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Tinker Bell (film)

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Tinker Bell is a 2008 American animated film and the first installment in the Disney Fairies franchise produced by DisneyToon Studios. It is about Tinker Bell, a fairy character created by J. M. Barrie in his 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, and featured in the 1953 Disney animated film, Peter Pan and its 2002 sequel Return to Neverland. Unlike Disney's two Peter Pan films featuring the character, which were produced primarily using traditional animation, Tinker Bell was produced using digital 3D modeling. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on October 28, 2008. A sequel, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, was released in 2009.

Tinker Bell
DVD cover
Directed byBradley Raymond
Written byJeffrey M. Howard
Based onTinker Bell
by J. M. Barrie
Produced byJeannine Roussel
Starring
Narrated byLoreena McKennitt
Edited byMark W. Rosenbaum
Music byJoel McNeely
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Home Entertainment[1]
Release date
  • October 28, 2008 (2008-10-28)
Running time
78 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million[2]
Box office$9.2 million[3]

Tinker Bell is the first Disney film to feature Tinker Bell in a speaking role. Actress Brittany Murphy was originally selected for the part before the role went to Mae Whitman.[4] The film follows Tinker Bell’s origin story, before she met Peter Pan, as she works out her place in Pixie Hollow and struggles with what her “talent” is.

Plot

Tinker Bell is born from the first laugh of a baby and is brought by the winds to Pixie Hollow (which is part of the island of Neverland), and Queen Clarion welcomes her. She learns that her talent is to be one of the tinkers, the fairies who make and fix things. Two other tinker fairies, Bobble and Clank show her around Pixie Hollow, teach her their craft and show her her house.

While out working, the trio are hit by sprinting thistles, a type of menacing weed. Tinker Bell meets Silvermist, a water fairy; Rosetta, a garden fairy; Iridessa, a light fairy; and Fawn, an animal fairy. They tell her about the fairies who visit the mainland to bring each season. Tinker Bell is thrilled and cannot wait to go to the mainland for spring. After meeting them, she notices Vidia, a fast-flying fairy who dislikes her because of her unusually strong talent. Vidia challenges her to prove she will be able to go to the mainland, and Tinker Bell creates several inventions but messes up with them while showing them to the Minister of Spring. Tinker Bell then learns from Queen Clarion that only nature-talent fairies visit the mainland. She talks with Fairy Mary, the tinker fairy overseer, who tries to please her with who she is, but instead inspires her to "switch her talent".

She tries her hand at nature skills; making dewdrops with Silvermist, lighting fireflies with Iridessa, and trying with Fawn to teach baby birds to fly, but she fails miserably at all of these. Meanwhile, Bobble and Clank cover for Tinker Bell when questioned by Fairy Mary. When Tinker Bell returns, she tries to explain, but Mary simply responds that she knows, and expresses her disappointment with Tinker Bell's actions.

On the beach, Tinker Bell finds parts of a music box and figures out how to put them together. Iridessa, Fawn, Silvermist, and Rosetta witness her doing this, then tell her that she should be proud of her talent — if this is what she's good at, the mainland should not matter. But Tinker Bell still wants to go to the mainland. She asks Rosetta if she will still teach her to be a garden fairy, to which she doesn't respond any differently.

As a last resort, Tinker Bell asks Vidia to teach her how to be a fast-flying fairy, then explains that her friends gave up on her. Vidia craftily tells her that capturing the sprinting thistles would prove her worth as a garden fairy. However, once she sees Tinker Bell making progress, she lets the captured thistles loose, and in attempting to recapture them, they destroy all the preparations for spring. Tinker Bell decides to leave, but after talking with Terence, a dust-keeper fairy, about how important his job is, she realizes the importance of a tinker.

Tinker Bell redeems herself by inventing machines that quicken the process of decorating flowers, ladybugs, etc. This allows the other fairies to get back on schedule, thus saving the arrival of spring. Vidia is punished for prompting her to cause the chaos, and Queen Clarion allows Tinker Bell to join the nature-talent fairies when they bring spring to the mainland, which she declines having realised her talent. However, Fairy Mary arrives with the music box Tinker Bell fixed and gives her the task of delivering it to its original owner, who is shown to be Wendy Darling. The narrator ends by saying that when lost toys are found or a broken clock starts to work, "it all means that one very special fairy might be near."

