and logical, but she's starting to think that it'd be great to be able to fly and play like a kid. The song really made the film much better."
Having grown up watching Disney's renowned animated film, Brooke is proud of her contributions to the production. "It's a really sweet film and it's been wild seeing it all take shape and gain momentum over the last few years," Brooke says.
Brooke began her career as one-half of 1980s folk duo The Story. Since the group broke up, Brooke has managed her own career. In 1997, she founded her own independent label, Bad Dog Records, on which she has released two albums, including her latest, Steady Pull.
In addition to managing her career, writing songs and touring, Brooke also manages to maintain a tour diary on her Web site, www.jonathabrooke.com, from where she maintains steady contact with her devoted band of fans.
They Might Be Giants wrote the music/lyrics for the song "So To Be One Of Us/Now That You're One Of Us," the anthem over the film's most rollicking sequence. The song is performed in the film by Blayne Weaver (Peter), Harriet Owen (Jane), and The Lost Boys.
"The idea was to illustrate all the things that the Lost Boys are about, and have Jane kind of scamper along trying to keep up with them, going through the bonding process with the boys," says John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants. "We really took the materials and tried to come up with all the things that really had the energy of boys — like marauding around, being in a gang thing. That was really the energy of the song."
Having grown up in rural Massachusetts near Boston, Flansburgh said he drew inspiration for the song from his own youthful gallivanting through the woods with his friends.
"I spent a lot of my childhood swinging from rope swings and jumping around frog ponds, and that type of stuff," Flansburgh says. "You develop a 'Lost Boys' kind of friendship in that situation, the kind where you're going to be loyal for life to your friends. It's a real bond."
Since their inception nearly two decades ago, Flansburgh and John Linnell have built a steady, loyal following as They Might Be Giants with their own unique brand of music. The band has come a long way from their roots as a duo with an accordion and a drum machine, having sold more than three million records worldwide. They have performed more than 1,100 concerts across the globe, and enjoy an extreme Internet popularity — which made the group a natural to become the first major recording artist to release an MP3-only album. According to Emusic.com, They Might Be Giants ranked as one of the Top 10 Most Downloaded Musical Recording Artists of 2000.
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