Clochette et l'expédition féerique

Out of the hundreds of films and shows my four year old daughter has seen there are very few that I would confidently recommend as perfect for a little girl. "Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue" is one of these. Totally inoffensive and absolutely stunning production qualities make this one of the most pleasant films I have seen for children for many, many years. I am totally lost why this little visual masterpiece has had such little promotion. I recently saw a mother take a group of little girls to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonder land and it was disturbing to see so many of them upset by the film. How was the mother to know that this PG rated version of a traditional children's story was going to be that far off the mark for the girls to enjoy.

Maybe the title "Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue" makes it sound a little trite and lame but the actual film is totally beguiling and charming.

This was my all-time favorite fairy movie. I sat down with my 2yr. old grand-daughter to watch this and neither of us moved except for her to giggle at parts and hug her silky pillow. To put a heart-warming real little girl in with fairies is a dream many of us have had and I found myself cheering. The visuals were excellent and all the pixie dust flying around made it a magical experience for both of us. I immediately let my friends with grandkids know how wonderful this movie was and strongly suggested they watch it with the kiddies. Although it is centered more for girls, I think boys will like it, too. The boy fairies are a big part of the rescue. I'm anxious to watch it again.

Usually, a spin-off such as this would only appear as a straight-to-DVD movie, but due to the amazing sales in the UK, Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue will see Peter Pan's favourite fairy get a cinematic release; the first of the Disney fairies to be granted one.

Tinkerbell, as any Pan fan will know, is a mischievous but resourceful individual who always manages to get herself into trouble. On the first day of Fairy Camp, Tink (Mae Whitman) gets distracted by a passing car and goes to investigate, dragging friend Vidia (Pamela Adlon) along for the ride. The car belongs to Dr. Griffiths (Michael Sheen) and his daughter Lizzie (Lauren Mote) who accidentally captures Tinkerbell.

Vidia sees that Dr. Griffiths has a large butterfly collection and fears that Tink will also end up in a display case so she races back to Fairy Camp to enlist the other fairies, Rosetta (Kristin Chenoweth), Silvermist (Lucy Liu) and Iridessa (Raven-Symoné), to help rescue her. Luckily for Tink, Lizzie loves fairies and the two have a great day together but what will happen when Dr. Griffiths finds her? The animation isn't particularly impressive but it definitely has touches of Disney flair, particularly in the charming pastel colouring and the storyline based around a single parent family – the Disney special. The film's heart revolves around the relationship between Lizzie and a father who has no time for her and dismisses her love of fairies as fantasy. Michael Sheen's voice takes on sweeter tones as a busy father whereas Lauren Mote comes across as almost too English – there's more than a little stage school training here.

Kristin Chenoweth lends her considerable vocal talents to Rosetta, the Southern Belle fairy who doesn't like to get her hands dirty. I would have thought that a trained singer like Chenoweth would be included in the soundtrack but for some reason the director opted for the distracting tones of Disney brat Bridgit Mendler – more than a little oversight.

With a running time of just 75 minutes, it might be a tad too short for the big screen but I'd definitely recommend a DVD purchase as it's short and sweet enough to keep the kids entertained at home, but might not be worth a trip to the cinema. It's fairly simplistic stuff but young children will get a dose of humour, action and heart without the trappings of a boring Summer blockbuster.

The third TB is like the first two - funny, clever, cute, visually stunning. My little one (4) absolutely loved it, so did I. It kept her attention from beginning till the end, what I don't see every day. It's useless to speak about visuals - the colors are wonderful, as we are used to, the objects are elastic and "real" in the way an animated fairy tale can be. The story is also nice. This time there's much more space for Vidia, which tries to show her better side. Tinker Bell's friends known from the first two movies are also present, we are missing the "management" and the background crew, so the storyline is much more intimate. The coping-stone of the action is a little over the top (=7/10), but what the hell, it's a fairytale...

I'm not sure what makes Tinker Bell so irresistible to small children, but Disney managed to expand upon the Peter Pan mythos and flesh out Tink as an independent, curious, kind yet temperamental fairy.

This is Tink's third adventure, after Tinker Bell (2008) and Tinker Bell and The Lost Treasure (2009). This time, her native curiosity in how things work and her fascination with humans gets her in trouble and her friends must organize a rescue party, also a good opportunity for Vidia, the antagonist, to show her better side.

The production values are good but not incredible compared to Pixar movies or even to Disney's own Bolt; still, I doubt that any child will notice that Cheese's fur doesn't sway for example.

About the only thing that disappoints me is that the whole Disney Fairies franchise is more aimed at girls rather than boys, which is quite a shame, given Tink's personality.

Overall, it's a nice family movie. My 6 years old son loved it and that's all it matters.