Tinker Bell (Disney Blu-ray)
Picture: A- Sound: A- Extras: B- Film: C+
With Disney churning out bad sequel after bad sequel on
straight-to-video DVD, there was little faith that Tinker Bell could be any better than any of the recent Little Mermaid, Dalmatian, or Jungle Book
sequels; but perhaps Blu-ray could change it all?
Tinker Bell was created
entirely with the crew at Pixar, though their name is oddly absent from the
Blu-ray casing. The new Tinker Bell
centric tale rewrites the mythology of the Peter
Pan star as the story takes off in a little magical nook known as Pixie
Hollow. Now voiced by Mae Whitman,
Tinker Bell seems to be a special brand of fairy that had an odd and elusive
appearance into fairy culture as she appears in an outside corner of Neverland,
unlike other fairies who have their own set of established rules, special
culture and social system. The
appearance of a fully grown Tinker Bell almost seems to be “virgin birth” or
Immaculate Conception; there is something special about that fairy. The film would lead the viewer to believe
that many secrets would be revealed about Tinker Bell and fairies, but in
reality since the story has zero to do with Peter Pan (except for a brief Wendy
appearance) Tinker Bell’s life is pretty much an open book that the writers
could have done whatever they wanted.
The story that is followed is very loosely established and only follows
a very general format of fairy culture that is light, airy, and family
friendly. The story holds true to the family
values that Disney always embodied as the fairies change winter into spring and
promotes values of faith, friendship, love, hope, and believing in
yourself. With the help of friends,
fairies, and pixie dust the family friendly feature hopes to capture the hearts
of families everywhere.
There is not much to fly into about Tinker Bell. The first
straight-to-video Disney Blu-ray hit the television screen with a better
presence than this reviewer ever expected, but the in the end the feature still
lacked the true heart that Disney and Pixar fans alike have come to
expect. The story was family friendly
and had its moments, but overall was anything but captivating. Some of the plot choices were confusing and
the sheer disregard to the original Peter
Pan plot left the film emptier than fulfilled creatively. The voice acting by America Ferrera and Lucy
Liu made the film a tad more bearable, but fell far short of saving the
film. Tinker Bell by and large felt forced. It felt as though Disney wanted to push one
of their past classics to the surface again and Tinker Bell was the one who took the hit this time around. Tinker Bell was a character (though
memorable) that did not have too much of an impact on the Peter Pan plot, so whereas giving her more depth may have seemed
like a good idea, in reality the concept failed to shine and quickly fell
flat. I still believe Disney and I will
be here waiting. *Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
This new Disney Blu-ray is sprinkled with a number of magical extras
and a more than delightful picture and sound presentation. The picture is presented in a 1080p/AVC
mpeg-4 Video in 1.78 X 1 Widescreen that is simply out of this world. Most direct-to-video features are extremely
lackluster and blasé, leaving fans expecting much more. Tinker
Bell, whereas not the best film ever made, presents a picture quality that
is among some of the best on Blu-ray to date.
It does not quite have the texture or atmosphere that films such as Ratatouille or Cars possessed, but with solid blacks, vibrant colors, brilliant
contrast, and even the most minor detail popping off the screen the image is
insanely crisp. There is not even the
slightest distortion, compression, or artifact to note. All in all, Tinker Bell is one of the best Blu-ray image presentations someone
can see at this time. The sound is
presented in an Uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround Mix (48Hz/24-bit) that ranks
right up there with the picture quality.
Tinker Bell manages to use
the entire soundstage where every twinkle, bang, and pop is heard with
excellent precision and wonderful directionality. The films music was a bit too lighthearted
and childish for this reviewer, but never the less it projected well and gave
the film a tad more character.
The extra features (mainly geared toward children) were plentiful, but
lacked rewatchability and overall content.
The extras include Deleted Scenes, a Selena Gomez “Fly to Your Heart”
Music Video, a Short Film entitled “Ever Wonder” that combines live action and
CGI as Tinker Bell and friends change the world from winter to spring, an
Interactive Game “Tinker Training” that is somewhat difficult to maneuver and
adjust to, some previews, and a Featurette entitled “Creating Pixie Hollow” (10
minutes) that takes the viewer through the creative process with the Pixar CGI
team. The featurette is short and to the
point. There is also one final Blu-ray
exclusive “Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow” map feature that gives the viewer tid
bits of information on each Pixie site.
Overall, the extras are in no way just “slapped together,” but they are
also in no way exciting or worth much of the viewers’ time.
What can be said about Tinker Bell in the end is that if
anything it has taken straight-to-video Disney features to the next level. With the exception of perhaps Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (which
wasn’t even that great), no Disney straight-to-video release has ever had a
true impact or looked like it was worth the time, money, or effort; Tinker Bell, somewhat, changes all of
that. The Blu-ray release above all else
had amazing picture and sound presentations, the feature film was not all too
great, but it had more heart and storyline than most. This reviewer can easily recommend this new
Disney Blu-ray to videophiles and families alike.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
