Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings (2012)
Certified: U
Duration: 77 minutes
Directed by: Peggy Holmes, Bobs Gannaway
Voices of: Mae Whitman, Lucy Hale, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Bennett, Lucy Liu, Raven-Symoné, Megan Hilty, Jane Horrocks, Anjelica Huston
KRS release
Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings is the fourth Tinkerbell film in the franchise of the Disney Fairies films. Like the other instalments before it, this film is as cute and sweet as can be but it is likely to appeal only to an audience of nine-year-old, or younger, girls.
The film fleshes out the environment of Pixie Hollow well
The film is pleasing on the eye but it lacks any sense of urgency or tangible excitement as the producers try to keep everything so hunky dory and safe.
In Tinkerbell’s world, the fairies live a colourful life in the delightful Pixie Hollow. However, they are not allowed to enter the Winter Woods, the cold kingdom of the frost fairies.
The border between the two fairylands is guarded by snow owls who keep the frost fairies from going out of the forest and dying of heat, and the forest fairies from entering and having their wings broken from frost.
Tinkerbell (Mae Whitman) is curious to see what is on the other side of her land and she dresses up as warmly as can be to venture into the Winter Woods. There she discovers that she has a twin sister called Periwinkle (Lucy Hale) who is the frosty version of her. She also meets Periwinkle’s friend and the wise man of the Winter Woods known as The Keeper (Jeff Bennett). The two sisters both have wings that glow which makes them very special.
However, Tinkerbell is forbidden by Lord Milori (Timothy Dalton) to stay in the Winter Woods and thus has to return to Pixie Hollow. In an effort to get Periwinkle across the border, her friends invent a machine that makes things cold. However, this plan goes berserk and a wave of cold threatens Pixie Hollow and the sacred Pixie Dust Tree which holds the secret of the fairy wings.
Apart from being very cute, the film embraces its pro-nature messages with heartfelt abandon and in a very simplistic manner which is very well suited to the age group it is catered for.
In its favour, the film fleshes out the environment of Pixie Hollow well, thanks to the animation in place.
The 3D animation is very bright and colourful and provides the film with a certain crispness and colourful palette that livens up the screen. While not groundbreaking, the animation is very pristine in its presentation and makes for a flawless visual feast.The voicing is perfunctory and pleasing and provides some sheen to the characters.
All in all, however, this film is a bit too one-dimensional and does not go beyond the well-planned path that Disney has set out for it in stone. It is courageous in the sense that it presents additional environment and background to the story which were missing in previous films. However, if it wants to continue its successful franchise, Disney will soon have to take Tinkerbell on a slightly more adventurous path.