Cast

  • Mae Whitman as Tinker Bell, a tinker fairy born of a baby's first laugh. She is fascinated by stories about the mainland and is thus discouraged to learn that tinkers do not go there. She tries to learn various other skills before finally accepting, with the help of her friends, that she truly is a tinker. She helps to repair the massive damage she created and is rewarded, as she is allowed to join the nature fairies on their trip, where she delivers Wendy her lost toy.
  • Kristin Chenoweth as Rosetta, a garden fairy who at first agrees to teach Tinker Bell how to garden, but later changes her mind after seeing Tinker Bell fix a music box.
  • Raven-Symoné as Iridessa, a light fairy who tries to teach Tinker Bell to light fireflies. She is often the first to voice discomfort about Tinker Bell not wanting to accept her job as a tinker.
  • Lucy Liu as Silvermist, a water fairy who tries to teach Tinker Bell to make dewdrops. She possesses a sassy sense of humor.
  • America Ferrera as Fawn, an animal fairy who tries to teach Tinker Bell to get baby birds to fly. She is the closest to Tinker Bell and expresses her desire for her to be happy, which she suggests is in tinkering.
  • Jane Horrocks as Fairy Mary, the overseer of the tinker fairies, who expresses high hope for Tinker Bell. She is greatly disappointed to learn that Tinker Bell does not like being a tinker, but is pleased to see her accept her job and help repair the damage caused to Spring. Mary charges Tinker Bell with delivering the toy she repaired after she becomes a nature fairy.
  • Jesse McCartney as Terence, the pixie-dust keeper, who is surprised to find out that Tinker Bell knows his name. In mentioning how his job is unimportant, he causes Tinker Bell to remark just how important it is and realize her own importance.
  • Jeff Bennett as Clank, a large tinker fairy with a booming voice. He is usually found with Bobble or Tinker Bell.
  • Rob Paulsen as Bobble, a wispy tinker fairy with large glasses who helps Tink out; he is usually found with Clank or with Cheese, a mouse.
  • Pamela Adlon as Vidia, a fast-flying fairy, Tinker Bell's rival and the film's main antagonist. She is humiliated by Tinker Bell when they both choose the same hiding space from a hawk and a load of berries falls on Vidia. When Tinker Bell comes to her for help, Vidia craftily suggests that Tink capture sprinting thistles. Vidia is later punished for her part in this.
  • Anjelica Huston as Queen Clarion, the queen of all Pixie Hollow, who gives Tinker Bell her job and oversees the four seasons. Queen Clarion is wary of Tinker Bell's eagerness; she is proved correct when Tinker Bell accidentally destroys the preparations for spring after being sabotaged by Vidia. Queen Clarion nevertheless forgives Tinker Bell after Tinker Bell helps repair the damage done. Queen Clarion then rewards Tinker Bell by allowing her to go to the mainland.
  • Loreena McKennitt as The Narrator, who relates the importance of fairies as it applies to reality.
  • Steve Valentine as The Minister of Spring, the grand master of spring, who makes sure everything is finished in time.
  • Kathy Najimy as The Minister of Summer
  • Richard Portnow as The Minister of Autumn
  • Gail Borges as The Minister of Winter
  • America Young as Wendy Darling, the girl whose toy Tinker Bell repairs and then returns at the end of the film.
  • Kat Cressida as Mrs. Darling
  • Bob Bergen as Fireflies

Production

The film went through two dozen script versions and multiple directors.[2] The movie was produced with animation firm Prana Studios from their India location in CGI.[5]

Planned for release in fall 2007, the movie experienced delays in connection with personnel changes in Disney management.[6] According to a June 2007 article in Variety, Sharon Morrill, the head of DisneyToons direct-to-DVD division since 1994, was removed from this position due to problems with the film, including a budget that had expanded to almost $50 million. Pixar Animation Studios executives John Lasseter and Ed Catmull were given leadership of Walt Disney Feature Animation after Disney purchased Pixar in early 2006, and although DisneyToons is not under their management, "they are said to have gotten increasingly involved in the unit's operations."[2] Lasseter reportedly said that the film was at that time "virtually unwatchable"[7] and that it would hurt both Walt Disney Feature Animation and the Disney Consumer Products line it was meant to support.[8] Morill was moved to "special projects" and the status of the movie was seriously in doubt.[9] Disney observer Jim Hill reported at the time that the complications surrounding this film had resulted in a decision that Disney would no longer produce straight-to-DVD sequels to its feature films, resulting in later sequels to Tinker Bell seeing theatrical releases.[7]

Music

The score to the film was composed by Joel McNeely, who recorded the music with an 88-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony and Celtic violin soloist Máiréad Nesbitt at the Sony Scoring Stage.[10]

Soundtrack

The movie's soundtrack was released on October 14, 2008, a week before the DVD release and contains songs from and inspired by the film.[11] Other than the score suite, the only tracks in the film are both parts of "To the Fairies They Draw Near," "Fly to Your Heart" and "Fly With Me."

