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Family.com Entertainment Movie Review: Tinker Bell

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Tinker Bell -- Photo Courtesy of Disney Home Entertainment

More Info on Tinker Bell

The Story: The girl in green was born in Pixie Hollow, part of a population of fairies that works behind the scenes to create the changing seasons. Through a process akin to Harry Potter's Sorting Hat, the pixie is designated a Tinker Fairy (a fairy who builds tools), and given the name Tinker Bell. Feeling the job isn't important enough, Tink sets out to learn the skills of the Nature Talent Fairies, those with grand jobs like creating the colors of spring and illuminating lightening bugs. Despite the help of her friends, Tink's attempts to create dewdrops and teach birds to fly cause nothing but trouble. But, Tink soon discovers her natural skills are a gift, and in the end, she learns that Tinker Fairies are plenty important, too.

Good If You Liked: Peter Pan, Hook, The Princess Bride

Heads Up: Not much at all. Scary is limited to an encounter with some weed people. Mostly, kids just feel badly for Tink when she gets into trouble. The pixie does show an excessive amount of attitude, however. In one incident, when Tinker Bell inadvertently sets her posterior aglow and becomes a target for some wannabe fireflies, one of her friends warns her to "Cover your tushy." The movie gets its one mean girl in the form of the beautiful Fast Flying Fairy, Vidia. The crying squirrel (he was beaned with a flying acorn) is oh so sad.

Own It? Definitely! It's an adorable movie, and a great one to pop in when you need a bona fide comfort-food escape from a dreary day.

Special Features: The Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow allows you to use the DVD to explore Tink's home and workplace. Extras include "Ever Wonder," a short feature about Tink's activities in the real world (it looks like it should be in 3-D), and "Fly to Your Heart," a music video by Selena Gomez. The Tinker Trainer DVD-Rom allows you to engage in activities on your computer.

Movie Review:
Tinker Bell

By Lisa Oppenheimer

Rated by 13 members

1 Comment

Rated G for general audiences.
Recommended for ages 3 and up
Run Time: 78 minutes
Quick Take: Kids, especially younger ones, will be "pixie-elated" to visit Tinker Bell's world.

Don't Wanna Grow Up? Tinker Bell Is Fine With That

There is nothing like the Peter Pan vista of London: those twinkling lights, the moonlit glow, the soft blush from the bedroom windows. Who wouldn't want to take up residence there?

Fairy-tale movies do that: not just tell a story, but offer temporary residence inside the story land. Give me a hot chocolate, a warm blanket and that movie, and even without pixie dust and the Lost Boys, I am so two steps closer to Neverland.

Moviemakers earn kudos for creating their own fantasyland in Tinker Bell. One look at that fairy world with its colorful sprites and buckets of pixie dust and your kids will want to jump inside. True, I would never dare compare Tinker Bell to its celebrated Disney Classics brethren (lest I be made to walk the plank), but the new film ably stands up to its Peter Pan pedigree. It's a fairy tale adventure. An escape. A fully-realized CG world of colorful backdrops and warm, fuzzy characters that's a pleasure to run off to with your kids. And, it's adorable. Even my teenager smiled -- now, that's a feat.

A spritely fairy whose attitude is in inverse proportion to her pixie size, Tinker Bell, it turns out, was always a bit of a rebel. Long before Peter Pan, she bucked tradition, angling to shed her designation as a Tinker Fairy (a kind of worker bee who builds stuff) to join the Nature Talent fairies and look out for humans on the Mainland. With lovely colors, a soothing Celtic soundtrack (accurately assessed by creators as "ethereal"), and, names like John Lasseter attached ... well, how can it miss? Maybe I'm just a big kid, but I love the idea of fairyland. Wouldn't it be nice to think that pixies were really looking out for us? I for one could get behind a cute little pixie who could engineer springtime, fix a music box, or repair the hard drive on my computer (that last one wasn't in the movie, but dare to dream).

But 78 minutes being transported into a thoroughly magical place?

Yeah, I'll take that, too.

Kids Will Like:
Tinker Bell starts out as a garden-variety fairy in a plain, white dress, and it's fun to see her transform into the Tinker Bell we know and love -- blond bun, green outfit and all. Clank and Bobble, two male "Tinkers" are kid-friendly comic relief. The whole backstory of how Tinker Bell got her name is a cute "a ha!" moment for little ones.

Parents Will Like:
Tinker Bell is a very sweet movie, the kind that makes for great cuddle time with the kids. It's primarily aimed at little ones, but there are some genuinely funny moments. It may be a straight-to-DVD release, but the quality is superb.

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