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After spending decades as little more than Peter Pan’s huffy little sidekick, Walt Disney’s favorite fairy finally gets a tale of her own in Disney’s Tinker Bell.
Brought to life by a baby’s first laughter, each new fairy flies to Pixie Hollow, where she then gets her wings and discovers her talent. When the newest fairy, Tinker Bell (Mae Whitman), arrives, she discovers that she’s a tinker fairy, which means that she’s responsible for creating the important devices that help the other fairies do their jobs.
But as the fairies prepare to usher in another spring, Tink starts to feel inferior to the other fairies, whose jobs seem so much more important than hers. After all, while she’s stuck in Tinkers’ Nook, working with Clank and Bobble (Jeff Bennett and Rob Paulsen) to make teapots out of acorns, her nature fairy friends are preparing for an exciting trip to the Mainland.
Determined to join the other fairies on the Mainland, Tink recruits her friends to help her switch her talent—but she soon learns that she’s a tinker fairy for a very good reason.
Though her movie’s straight-to-DVD release may make poor Tink feel inferior all over again, Tinker Bell is still an enjoyable introduction to the frisky fairy and her friends. The portrayal seems pretty accurate, too—because the young Tink in the movie is just as headstrong and stubborn as Peter Pan fans would expect her to be.
Tink is surrounded by all kinds of cute new characters, too—and each one adds to the movie’s charm. After all, the moral of the story is to be proud of who you are, and the story definitely offers plenty of possibilities for finding a character to relate to—whether you love animals or flowers or mechanical doodads. You’ll meet Tink’s friends, the nature fairies (voiced by Kristin Chenoweth, Lucy Liu, America Ferrera, and Raven-Symoné). Each has her own style, her own personality, and her own special abilities—and although they don’t get much on-screen time, you’ll still get to know each one.
You’ll also meet Clank and Bobble, who make a perfectly geeky tinkering pair (and if you saw them after-hours, I can almost guarantee that you’d find them both sitting in front of their fairy computers, eating fairy Cheetos and playing fairy computer games). They can be a bit annoying at times—and a little cliché, too—but at least they’ll make you understand why Tink might feel out of place as a tinker fairy.
While Tinker Bell has the charm of a big Disney movie, though, it doesn’t quite have the same magic. Though it does feature a song or two, there aren’t many—and they’re not especially memorable. And the story offers some lovable characters and a sprinkling of laughs—not to mention a valuable lesson—but it isn’t really anything new or unexpected.
What is magical, however, is the movie’s animation. From the fairies’ costumes to their bright, natural surroundings—everything is crisp and colorful, and the characters look almost natural. The CG sets are filled with all kinds of imaginative little details—from acorn teapots to carts made out of seeds. And after seeing it, one thing is certain: you’ll never see nature the same way again.
So while Tinker Bell doesn’t quite have the magic you’d expect from a major Disney release, the cute characters and their entertaining antics still make it a lovable adventure for the little girl in your life.
DVD Review:
At first glance, it doesn’t look like the Tinker Bell DVD offers many extras. On the main menu, you’ll find Tink’s Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow, complete with an interactive map. There’s also a DVD-ROM feature, a music video by Disney’s Selena Gomez, and Ever Wonder, a short feature that shows the everyday work of fairies.
If you navigate over to the right side of the screen, however, you’ll be directed to the Mainland menu, which offers a handful of deleted scenes (with or without commentary), as well as a making-of feature that discusses the research and inspiration behind the movie.
Kids will enjoy their interactive introduction to Pixie Hollow, but my favorite was the making-of feature—for its close-up look at the natural touches used in the movie. So if you pick up a copy of the DVD, be sure to look for that hidden Mainland menu.
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