Tinker Bell – The Lost Treasure – Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009)

Directed by: Klay Hall | 77 minutes | action, drama, animation, comedy, adventure, family, romance, fantasy | Original voice cast: Kristin Chenoweth, Mae Whitman, Lucy Liu, Jesse McCartney, Pamela Adlon, Anjelica Huston, Raven-Symoné, Gray DeLisle, John Di Maggio, Jane Horrocks, Jeff Bennett, Rob Paulsen, Roger Craig Smith, Bob Bergen, Angela Bartys , Thom Adcox-Hernandez, Eliza Pollack Zebert, Allison Roth | Dutch voice cast: Angela Schijf, Eline Demunck, Rilke Eykermans, Nurlaila Karim, Anneke Beukman, Lien van de Kelder, Anne Mie Gills, Jop Joris, Peter Thyssen, Jonas van Geel

There are so many (weak) sequels and spin-offs of popular Disney films on DVD/Blu-ray, that it had to happen at some point that our all-favorite fairy, Tinker Bell, would get its own film. Especially now that its competitors from the Winx Club and other happy flutters are doing well with the target group of toddler girls (and boys?) bouncing around K3. So the fairy, surrounded by pixie dust, got her own film in 2008, digitally of course, because that’s a must these days. The film turned out to be a success, judging by the simple fact that three sequels have already been produced. Part two has now been released on DVD and Blu-ray and, it must be said, especially for a direct-to-video release the result is not bad at all. Of course, the animation isn’t top-notch – with some simple, flat designs of the characters and their expressions, without the nuances that can be seen in a Pixar or Dreamworks film – but it does the job just fine. There are just enough nice touches to keep the film magical and interesting (the queen’s continuously moving fairy dust dress, Tink’s dry and amusing facial expressions and the animals she encounters, beautiful objects or backgrounds) and to tell this pleasant, slightly adventurous, but not very deep story, no advanced technique is really required.

The plot of the film revolves around recovering an important moon rock, which Tinkerbell was given responsibility for but accidentally broke into a thousand pieces. The thing is necessary for the production of fairy dust, and Tinker Bell had to put it into a special scepter to let the moon shine through it on a special night to feed the Elf dust tree. There is more to be said about the moonstone and its function, but the complexities of this story will escape anyone who has not studied atomic physics.

All the background details of the moonstone aside, the thing just turns out – along with the lost treasure – to be a contrived plot mechanism to get Tink going on an adventure. She wants to wish for a new moonstone with the magic mirror that, according to legend, is hidden in a shipwreck. One problem, though, is that Tink doesn’t have enough pixie dust to fly all the way there. Fortunately, she learns that a cotton ball can soar to great heights with a little bit of dust, so she turns it into a flying balloon – evoking memories of Pixar’s ‘Up’.

Once arrived at the impressive looking wreck, it appears that Tink will encounter several internal and physical obstacles. In the boat there are exciting confrontations with bad guys and a fairly flashy chase. Yummy! But just when the viewer wants to settle down in his chair to see what Tinkelbel will have in store for her, the film is as good as over. Unfortunate. The sense of danger and adventure is there, and although the young viewers will be quite impressed, as a satisfying, well-rounded family film ‘Tinkerbell – The Lost Treasure’ falls just a bit short. There isn’t enough tension, there are a lot of coincidences (boyfriend Terence (Timo in the Dutch version) suddenly reappears, just when Tink needs him), and the message that the real treasure is friendship is predictable and sluggish. This will be a concern to the youngest among us though, and on its own terms the film just works superbly. The humor is nice and light, the film has momentum and action, there are nice sidekicks – especially the firefly that accompanies Tinkerbell is likeable and comical – and the film has some nice visual finds or winks. Like Tinker Bell who, when she enters the shipwreck, dresses up in a green, boyish outfit; with the hovering firefly above her head. Just like… Peter Pan and Tinker Bell in the Disney classic. But then vice versa. And that the message is a bit simple, doesn’t matter on closer inspection. It’s all too common in these kinds of movies for characters to come across as smart and precocious. A little humility is sometimes appropriate, and the message that bitchy behavior is not cool and friendship should be cherished, in that case, there is little wrong. And when this message is put in such a fun form as this one, we can look forward optimistically to the next two, three ‘Tinkerbell’ movies that are already planned. Keep this up, Disney!