“The Up Side of Never Land”
(The Crossed Realms of Up and Peter Pan)
The great humidity was the first thing that Anne-Marie,
Katie, and Mickey had felt upon materializing in a dense jungle. Leaves from
nearby bushes brushed against their bodies as they stood amid the crowded
foliage. Mickey wished that he or either of the two women had a sword or
something to cut down the branches that continuously slapped him in the face.
“Where are we?” The mouse questioned while desperately holding back a branch
waiting to get another shot at him.
“It looks a lot like South America to me.” Katie said
before catching sight of something miles ahead of them that confirmed her suspicion.
“See?” She pointed to what grabbed her attention and Mickey and Anne-Marie saw
a lush, sparkling waterfall that only Anne-Marie and Katie seemed to have
recognized.
“Paradise Falls.” Anne-Marie uttered the name. “That can
only mean we’re on the Up side of the
merged realm.”
(Authorial Note: Choosing the 2009 Disney/Pixar film Up to be merged with Peter Pan was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Livingston. He wanted to explore the world of Up at some capacity in the World of Disney series with its colorful characters. The only way he knew how was to put them in the situation established from Tales and cross them over with a world that bears only one similarity to it in their jungle settings.)
“But we’re supposed to be in Never Land, aren’t we?”
Mickey asked.
“We are.” Anne-Marie told him. “We just can’t see it
since the merger is growing stronger now. Some parts will clearly be Never
Land, while others are South America.”
Mickey lost his battle with the branch, which slipped out
from his hand and whacked him in the face to his immediate frustration. “It all
looks the same to me. That’s just going to make it easier for us to get lost.
How will we get around here while searching for the rift?”
“I know both of these worlds all too well.” Anne-Marie
said. “I’ll get us where we need to go.”
She began leading Katie and Mickey through the foliage,
chopping off the branches in their way with nothing but her right hand. Mickey
was surprised to see how each cut was clear, as if it were done with a
sharp-edged sword. Never before had he seen anyone – not even Yen Sid – with
enough power to use their own appendage as a cutting tool (and a perfect one at
that). It impressed even Katie, who grew increasingly intrigued by Anne-Marie
every second. She heeded her warning back in the previous merged worlds of The Lion King and Cars not to ask about her past or her life outside of the
Disneyverse, and she did a great job at it – until that moment.
(Disney Note: Anne-Marie's usage of her arm as cutting utensil is taken from Buzz Lightyear's "karate chop action" feature, which he used to cut branches while on a journey to rescue Woody in Toy Story 2.)
Katie just couldn’t hold back the urge to make
conversation about it. “Is it true that you’re from the same world as the
Guardian? I heard rumors from...”
Anne-Marie sighed, her aggravation rising. “What did I
tell you?”
“I know, I know. But I just...I just feel weird not
knowing a thing about you.”
“The less it concerns you, the less weird it’ll feel.” Anne-Marie said.
“But I can’t just put it out of my mind that easily.”
Katie remarked, sounding more and more determined.
“Why do you want to know so much about me?” Anne-Marie
asked. “Can you not respect my wish to leave my past be?”
(Character Note: Much of Anne-Marie's dialogue was written with an English-accented voice in mind for the character, when in fact the real Anne-Marie McLean is Scottish-born.)
“I respect and trust you a lot, Mistress.” Katie
acknowledged. “But I feel like I would even more if I just got to know you
better. That’s all.”
Again, Anne-Marie sighed. There was simply no getting it
through to her that she wanted her past to remain moot. After a brief moment,
she relented: “Yes, it’s true. I am
from the same world as the Guardian.”
It was not just the fact that she finally answered one of
Katie’s pressing questions that surprised both Katie and even Mickey, but it
was the confirmation of the “rumors.” Having finally started to learn a little
more about the life of this powerful sorceress, Katie’s excitement and
interests grew. She bombarded Anne-Marie with several follow-up questions:
“What was your life like,” “Did you have a job,” “Did you have a family,” “Did
you have any friends,” “Were you in love,” etc. The questions became too much
after a few minutes of them. Anne-Marie was driven to the brink of madness from
it all; after a few more questions, she finally screamed, “ENOUGH!” Her
bellowing voice echoed throughout the entire jungle, scaring birds out of their
trees. There was even a slight tremor that came with it over the merged lands,
reflecting on her fury.