  1. "To the Fairies They Draw Near" – Loreena McKennitt
  2. "Fly to Your Heart" – Selena Gomez
  3. "How to Believe" – Ruby Summer
  4. "Let Your Heart Sing" – Katharine McPhee
  5. "Be True" – Jonatha Brooke
  6. "To the Fairies They Draw Near, Part II" – Loreena McKennitt
  7. "Shine" – Tiffany Giardina
  8. "Fly With Me" – Kari Kimmel
  9. "Wonder of It All" – Scottie Haskell
  10. "End Credit Score Suite" – Joel McNeely

Score

An album of Joel McNeely's score from the film was released on July 22, 2013, through Intrada Records as part of a co-branding arrangement with Walt Disney Records.

  1. Prologue
  2. To the Fairies They Draw Near – Loreena McKennitt
  3. A Child's Laughter / Flight to Pixie Hollow
  4. Choosing a Talent
  5. Tink Tours Pixie Hollow
  6. Welcome to Tinker's Nook
  7. Tinker Bell's New Home
  8. Tink Meets the Other Fairies
  9. The Lost Things Theme
  10. Tink Meets Vidia and Finds Lost Things
  11. Tinkering
  12. Your Place is Here
  13. Making Things
  14. Tink Tries to be a Light Fairy
  15. Teaching a Baby Bird to Fly
  16. Hawk!
  17. Tink Finds the Magic Box
  18. Searching for Answers
  19. Sprinting Thistles
  20. Tink Feels Lost
  21. Spring is Ruined
  22. Rebuilding Spring
  23. The Music Box Restored
  24. To the Fairies They Draw Near, Part II – Loreena McKennitt
  25. Tink Meets Wendy
  26. Fly to Your Heart – Selena Gomez

Marketing

The digitally animated character of Tinker Bell and other fairies appearing in the film were featured in Disney Channel bumpers in which they would draw the channel's logo with their wands. Rosetta's represents her webisode. Marketing efforts for the film included a tie-in with Southwest Airlines, decorating and naming a Boeing 737 "Tinker Bell One". Flight attendants wore fairy wings and awarded prizes to passengers who correctly answered trivia questions about the Tinker Bell character.[12]

Frank Nissen, the director of Cinderella III: A Twist in Time directed a series of webisodes to promote the film on the "Fairies" channel of the Disney XD web site.[13] Except for a few vocal effects, only one contains dialogue.

Title Description
Tink and the Bell Tinker Bell finds a silver jingle bell, makes funny faces at her reflection in it and then gets stuck in it.
Tink and the Pepper Shaker Tinker Bell finds a pepper shaker and plays with it.
Fawn and the Log Fawn attempts to wake some sleepy squirrels in a log.
Fawn and the Butterfly Fawn attempts to help a butterfly which is having trouble getting out of its chrysalis.
Silvermist and the Fish Silvermist helps a baby fish get over a waterfall so that it can be with its family.
Iridessa and the Light Bugs With the help of Pixie Dust, Iridessa helps make lightning bugs glow.
Rosetta and the Flower Rosetta has some trouble in attempting to get a stubborn flower bud to open up. (This is the only webisode with two versions: one with dialogue and one without.)
Tink and the Bird This one was shown once on ABC in their special airing of Walt Disney's Peter Pan.

Video game

Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell
 
Developer(s)Genius Sonority
Publisher(s)Disney Interactive
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • NA: October 28, 2008
  • EU: November 14, 2008
  • AU: November 27, 2008
  • JP: April 2, 2009
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell is an adventure game for the Nintendo DS. The game begins with Tinker Bell's arrival in Pixie Hollow, preparing for each season. As the seasons progress, more areas of the game become accessible. After all four seasons are completed, every area may be visited and season preparations become optional and vary each time. Various different tasks must be accomplished, which are bestowed upon the player by other characters. Such tasks include deliveries, item repairs, requests for items and searching for insects.

The player plays as Tinker Bell in a free-roaming Pixie Hollow, using the touch screen to maneuver the character, move to other maps and play various minigames. The player must, for example, touch an arrow on the screen to move to another map or characters to speak to them. The touch screen is used in the item repair minigames as well. For example, the player must trace the pattern of a groove to clear it or rub the item to clean stains. The DS microphone is used to create wind to loosen leaves and petals or blow dust from an item being repaired. The highest rank on 'Tinker bell' is Champion of the Craft.

