Review and news hub for movies, music and video games

Movie:		4.0
Picture:		7.0
Sound:		8.0
Extras:		5.0
Score:		5.0

Director(s):	Klay Hall
Writer(s):	Evan Spiliotopoulos
Starring:	Grey Delisle • John DiMaggio • Kristin Chenoweth • Lucy Liu • Angelica Huston • Mae Whitman • Raven-Symone • Jesse McCartney
Genre:	Adventure • Animation • Children & Family • Fantasy
Release Date:	October 27, 2009
Rated:

List Price:	Blu-ray - $23.49
Amazon:

Spin-offs and sequels represent Disney’s plan of expansion in between the major theatrical features. A small fraction of Disney’s films actually have theatrical potential while the rest have little promise beyond DVD and Blu-ray sales for adolescent to tweenage audiences by capitalizing on classic Disney film protagonists or their buddies. Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure takes Peter Pan out of the Neverland equation and establishes a story with no appeal beyond the 5 to 10-year-old demographic. It’s not a negligible niche and so Disney puts a fair amount of money into the process. The direct to DVD/Blu-ray films like this one tend to have a decent cast selection as well as respectable animation production levels; they just don’t have very compelling stories or characters.

As the movie’s intro explains, faeries depend on a seasonal cycle of sorts the basis of which is their faerie dust. The main event around which the seasons orbit is called the Autumn Revelry wherein a moonstone is used to replenish the Pixie Dust Tree. This year the ceremonial tasks have fallen to Peter Pan’s familiar, Tinker Bell (Mae Whitman), and so she slaves away in her little burrow until the staff with the moonstone is complete. Helping her in her work is her “platonic” friend Terence (Jesse McCartney) whose eagerness to impress Tink and clumsy nature form a recipe for slightly humorous disaster. Accordingly, he helps her prepare only to be the biggest obstacle in her way when a compass (which is half their size) he found smashes the staff and the moonstone, causing Tinker Bell to fly into a panic and curse out her friend in as harsh a fashion as a Disney film will allow. With the harvest days away, she asks the elders if there’s any way to fix or replace a moonstone. Nope. Just as her desperation peaks, she indulges in a night of theatre where she learns of a magical mirror that has a single wish left to be granted – if she can find it. Luckily, the story she hears includes a “riddle” detailing the exact location of the treasure.

The next day Tinker Bell takes off in a hot air balloon because she couldn’t get an advance on her monthly allotment of pixie dust – yes, really. That golden dust they fling everywhere all willy nilly in Peter Pan has apparently been affected by a massive shortage resulting in a Pixie Hollow-wide portions plan. Her balloon arrives in the mysterious land only to leave her stranded when it floats away, leaving her in the company of a firefly named Blaze (Bob Bergen). Her adventure unfolds and she learns things about responsibility, the importance of friendship and forgiveness. The whole affair has a standard Disney procedure and delivers everything you’d expect.

The animation has some of the better rendering I’ve seen come from Disney without Pixar’s aid. The faces may lack much texture but there’s a level of expressiveness I’ve not yet seen in other Disney CGI enterprises. The visuals have just enough depth to make the Blu-ray definition boost worthwhile, so if you’re teetering between DVD and the Blu-ray purchase, you may as will tilt towards the higher end (especially since it includes a DVD version anyways). What really helps to redeem the feature is the startling amount of talent comprising the cast including Grey DeLisle, John Di Maggio, Angelica Huston, Kristin Chenoweth, Raven-Symone and Lucy Liu. It’s a nice mix of Disney-made and self-made stars.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

First off, Tink and Terence guide the viewer through a virtual tour of Pixie Hollow which might entertain the kids once, but in terms of repeat viewings it definitely won’t hold up. A brief featurette details the Epcot Center promotion for the movie in which Pixie Hollow was recreated in the culturally-oriented part of the resort. So you had China, Germany…and Pixie Hollow, what a welcome addition that is. A blooper and deleted scenes reel round out the relevant features with a music video by Demi Levato thrown in to further tie the movie into Disney’s corral of young blooded talent (as if having Terence voiced by McCartney wasn’t enough).

Disney has definitely done worse in terms of spin-off films, but this one is so narrowly limited to the young girl audience and age group that ultimate rationale for the purchase is difficult to surmise.