The pouting and anger were fun to do!” Davis said of the live-action model’s reference performance: “She was a tremendous help in allowing us to rough out the action.” So everything is new and fresh and childlike to her. The author of a recently published memoir entitled Tinker Bell Talks, Kerry described her pixie counterpart as being like “a 13-year-old who is just learning about what the world is. “There was no one for me to react to… I had to conjure up everything,” Kerry said. “She’s a pure pantomime character,” Davis noted, “which in itself I think was very interesting-that she didn’t talk, but you know what she’s thinking.”įor inspiration in creating Tink’s onscreen performance, Davis turned to dancer/actress Margaret Kerry to pantomime the pixie’s actions with oversized props on an otherwise empty soundstage. Since Tink only spoke with bell sounds, every thought and emotion of the feisty fairy are expressed through action. Walt assigned Disney Legend Marc Davis as Tink’s supervising animator, and the creativity of this member of Walt’s elite animation team, the Nine Old Men, soared in designing and animating the high-flying pixie. Still, Walt felt an extra special touch was needed, so he signed on master bell musicians Bernard and Dorothy Mason who, under Macdonald’s supervision, used their own equipment to create a “vocabulary” for Tinker Bell’s dialogue. The Disney Studio’s maestro of sound effects met one of his greatest challenges as he carefully selected exactly the right bells from his extensive sound-effects library. To get every bit of expressiveness and personality out of the silvery notes, the great showman turned to Disney Legend Jimmy Macdonald. Walt determined that Tink would “speak through the sound of bells,” as had traditionally been done on stage.
In a series of undated handwritten notes, Walt envisioned a Never Land party wherein “Peter commands fairies to spread banquet and show in honor-fairies serve meal- put on show with fairy entertainment,” including a “Fairy jazz band” that plays as “Tink dances.” Though this imaginative scene-while predating Disney’s Fairies franchise by decades-did not end up in the completed film, the endlessly imaginative producer was obviously intent on making Tink the center of attention whenever possible. Much story work was also undertaken for this impish starlet. Over years of Peter Pan development, the search for the ultimate Tinker Bell visualization resulted in more preproduction art than any other Disney character up until that time, with endless experimentation in hair colors and styles, costumes and body types. Personality was everything to the master storyteller, so in “tinkering” with the character for the screen his priority was giving the heretofore non-personalized pixie a specific form and design. Barrie’s darling Tinker Bell has become the most recognized and best loved fairy of all time.” To celebrate nearly seven decades of Tinker Bell enchantment, here are 11 sparkling sprinklings of pixie dust sure to have you thinking nothing but happy thoughts about everyone’s favorite fairy.Įven though Tinker Bell made her debut when Peter Pan premiered on February 5, 1953, the twinkling little star was in development since 1939, when Walt obtained the screen rights to Barrie’s 1904 stage play.
Filled with earthly humors and human frailties, she is the sheer embodiment of magic and fantasy… through Walt Disney’s persistent vision, J. In her book-length celebration of the shimmering little fairy, Tinker Bell: An Evolution, author Mindy Johnson stated, “The lasting impact of this pint-sized pixie has proven remarkable-she has captivated the world. He added, “The little fairy Tinker Bell glows like a firefly and leaves a trail of pixie dust behind her as she flits about with the speed of a hummingbird.” Walt well knew that the tiny pixie with the outsized personality would enchant audiences, and for 65 years, this sweet and saucy sprite has done exactly that. “All the characters in Peter Pan are in some way touched with magic,” Walt Disney once observed, and this was particularly true of the 1953 classic’s breakout star.