Tinker Bell Movie

Disney missed out on an opportunity here: They could have made a fairy movie that appeals to all ages. That's what Pixar and old school Disney would've done. But despite John Lasseter's involvement, it's obvious that the Tinker Bell movie was targeted at young girls. It's not as good as it could have been.

Still, Tinker Bell is watchable. It has a decent (if somewhat predictable) story, some good scenes, and lovely details. Disney did a beautiful job finding ways for fairies to use acorns, shells, seeds, flowers, and other things from nature as clothing and tools.

Some of the characters are likable (Bobble is my favorite), some are annoying, and the rest don't make much of an impression one way or the other. Most of the girly fairies are too much alike to be memorable.

The dialogue is probably the worst part: It's weak and sometimes embarrassing. I almost groaned when Tinker Bell said "Flitterific!" Tinker Bell and her friends sound too modern. I don't expect them to talk like stuffy lords and ladies from Medieval times, but it jars me from the fantasy when they start to sound like college girls.

Tinker Bell herself has been "sanitized." In Peter Pan, Tinker Bell was sassy, devious, and vindictive. If you got between her and Peter Pan, she'd pull your hair and plot your demise. The new Tinker Bell is too soft, conscientious, and burdened with responsibilities to be the same fairy. It would have been better if Disney had made up another fairy heroine instead of declawing Tinker Bell.

Tinker Bell (Peter Pan) by Disney
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The Tinker Bell movie seems to borrow heavily from Pixar's A Bug's Life. Let me list a few examples...

• Flik and Tinker Bell are both inventors whose contraptions have a way of backfiring. Both are perky, friendly, but don't quite fit into their communities.


• Both movies have similar motifs. Bugs and fairies both find ingenious uses for flowers, leaves, acorns, and other items from nature.


• Ant Island has a curmudgeonly ant named Thorny who keeps track of the harvest using an abacus. Pixie Hollow has a curmudgeonly fairy named Fairy Mary who tracks the progress of the seasons with an abacus.


• Don't those fireflies look an awful lot like ants from A Bug's Life?