Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Journey into the secret world of Pixie Hollow and hear Tinker Bell speak for the very first time as the astonishing story of Disney's most famous fairy is finally revealed in the all-new motion picture "Tinker Bell". Have you ever wondered how nature gets its glow - who gives it light and color as the seasons come and go? Enter a land of adventure and mystery as Tinker Bell and her four best fairy friends turn winter into spring and, with the power of faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust, learn the importance of being true to yourself.

Ever wonder just who Tinkerbell is? Well now is your chance to find out. Tinkerbell is the story of a young Tink and her inner turmoil to find out who she really is. The film takes place in pixie hollow in Neverland where the fairies work to make our seasons come alive. Tink is placed in with the Tinker fairies, which make the contraptions the other nature fairies use. But this doesn’t sit well with Tink and she tries her best to be someone else. While this film wasn’t quite as involving as Disney’s normal feature films, it is a step up from their normal direct-to-video fare. The production values, and moral fiber are high but the animation is still a bit below their theatrical feature quality.

The HD presentation is excellent and limited only by the production. Some of the characters look a bit on the plastic side at times but this is obviously the look the animators were going for. Colors are dazzling and fine object detail can be quite strong at times. The level of depth can be inspiring as well but backdrop animations can be a bit disappointing considering the quality of the main characters and environments. I did see some VERY minor banding from time to time but you’d be hard pressed to notice. Overall this is a tremendous HD presentation for a straight to video release.

The soundtrack is presented in full resolution uncompressed PCM. The mix has a very open quality to it with some nice dynamic range from time to time. The voicework is solid and never sounds cheesy and I was impressed with how well the voices blended with the animation. Surrounds do a nice job of opening up the soundstage and delivering some discrete cues from time to time. Low bass extension is a bit limited but there is some nice bass activity from time to time. Overall the mix was about what I expected given the production.

Lots of extras on this one including full BD-Live interactivity where you can chat with friends online during the film, put a picture into the film or challenge the in-movie trivia. There are also some extras themed to the young ones that let you interact with the characters or watch the music video from the soundtrack. Some production features and trailers are also included.

While not quite as compelling as Disney’s theatrical releases, Tinkerbell was still better than I expected. The A/V presentation is excellent and there are a lot of great supplements here for your up and coming princesses.