“You should be grateful to have gotten one answer from me!” Anne-Marie yelled
to Katie.
“I’m s-sorry.” Katie quivered, seeing how distraught Anne-Marie
became whenever such a topic was brought up. “Was your old life really that
bad?”
Her last question did not bring about much anger or
frustration out of Anne-Marie; it instead brought out a sense of sorrow from
the sorceress. “It wasn’t my old life...just the new ones that came after it.”
This remark from the sorceress was beyond puzzling to
Katie and Mickey. Before either of them could ask what Anne-Marie meant by it,
there came some movement within nearby foliage. The three magical characters braced
themselves, ready for whatever creature – whether animal, Lost Boy, or pirate –
might possibly step out. As they waited, Katie instinctively looked to
Anne-Marie, hoping for some sort of plan of attack; she had managed to get them
so far in their journey without incident. But Katie quickly caught sight of
something rather peculiar and baffling to her: Anne-Marie’s eyes were glowing white. It was a trait that only the
Guardian of the Disneyverse was capable of, and the only Guardian Katie knew
was Joan Navarro-Thomas.
(Authorial Note: Livingston provided the clue with Anne-Marie's "glowing white" eyes as a discernible one for faithful readers of the World of Disney series, testing their knowledge.)
There was not enough time for her to investigate it
with the source of all the movement in the foliage finally emerging. Within
seconds, a young woman stepped out of the foliage; she had glorious features:
long brown hair, brown eyes, rose-red lips, and fair skin with a short with
slender, athletic physique – most of it hidden beneath a duchess renaissance
gown she wore with black slippers and a robe with a white crescent moon and
stars design. The girl seemed like a cross between a sorceress and a princess
from her appearance. Even the way in which she talked was reminiscent of a
Disney Princess upon greeting Katie, Mickey, and Anne-Marie.
“Oh, hello.” Her voice was sweet and melodic – a lot like
Belle.
(Biographical Note: "Ellison" is based on and inspired by Jennifer Ellison, a talented Disney entertainer for The Storybook Character Company, best known for her spot-on performance as Belle. At the time Tales of the Disneyverse was written, Livingston based Jennifer's character's name on her surname, due to already developing a character with the name "Jennifer" for Jennifer Brown's "Bella J" character in World of Disney. Since then, Jennifer Ellison has married with a different last name, yet the character still retains her maiden name.)
There was more movement within the foliage and another
figure stepped out: a wide, stocky gentleman with a goatee and very short black
hair that was slick and thick, donned in a blue robe to fit his figure. He
appeared to be exhausted upon his emergence, his forehead drenched in his sweat.
“Mistress Ellison, might I suggest next time we take a shadier route than that one,” he said to the young brunette.
(Biographical Note: "John Panda" is a unique character based on and inspired by Disney enthusiast John Saccheri of BigFatPanda.com. His character is unique in the sense that "Panda," a being of magical capabilities, can switch between the form of a human being - that bears Saccheri's real-life appearance - and an anthropomorphic panda, akin to Po from Kung Fu Panda. Saccheri is also featured in the World of Disney spin-off story, Marvel Mayhem, in a role vastly different from John Panda.)
Feeling guilty for her companion’s exhaustion, Ellison
placed a gentle hand on his back and rubbed it comfortingly in a circular
motion. “Aww. I’m so sorry, Panda.” She then did something that took Katie and
Mickey by surprise: raising one hand in the air and twirling it, she summoned a
cool breeze that blew through the area and cooled the man known as “Panda”
down. With a warm smile, she asked, “Better?”
Panda smiled in relief. “Much better.”
“That was pretty cool.” Katie said. “Literally, I mean.”
Ellison giggled. “Thanks.”
