Tinker Bell

For other uses, see Tinker Bell (disambiguation).

Tinker Bell by Diarmuid Byron O'Connor, commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital London in 2004.

Tinker Bell (also known as "Tinkerbell" in common usage), is a fictional character in J.M. Barrie's play and subsequent novel Peter and Wendy, as well as numerous adaptations including the widely known animated Disney film Peter Pan. In the original book and play, Tinker Bell is described as a common fairy who mends pots and kettles, i.e. a tinker, and is often referred to simply as "Tink". Though sometimes ill-behaved and vindictive, at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter (for whom she apparently has romantic feelings). The extremes in her personality are explained in-story by the fact that a fairy's size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time. Tinker Bell, like other fairies in Barrie's works, can make it possible for others to fly, by sprinkling them with fairy dust.

Barrie's fairies are dependent on the belief of others to survive. In one famous scene, she is dying, but will survive if enough people believe in fairies. In the play the characters make a plea to the children watching to sustain her by shouting out "I believe in fairies," and clapping, an example of "breaking the fourth wall." In the novel and the 2003 film, Peter calls out to dreaming children within the storytelling universe to believe in her. At the end of the novel, when Peter returns to the Darling home after a year in Neverland, it is revealed that Tinker Bell "is no more" since "fairies don't live long, but they are so small that a short time seems a good while to them." Peter has forgotten her. Screen adaptations of the story omit this scene.

Although originally just a supporting character in Barrie's story, she has become widely known beyond this context. This is especially true of her interpretation by the Walt Disney Company, who have long used her as a mascot and later established the Disney Fairies media franchise around her. The character's name is often used as a synonym for fairy.

Appearance

In the novel, she is described as "a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in a skeleton leaf, cut low and square, through which her figure could be seen to the best advantage. She was slightly inclined to embonpoint."

In stage presentations, Tinker Bell is typically represented by a tightly focused spotlight or other lighting effect. (In a London staging of it, the lights failed, so they used a matchstick fastened to an ice cube.)

Disney's animated version is clad in a lime-green, hip-length dress with a rigid trim, and green slippers with white puffs. Under her dress she wears yellow panties. Small amounts of pixie dust generally follow her when she moves, especially when she flies, and this dust can help humans fly, if they believe it will.

Representation in Media

In the original play and novel, Tinker Bell does not have any dialog. Screen adaptations have been inconsistent in their handling of this, sometimes with her voice represented by sound effects, including musical expressions, and most often the sound of a tinkling bell (e.g. Disney's feature films, the 2003 live-action film) and sometimes having her converse intelligibly with other characters (e.g. Hook, the upcoming Tinker Bell movie).

On screen, she has been played by Virginia Browne Faire (Herbert Brenon's 1924 silent movie Peter Pan), by Julia Roberts (Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook), and by Ludivine Sagnier (P. J. Hogan's 2003 film Peter Pan). The 2003 film was originally planned to use a computer-generated Tinker Bell, but instead used Sagnier in combinations with digital models and effects to take advantage of the actress' expressiveness.

Despite an urban legend that Disney modeled the character in the 1953 animated film version after actress Marilyn Monroe, the animators' reference was actually Margaret Kerry. In Peter Pan and the Pirates, she is voiced by Debi Derryberry. In the anime series Peter Pan no Boken, she is voiced by Sumi Shimamoto. The character is to star in a Disney animated feature film, scheduled for release on DVD in 2008.

A bronze statue by London-born sculptor Diarmuid Byron O'Connor was commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital — to whom Barrie bequeathed the copyright to the character — to be added to his four-foot statue of Peter Pan, wresting a thimble from Peter's hand. The figure has a 9.5-inch wingspan and is 7 inches high, said to be the smallest statue in London. It was unveiled on September 29, 2005 by Sophie Countess of Wessex.

In addition to Arthur Rackham's original illustrations, Tinker Bell has also been depicted by Brian Froud and Myrea Pettit.

Disney

File:Tinkerbell (Disney Mascot).gif

Disney's Tinker Bell

Disney's animated version of Tinker Bell is one of the most important branding icons for the The Walt Disney Company, generally known as "a symbol of 'the Magic of Disney'". Tinker Bell has been featured in television commercials and program opening credits sprinkling pixie dust with her wand, to shower a magical feeling over various other Disney icons, such as - for example - the Disneyland castle that is used as the logo for Walt Disney films and DVDs. Although she uses a wand in this marketing role, the animation character of Tinker Bell in Peter Pan does not use a wand. In the official Disney Character Archives, and in the 1953 Peter Pan film, she is referred to as a pixie and they use the term "pixie dust" to describe the "fairy dust" she uses in the original book; however in some contexts the company also refers to her using the word "fairy".

Tinker Bell is prominently featured in Peter Pan's Flight, a suspended dark ride based on, and using artwork derived from, the Disney animated feature film Peter Pan. Versions of the ride appear at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom (Disney World), Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris theme parks. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions from Disneyland's opening day in 1955. Since the 1970s, Tinker Bell has been featured as a live performer, flying through the sky at the climax of some of the Disneyland nightly fireworks display shows. As of the 1990's a live performer also flies over the skies of the Magic Kingdom during the fireworks display.

Tinker Bell appeared with various other Disney characters in the television series House of Mouse, and appeared in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. She has also made appearances in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection by waving her wand the text turns into the logo. Tinker Bell appeared as the hostess on several Disney television series in the late 1950s and 1960s, including "Disneyland", the TV series that introduced the theme park while it was still under construction, and also the shows "Walt Disney Presents," "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," and "The Wonderful World of Disney".

Tinker Bell appears at the very end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (the first film to feature both Disney and Warner Bros. characters), closing the movie in the traditional Disney fashion with a sprinkling of fairy dust, right after Porky Pig closes the movie with Warner's traditional "Th-th-that's all, folks!"

Disney Fairies

Main article: Disney Fairies

The character was originally part of the Disney Princesses franchise, but was later removed from that group and made the central character of the Disney Fairies franchise. She is displayed on posters, clocks, bedroom doors, hats, shirts, umbrellas, and even rings and necklaces. She has her own line of merchandise and has become an icon for many young girls. The Disney version of the character has also proven a popular Halloween costume for young women. The Disney Fairies are featured in a line of books written by Ella Enchanted author Gail Carson Levine, and Tinker Bell, an upcoming direct-to-DVD feature set in the secret world of "Pixie Hollow".

External links

• Disney's character profile of Tinker Bell