Different gameplay mechanics can also be acquired in-game, which require specific use of the touch screen. These include:

  • The ability to glow by holding the stylus directly above Tinker Bell. This can be used to reveal hidden items.
  • Drawing a circle on-screen to perform a somersault. Used to collect falling items.
  • Drawing a triangular shape on-screen to awaken plants throughout the game.
  • Petting or tickling insects. Used to collect lost insects and awaken sleeping insects. Can also be used on random insects that roam about the maps. Items will be awarded.

Also present in the game is a "Friendship Meter", which serves as an indicator to measure the player's relationship with other characters. It can be filled by presenting the respective character with their favorite item, accomplishing tasks or even simply speaking to them. The meter can also be depleted, however, by not speaking to the character for extended periods of time, giving an unwanted gift or missing a repair deadline.

Features:

  • Create unique dresses, outfits and accessories
  • Mini-games, such as catching dew drops, painting ladybugs and collecting threads from sleeping silkworms
  • Multiplayer modes
  • Includes DGamer. Create unique 3-D avatars, create a persistent profile, chat with friends in a Disney Fairies chat room, earn in-game honors, Disney Fairies-themed accessories and unlock exclusive Disney and ESPN content, including streaming audio from Radio Disney and live coverage of the NBA on ESPN Radio.

Reception

The film saw a brief theatrical release at the El Capitan Theatre between September 19 and October 2.[14][15] It was shown on Disney Channel on November 30 as part of "New in November".

As of June 2020, the film holds a 90% approval rating Rotten Tomatoes, based on ten reviews with an average rating of 6.53 out of 10.[16] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 28, 2008.[17] In North America, 668,000 copies were sold on its first day of release, about 22 percent above previous estimations.[18]

DVD sales brought in $52,201,882 in revenue for 3,347,686 units sold.[19]

Sequels

Main article: Tinker Bell (film series)

Five sequels have been released: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009), Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (2010), Pixie Hollow Games (2011), Secret of the Wings (2012), and The Pirate Fairy (2014).[20] One additional film Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, was released in Spring 2015.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Tinker Bell (2008)". Allmovie. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c McNary, Dave; Gilstrap, Peter (June 21, 2007). "Disney tosses Toons topper". Variety. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  3. ^ "Tinker Bell (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  4. ^ Baisley, Sarah (June 20, 2006). "Brittany Murphy to Tone in as Tinker Bell". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  5. ^ Strike, Joe (March 28, 2007). "Disney DTV Sequels: End of the Line". Animation World. Animation World Network. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016. The Fairies will be CGI-animated by Prana Studios in India.
  6. ^ Menn, Joseph (December 21, 2006). "Merchandise has less magic with delay of 'Tinker Bell'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Hill, Jim (June 20, 2007). "Say "So Long !" to direct-to-video sequels : DisneyToon Studios tunes out Sharon Morrill". Jim Hill Media. Archived from the original on August 21, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  8. ^ o-meon: Tinker Bell: Return of the Dark Fairy By C. W. Oberleitner Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Mushy (June 22, 2007). "Tinkerbell Straight-To-DVD Release in Limbo". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  10. ^ Goldwasser, Dan (July 9, 2008). "Joel McNeely scores Tinker Bell". Scoring Sessions. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  11. ^ "Tinker Bell - Songs from and Inspired By Disney Fairies". iTunes. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  12. ^ Jackovics, Ted (November 1, 2008). "Southwest Adds Pixie Dust In Deal With Disney". Tampa Bay Online. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  13. ^ Armstrong, Josh (January 23, 2007). "Director Frank Nissen on Cinderella III". Animated Views. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  14. ^ Smith, Dave (June 1, 2012). "Supplement to Dave Smith's Book, Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia" (PDF). Disney Online. p. 87. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  15. ^ Beck, Jerry (August 18, 2008). "A theatrical release for Tinker Bell?". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  16. ^ "Tinker Bell (2008)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  17. ^ Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (July 18, 2009). "THE WORLD'S MOST BELOVED FAIRY RETURNS IN AN ALL-NEW MAGICAL ADVENTURE". DVD Dizzy. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  18. ^ Barnes, Brooks (October 30, 2008). "Disney Hoping 'Tinker Bell' Spreads Fairy Dust on Sales". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  19. ^ "Tinker Bell - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  20. ^ Beck, Jerry (December 5, 2013). "FIRST LOOK: Disneytoon Studios' "The Pirate Fairy"". Animation Scoop. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  21. ^ "D23 Expo: New Art From the Upcoming Disney, Pixar and Disneytoon Movies". ComingSoon.net. August 9, 2013. Archived from the original on August 11, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
 
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