The Pirate Fairy

Once again the people at DisneyToon create a girlie fairy movie, and again I find myself enjoying it. How is this possible? I'm a serious, adult animation buff! I'm supposed to snort and say: Bah, this straight to DVD drivel is beyond me! Oh well, credit where credit is due, the people at DisneyToon sure know how to craft an entertaining bit of fluff. The animation looks good, the plot twists keep the story chugging along nicely, and how can you not like Tinkerbell and her adorable friends? Plus, there are some cool nods to Disney's original Peter Pan movie.

Bring on the sixth Tinkerbell movie I guess...

I have been a fan of the Tinker Bell franchise, since I started watching them with my children a few years ago. There are relatively few high-quality animated movies that, like this one, are appropriate for very young children, so we look forward to each new installment. The Tinker Bell universe adds a little Pixar magic to the original Disney Peter Pan universe story and brings it up to date. Compare it to the original Disney Peter Pan movie, and it is striking how aged and inappropriate for young children that one feels.

I watched the movie in the cinema during the winter holiday with my daughter (4 1/2 years) and son (3 years). They were glued to the silver screen the hole time and loved it just as much as the other installments. My daughter now wants to be a fairy pirate like Zarina. I enjoyed it, too. I have watched the other four Tinker Bell movies, and it actually manages to renew the universe and bring in new three-dimensional characters like Zarina who tests the limits of Pixie Hollow even more than Tinker Bell.

One of the interesting things in the movie is how they have started to bring in a little more of the original Peter Pan universe in an unexpected way. I would not be surprised to see even more of this in the next installment. I also liked the score, where they added a few pirate songs to the always beautiful fairy songs (I should mention that I watched the Danish-language version of the movie). Summing up, a great movie for young children that adds positively to the charming Tinker Bell universe.

All of the Tinker Bell films personally were surprisingly enjoyable films, not perfect but great for its main target audience but sadly falling victim to "target audience stereotyping". Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy is the fifth film and quite possibly the best one, though all five are ranked very close together in terms of ratings. Maybe a few parts are a tad rushed and the dialogue is ropey at times, but what was good about the previous Tinker Bell films are evident also in Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy. The animation is not quite as beautiful as The Secret of the Wings but it is still very smooth moving and the colours are so warm and elegant, a far cry from "all gloss, no depth" quality. The action is thrillingly animated with no jerky editing in sight really. The music score has a Celtic touch but also have rousing and ethereal qualities too, that is sympathetically used, doesn't detract from the storytelling and match the visuals remarkably well. The songs are not the best in the world but for both the pirates and the fairies are cute and surprisingly hummable, with plenty of rouse and charm. The dialogue does have good-natured and suspenseful parts as well as the at times ropey ones, and of all the five films it's Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy that has the most eventful story that is bright, breezy and mostly solidly paced if rushed in spots. It has bags of charm and not only has parts that are genuinely funny like with Zarina but also some heartfelt ones too like Tinker Bell's return of the blue dust. Predictable? Yes. Charmless? Certainly not. The characters carry the film very nicely, James is an interesting villain, Zarina is a amusing addition and Tinker Bell is still a good identifiable role model. The voice acting is wonderful, especially from Christina Hendricks who makes a sassy contribution and Tom Hiddleston who shows with his suave yet subtly menacing delivery how he is born to play villains. Mae Whitman is very emotive though too, and the pirates and fairies are voiced with no obvious problems. To conclude, a pleasant and good film that is my personal favourite of the five and should be given a chance without prejudice. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I'm sure anyone who is a dyed-in-the-wool follower of the Tinkerbell series of movies (like me) will be more than delighted with the latest instalment - Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy. A year ago, Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings totally blew me away. (So much so that I was extolling that film's praises for several months afterwards.) Well, I'm delighted to say that the same thing (extolling of praises) is pretty much certain to happen with me about this film too! Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy simply brims with delightful characters old and new. The plot is superb. Original, intelligent, witty and well constructed (ie there are no discrepancies in the narrative and all loose ends are satisfyingly tied up by the end of the movie). Zarina, the new fairy, is a wonderful addition to the cast. In many ways Zarina's particular 'talent' drives her to behave in ways we have become used to associating with Tinkerbell herself - ie she is inquisitive, takes risks and feels herself impelled to go beyond Pixie Hollow's previously established (and generally accepted) boundaries. I liked that there was plenty of good natured interaction this time among Tinkerbell's regular cohort of friends (Vidia, Iridessa, Silvermist and Rosetta) and many times something one or another of them said would cause me to chuckle with mirth. The action of the skirmishes between the fairies and the pirates is thrillingly animated. Finally, I thought the artwork throughout was top notch and the music, whether sung or instrumental, was both subtle and fitted well with the visuals. There is vastly more that I found enjoyable in this film (told you I'd be extolling the film's praises didn't I!) but I think you've probably heard enough from me by now. Whatever your age or gender (I'm a sixty something male), give yourself a treat ... go see Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy. My bet is you won't be disappointed. (Go with a little 'faith, trust and pixie dust' and you'll enjoy it even more!) 10/10.

I went to see this at the cinema and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think out of all the TinkerBell movies that I have seen (I have watched all of them apart from 'Secret of The Wings') this is possibly the most interesting as the plot happens outside Pixie Hollow and it also has a bit of a mystical feel to it. Most young girls will like this film, but also, people like me who like fantasy, fairies, animations and bright cheerful things. It is very neat and tidy. The only slight let down is that this movie would have been a good opportunity to feature Captain Hook, but then again, perhaps that would have got it too mixed up with the Peter Pan franchise. All in all, a wonderful movie to brighten up anyone's day. I gave this an 8/10 because it was so great!