As I watched the first feature on Disney’s direct-to-DVD animated feature Tinker Bell I was greeted by the voice of Mae Whitman who also voices the title character. As the world of Pixie Hollow rendered in beautiful CGI was coming toward me I heard, “Oh good, you found our magical guide to Pixie Hollow. As a new fairy you’ll need to be familiar with the different parts of the Hollow.” What? A new fairy? I had a moment of self-reflection. Did Tinker Bell know something about me I didn’t? Considering I am not gay and not a 7-year-old girl I assumed there had to be some confusion, and even if I was gay wouldn’t calling me a “fairy” be a little rude? Of course the point here is this is a flick for younger girls and it’s a pretty solid one that Disney looks to be prepped and ready to turn into a direct-to-video franchise as Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure is already in the works.
Tinker Bell centers on the early days in the life of the little fairy many have come to know from Peter Pan. We watch as Tink comes to life and learn more about the lives of fairies and their relation to the changing seasons as they live it up in their very own corner of Neverland, Pixie Hollow.
You will realize immediately this isn’t up to par with a theatrical animated venture as the animation isn’t up to par with the Pixar projects you see coming out of Disney, but for the little girls in the audience you won’t hear a peep of concern. The feature is fun and sure to entertain them and have parents scouring toy stores for fairy related products.
In terms of bonus features, the Blu-ray comes with the “Guide to Pixie Hollow” I mentioned earlier, which is a crudely animated guide through the world of the fairies. There is a batch of deleted scenes, DVD activity games, behind-the-scenes making of features and everything else you would expect. I always wonder how much younger kids are actually interested in the bonus features on these discs or if they simply watch the movie like most normal people. I also wonder if parents are ever inclined to watch the more adult oriented features after their kids are done being entertained by the flick. My gut tells me the majority of families never watch these things, which makes me wonder why anyone even bothers to put the majority of the more generic features on DVD and Blu-ray. However, I don’t expect the ritual to ever change.
Overall, this is a flick for the young ones, but I can only assume most of you knew that already. The question is whether or not it’s worth it and I think it is, it’s a quality story and I even had a couple of chuckles as I watched over the course of the film’s 78 minutes. Should you buy it? If you have young ones that love to watch these kinds of movies on repeat then certainly, but if your kids are more the active types or you don’t have kids at all and are just an animated fan maybe a rental first is in order.
