Trilli

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.

i am obsessed with Tinkerbell too, just like other people who wrote comments. also i have read peter pan and researched into James Barrie's life for hours on end, but I still loved this movie. it was adorable and cute and even though they changed the feisty Tinkerbell that was, it was placed before peter pan. no, she can't talk in peter pan but it's probably because she is so small maybe human's couldn't hear her but since peter pan was magical he could hear her so they just didn't make her lines. no, it's not exactly what Barrie wrote but i still think he would be pleased with the movie. it was very creative and i loved it!

At first, I was not expecting much from Tinkerbell, but it was much better than I expected. While too short with some moments of insipid dialogue, Tinkerbell is a cute and entertaining movie that never tries to be anything more than it is.

The film looks surprisingly great, initially I was expecting something along along the lines of all gloss no depth, but the look is clean and quite warm with gorgeous colours and all the fairies look convincing.

The music I also loved. The score is somewhat Celtic-inspired, and it is really lovely and soothing and the tunes are memorable without being too twee. The story is very simple, but it is very sweet with a good message that doesn't feel forced or preachy.

The characters are really quite engaging. I have never hated Tinkerbell as much as others did in the Disney Peter Pan movie, which is not a Disney favourite but I like it very much for the music, but she is much more likable here and the fact that she isn't jealous or stubborn here will make her easy to relate for the younger crowd.

The voice work is on paper of high-calibre, and in the film they do do sterling jobs. Mae Whitman is very emotive and resourceful in the title role, but the standout for me was the immensely talented Anjelica Huston who is really quite excellent, also she is a presence that adults will thoroughly enjoy.

In conclusion, a cute and fun little movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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.

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.