Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue ***

It came as something of a surprise to this critic to see that Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue was getting a cinema release. Why? Because this follow-up to the successful straight to DVD Disney movies Tinker Bell and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure was itself intended for a straight to DVD release. Yet, Disney have always had an eye for making money out of nothing and clearly thought that the popularity of the series on DVD might translate to big screen success, particularly at this time when cinemas are packed full of kids looking for something to do during their school holidays. Given all the choices available for kids right now, though, is Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue really worth bothering with? That depends on exactly what target demographic you or your children fit into.

Long before she meets Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman) lives in Pixie Hollow, a far-away corner of Never Land, working with her fairy brothers and sisters to bring the seasons to the human land. It is summer and the fairies have travelled to the mainland to carry out their magical work. At the bottom of an English country garden, Tink is accidentally discovered by a young girl named Lizzy (voiced by Lauren Mote). Worried for their friend, the fairies of Pixie Hollow plan a daring rescue, led by Tink’s former arch-rival, Vidia (voiced by Pamela Adlon). But Tinker Bell has developed a friendship with the lonely little girl. As she revolves to help mend Elizabeth’s relationship with her father, does this mean she will turn away her rescuers?

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue is one of the most classically and distinctly Disney-esque Disney movies in quite some time and this is probably the most positive thing that can really be said about it, for older viewers at least. You see, this is a film that was made for a straight to DVD release and watching it there is little to disguise this fact. While the animation is undeniably cute and charming at times and provides some moments of beautiful almost 3D like 2D imagery, it is also often crude and cheap looking, lacking texture and detail. The story, while offering moments of enchantment from time to time and a few laughs, is also slightly underwhelming, not really being cinematic enough in its scope. Certainly, anyone but the youngest of viewers will have seen everything that is on offer here many times before. That said, though, this is a film made for those younger viewers and young girls will most certainly love every minute of it. The film proves sweet and enchanting, has decent turns from its voice cast – which includes surprisingly big names such as Michael Sheen (as Lizzy’s busy scientist father), Kristen Chenoweth (as fairy Rosetta) and Lucy Liu (as fairy Silvermist) – has a great feel good musical score and proves quite magical at times. This is a distinctly old fashioned kind of family film that is let down only by its failure to dream bigger and its scant 1 hour 16 minute running time. Simply put, this is a film that its target audience – young girls, naturally – will love but that doesn’t necessarily offer enough to justify being given a cinema release instead of a straight to DVD one. Nonetheless, given that there a number of inferior options in cinemas right now you could do far worse than seeing it, just as long as you don’t take any boys along – they will hate it. Not quite Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue but definitely ‘Tinker Bell and the Quite Good Fairy Rescue’.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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