Tinker Bell: Enter The World of Fairies

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Cartoon

Tinker Bell: Enter The World of Fairies, 2008

The Plot

Pixie Hollow welcomes in a new fairy. The only problem is that the new fairy, Tinker Bell, isn’t too thrilled with her role in the community and is determined to do things her way—even if it causes havoc on Pixie Hollow and its residents.

Starring

Mae Whitman, Kristin Chenoweth, Raven Symone, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, America Ferrera, Lucy Liu, Angelica Huston, Jane Horrocks, Jesse McCartney, Jeff Bennett, Rob Paulsen, and more.

The Review

Yesterday I was one of the lucky reviewers to receive an advance copy of Disney’s latest video creations, Tinker Bell: Enter The World Of Fairies, and I couldn’t have been more excited. When I was a young girl I adored Tinker Bell. She was feisty and funny and beautiful. And despite her many flaws, she was loveable.

Every Sunday evening, as we sat down to a family evening of Disney®, I knew I was in for a real treat because Tinker Bell flew across the screen with whimsical magic. Heck, I even had my grandmother make me a Tinker Bell costume for Halloween—luckily she knew how to create her own patterns because we couldn’t find any in the stores!

So when I heard Disney® was coming out with a series devoted to Tinker Bell, I thought, “It is about time!” But I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant, too. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I knew Disney® was going to travel back in time and tell us how Tinker Bell came to be and quite honestly, I hadn’t always been fond of their early beginning scenarios. Besides, I had grown to love the persona that was Tinker Bell—the friend of Peter Pan and foe of Wendy. Thankfully, they lived up to my expectations.

Tinker Bell: Enter The World Of Fairies is a real treat.

It all begins with the laughter of a newborn baby. For you see, that’s how fairies are born. As the laughter floats across London, and across the ocean, you can’t help but wonder what magic is about to take place. Then it lands in Pixie Hollow and the ritual begins. A little pixie dust and Tinker Bell is born: complete with cognitive thinking skills, the ability to speak, and function as a little person.

When Tinker Bell receives her gift of tinkering she’s disappointed. In Tinker Bell’s mind, it is a menial task with no purpose; a task that brings drudgery and doom. She’d rather have a more important role as one of the fairies that helps bring in Spring and does the unthinkable by going against tradition. But as she sets out to find a new talent—a more worthy talent—and leave behind her calling as a Tinker she wrecks havoc on Pixie Hollow and destroys months of work, causing Spring to be delayed.

Disappointed in herself and her talent, she sets out to leave Pixie Hollow for good. She decides to make a new life for herself in London and decides to stock up on a little pixie dust for the road. As she’s preparing to leave, the keeper of the pixie dust arrives and offers to give Tinker Bell a little extra for the road. Tinker Bell thanks him by name and he acts surprised that she knows his name. When she asks why, he tells her that he’s just the keeper of the pixie dust, a very lowly position that has no purpose. Determined to make him feel better about his role in Pixie Hollow, Tinker Bell begins spewing out all the reasons why he holds a very important position and how he should be proud of his title and his job. He smirks and says that he is. That’s when Tinker Bell realizes that the talk she just gave him should be applied to her own situation and a new appreciation for her role as a Tinker takes hold.

It is in that instance that Tinker Bell embraces her natural ability to fix and invent things and comes up with a plan to save Spring.

Your Task

As you watch Tinker Bell: Enter The World Of Fairies make a mental note of the instances where Tinker Bell could have done things differently, how her temper got the better of her, and her belief that Tinkers were less important than other fairies was misguided. Then talk to your children about how they can deal with these same emotions—because one way or another, there will be a time when your children go through bouts of anger, jealousy, and feels of inferiority.