Tinkerbell

I never thought I would enjoy a movie centered around Peter Pan's anger-prone fairy compagnon, but she was surprisingly likable in this prequel spin-off thingy.

Story's pretty standard, she comes to the land of fairies and must prove that she fits in among the orher fairies, gets into a feud with one and ends up discovering that being herself is her own talent.

And to its credit, it looks really good for a direct-to-video movie.

I admit, I am a fan of Tinker Bell (something a 22 year old MALE wouldn't approve of, like me), and I've always wanted to see this enchanting but short film. It's magical in every way.

Tinker Bell is born as a tinker, a fairy who makes teapots out of nuts. She does not approve of this and wants to be like the other fairies that travel to the mainland. But when she tries to be something that she isn't, she creates disaster. She soon learns that being who you really are can be useful if you just believe in yourself.

What really surprised me in this film was the cast. Most of these cast members you'll already know, like Mae Whitman (best known as Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender), America Ferra (TV's Ugly Betty), Rob Paulsen (Danny Phantom) and even Steve Valentine (TV's Crossing Jordan).

Overall, this is a very sweet and funny film that, despite its short running time, will leave its magic mark of pixie dust with you forever. It certainly did it on me! ^_^

Saw this movie today (9/26/08) with my young nieces at a special El Capitan Theatre preview in Los Angeles. We were all delighted by Tink's excellent backstory, the ingenious story and the handsomely rendered 3-D animation. Cast is uniformly excellent, including Lucy Liu, Kristen Chenoweth and Anjelica Houston. This was much better than some of the theatrically released Disney animated films I've seen (notably "Atlantis"), making it among the best of the Mouse's direct-to-video titles. Well worth checking out with your kids, but don't be surprised if you find a tear in your own eye at the conclusion of this delightful surprise.

The Bad:

Our title character has almost zero points in common with her character from Peter Pan, nor does Peter Pan seem to exist in this universe (we certainly never see him in any of the Tinker Bell series films). The plot is not terribly clever (and I don't feel that just because this is a film aimed at young kids that you need to be overly formulaic) and most of the fairies – who look so interesting – get very little screen time. Tinker Bell's "talent" feels like lazy writing rather than something clever (and, although this doesn't affect the rating on this movie, the rest of the series seems to mostly ignore this idea for Tinker Bell).

The Good:

Tinker Bell seems to have had a personality make-over (probably because she is actually so unlikable in Peter Pan). Now she has more emotions besides jealousy and anger. And she can speak! There's also a "village" beyond living with the lost boys – with more fairies! This is certainly the best part – all those other fairies have the potential to be so interesting! You want to get to know them and see their 'talents'. Tinker Bell's talent, is not a stereotyped "girl's skill", which is nice since this movie is heavily marketed towards little girls. The look of the film is nice. Although there has been much better CGI since this was made, it is still bright and colorful.

The Mom view:

There is nothing objectionable about the film and while predictable for an adult, a young child might not see the end coming and enjoy Tinker Bell's discovery along with her. The moral of the story – finding what you are good at and being happy in that – is not bad, but it might also be seen as "don't try things you aren't skilled at", which isn't as good of a lesson to absorb. I'd be willing to let my preschool/toddler kids see this – including the boys – but it's not the most interesting or well done movie out there for young kids. Uunless you have a child who absolutely loves fairies (NOT one who loves Peter Pan), this is pretty skip-able.

My 3 year old daughter absolutely adores this movie. In fact, she likes it better than many of the more highly touted Disney theatrical releases.

The character of Tinker Bell is truly charming, and in my opinion, much more enjoyable than the classical portrayal in Peter Pan. Sue me, I LIKE that Tink can speak. She's still gutsy, and independent, but in this movie has far better motivations for her actions than jealousy over Peter Pan.

All of the faeries' characterizations were entertainingly done, and I like that they all had their own "thing" going on. Other plus points include some really pretty animation (young girls in particular will love the eye-popping colors and the liberal use of sparkle) and a good overall message. Both my daughter and myself enjoyed the celtic-inspired score and tunes, so if your child likes different types of music other than just top 40 pop, she/he should enjoy this as well.

My only minor quibble is that at times the dialogue is a tad insipid and inane, and the over-use of the term "Sweetie" when the faeries are addressing each other.

For a movie that was designed for the home DVD market, I think that this one delivers much more bang for your entertainment buck than many of the big budget theatrical releases.