Edward is a supporting character in Disney's 2002 film Return to Never Land, the sequel to the 1953 film Peter Pan. He is Wendy's husband and Jane and Danny's father.
Background
Personality
Edward is a caring, soft-spoken, and loving husband and father. He has faith in his family that they will be happy while he's gone away to battle the Nazi and Fascist Regimes in Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. While it is unknown if he believes in Peter Pan or not, the opening scene features him standing with Wendy while she points out Neverland to Jane and Danny shows that he has no problem with her stories of Peter Pan and Neverland. It can be assumed he dislikes Adolf Hitler no less than anyone else and wants the Germans to pay for their unprovoked aggression and attempts to exact revenge for the Treaty of Versailles.
Appearances
Return to Never Land
In the beginning, Edward is first seen holding Jane and standing next to Wendy, who is holding Danny, and together, they look out the nursery window to which Wendy points to Neverland (second star to the right and straight on 'til morning). Later on in the film, it is learned that World War II has broken out and that many men have been asked to leave their families to protect their country from the impending attack by the Nazi Regime, which has just annexed France and installed a puppet government. So Edward is drafted to fight in the war, and hugs his family goodbye, telling them that he'll be home before they know it, and he also assigns Jane to take care of Wendy and Danny while he's away fighting the forces of Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Edward climbs into the army truck and tells his family one last time that he loves them as it leaves. He isn't seen throughout the film but is mentioned by Jane that he left her in charge after it is decided that all the children are being evacuated to the country because of the Luftwaffe's nightly bombing raids on London in the lead-up to Operation Sea Lion, which eventually fails due to the Royal Air Force, civilian action, and massive losses on the Soviet front (which eventually led Germany to lose the war). In the end, after Jane returns home from Neverland, and as she, Wendy, and Danny watch Peter fly back there, the army truck pulls up to their house. Edward gets out, returning home after being evacuated from Dunkirk, France with the rest of the military there.
Trivia
- In the original story, his name is not mentioned when Wendy grew up and married him. Although, it is described in the story that Wendy married one of the Lost Boys she brought home from Neverland, though it is never revealed which of the Lost Boys she did marry.
- Unlike his original novel equivalent, Edward, in contrast, has no history of being a former Lost Boy at all in any way prior to the events of the sequel. This could be likely due to the ending of the original 1953 film being completely changed where all the Lost Boys decided to stay with Peter Pan.
- Unless he would have resigned his commission by then, he would have probably taken part in the Allied invasion of Normandy, or D-Day, four years later.
- While Jane is in Neverland, she has two flashbacks. The first one shows him comforting her just before he leaves for war.
- As the film takes place in 1940, his return at the end of the film means that he was most likely one of the soldiers ferried back across the English Channel during the Evacuation of Dunkirk. While the Nazis continued to occupy France.
- Although he loves both his children very much, he appears to have a much closer relationship with his daughter Jane than his son Danny.
Gallery
