The direct-to-DVD (or BD rather) 'Tinker Bell' seems to be the first of many upcoming pics in a 'Disney Fairy' DTV line with a trailer on this disc already plugging 2009's 'Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure'.
You gotta love the confidence but, I imagine it won't be misplaced as this first film gives it target demographic - young girls - exactly what they want with bright visuals, mild humor and a nice if age-old message.
'Tinker Bell' actually has an interesting history behind it as it single-handedly may be responsible for stopping the further cannibalization of Disney's classics line i.e. no more sequels, prequels, threequels to all their classic films. We may be spared 'Pinocchio II: Jiminy's Revenge' because of 'Tinker Bell's' troubled history.
Starting production years ago apparently with dozens of scripts and directors circulating and a budget that ballooned to 50 million dollars, the film was sent into turn-around when Disney bought Pixar and John Lasseter deemed the film "virtually unwatchable" - a decision that cost even more money with the production such a mess that it resulted in the decision for Disney to abandon their mediocre efforts on making sequels to the classics.
Instead, we get these dedicated DTV lines of pics which I suppose are more tolerable. So after all that, 'Tinker Bell' ends up being not all that bad if barely a blip on Pixar's radar - but of course it was never made to compete with 'Wall*E' but provide a reasonably well-made diversion between the 'real' films and in that respect, it succeeds on it's rather meager goals.
So taking a minor, if well-known character, and establishing an origin for her and a new world of sorts, we meet 'Tinker Bell' well before jealousy over Peter Pan sets in.
Opening narration explains that when a baby laughs, a fairy is born and so 'Tinker Bell' comes to be in a creation ceremony in Pixie Hollow, the fairies little world within Neverland. This little community is divided into specific specialties such as water fairies, garden fairies, animal fairies and tinkerers and one guess what fate awaits 'Tinker Bell'.
Learning that her special 'Tinker' ability doesn't allow her to go to Mainland (our world), she gets indignant about 'only' being a tinker fairy and tries to attempt to change specialties with her giving a go at each with the help of her friends. Failing miserably in trying on the different hats, she ultimately even comes close to destroying all the fairies preparations for bringing on Spring (it makes more sense in the film if only just...) and in true kid message fashion learns that she needs to embrace her destiny even if it's not exactly what she wanted.
Most notable is the striking production design which at times really sparkles for a straight-to-video film. Computer-generated, there's a lot of bright, clean colors that really come off great in high-def. While not on the same level as recent theatrical CGI pics, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of quality in the animation. The fairies themselves could have used a little more texture but the surroundings and backgrounds look great.
The actual story-telling is only so-so however neither being more interesting than it has to be or as boring as you might expect. There's very little character development or even a real antagonist to create some tension. The closest is some fast-flying fairy, Vidia, who throws a little attitude at 'Tinker Bell' and sets her up for a fall towards the climax but the motivations are never clear - other than she has black hair versus Tinker Bell's blonde hair so she presumably has to be at odds with our heroine.
There's some light comic relief from fellow tinkerers Clank and Bobble, the token chubby/skinny buddy team, and every so often something genuinely funny sneaks in for the adults but this script is mostly aimed at young girls and would hold little interest outside of that demographic.
Raven-Symone, Lucy Liu, America Ferrera and Anjelica Huston all provide supporting character voices but none of their personalities really show through - which is surprising considering Raven's rather annoying larger-than-life persona - so don't expect any sort of charisma coming from star talent.
Presented with a 1.78:1 1080p widescreen transfer, the film looks great with the bright, vibrant colors looking expectedly striking in high-def. An English 5.1 Uncompressed audio track is provided and is fine for the material. The film isn't a musical but features a few background songs from some Disney talent that sound great.
Special Features include 'Tinker Trainer' a game that will "hone your skills as a tinker fairy", 'Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow' which looks into the magical realm of the fairies, 'Ever Wonder', a featurette on how fairies put the 'wonder' into natural wonders, 'Creating Pixie Hollow', a featurette on the making of the film, a music video by Disney Channel's Selena Gomez, and 'Deleted Scenes'.
Ultimately, I watched this film with my 3 year 2 month old daughter and she was at apt attention throughout and floated around for a few hours afterwards claiming she was Tinker Bell. And I suppose that's all that matters, right?
The young gals like it so case closed. Not every film can be 'Finding Nemo' and while this will be more of a film for the adults to throw on and then run out of the room, it comes recommended for a certain age group.
Tinker Bell [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story