“So your names are Ellison and...Panda?” Mickey asked, a
bit perplexed from the name of the latter.
Panda despondently sighed. “Yes...my name is John
Panda...or ‘Panda’ for short.”
Katie snickered. “Why are you called ‘Panda’? You don’t look like one – at least not in the literal way, no offense.”
“I’m hiding my truest form to be inconspicuous while
Mistress Ellison and I are on our travels.” John explained.
“He may look like a man on the outside, but he’s such a
soft, cuddly, cute panda on the inside.” Ellison said, verging on baby talk
whilst describing her companion.
(Narrative Note: John Panda is the first established "companion" of the Guardian. While there have been very many known associates in previous installments, Panda is the first to continuously accompany her through the Disneyverse. The idea is another inspired from Doctor Who for Livingston.)
Anne-Marie rolled her eyes in disgust, clearly not amused
by the two strangers – particularly Ellison.
“Well, uh, it’s great to meet ya, Ellison and Panda.”
Mickey said. “But how did you both get here?” Noting their robes, he then
asked, “Did Yen Sid or Joan or any of the other Sorcerers of the Fantasia
Kingdom send you here?”
John’s eyes widened in eagerness upon hearing Mickey’s
question. “The Sorcerers and Fantasia still exist?” His reaction confused Katie
and Mickey. “Take us back there! It’s been so long since we’ve...”
“NO!” Anne-Marie shouted, alarming everyone with her
unexpected outburst. “You two should not even be here between the merged
realms.”
(Spoiler Note: Tales marks the beginning of a story arc that continues through the Tales of the Guardians miniseries and concludes in World of Disney 3, centering on the destruction of the Fantasia realm. The incident, depicted in detail in WOD3, leaves many inhabitants scattered over the Disneyverse, such as Panda, Mickey, Yen Sid, and even Donald Duck and Goofy, while others have perished from a calculated invasion orchestrated by the Galactic Empire of Star Wars.)
Ellison grinned and raised a curious eyebrow.
“Disneyverse realms have merged? That is so precious!” She glanced at the
jungle they stood in. “Which one of them are we in right now?”
“Forgive her.” John told Katie, Mickey, and Anne-Marie.
“Her sense of direction is very
poor.”
Mickey nodded understandingly. “The Up and Peter Pan worlds
are the ones that have merged. And because both of them have jungles, we can’t
tell which of the two we’re standing in or where we need to go to close the
rift.”
“I can show you where we need to go.” Ellison
enthusiastically volunteered.
“We?” Anne-Marie
repeated the pronoun that did not sit well with her. “We does not include you two. And why would you lead us when you are
the one with the lack of directional sense?”
“My sense of direction may be lousy but I still remember
my Disney movies.” Ellison said with a confident smile.
“Oh, dear lord.” Anne-Marie muttered, rolling her eyes in
annoyance.
Sensing that she won the debate, Ellison jubilantly commanded,
“Alright, everyone! Let’s go!” She then led the group down a path through the
jungle that she had chosen at random. She did not walk along the way but rather
skipped merrily; as she had done so, she looked back to see the others staring
awkwardly at her. She stopped skipping momentarily and turned to face them with
hands on her hips, saying with a smile, “It’s no fun if you all don’t do skip
along with me. Try it.”
(Authorial Note: It was originally intended for Ellison to sing the "Following the Leader" song from Peter Pan as she leads the group through the jungle, but Livingston opted to keep the singing to a minimum for the miniseries.)
At first, no one had the courage (or the dignity) to do
what Ellison suggested; but Mickey, ever the positive one, decided to try it
out. He skipped once...then again...then another time...until he found himself
enjoying skipping to the rift instead of walking to it. Ellison and Mickey both
skipped the entire way there, while Katie, Anne-Marie, and John just walked.
The sight of Ellison and Mickey skipping made Katie bust out a quick laugh. “Is
she always this cheery?” She
questioned to John.
“Yes, unfortunately.”
(UP NEXT: The moody Guardian?)
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