Well, I really liked the first CGI movie back in 2008.
The second one, Lost Treasure, had a really weak story but the visuals were incredible.
The third one was boring and bland.
The number four, the one with the winter fairies was better but not great.
I have not seen yet the last one about pirates.
edited 11th Oct '14 9:37:25 PM by Jinzo
I haven't read the books, but I've seen the movies. They're...surprisingly not bad. They're nowhere near as saccharine as you might expect given the subject matter (not unlike another franchise for girls about magical beings that control the seasons). Before they came out, the prospect of Tinker Bell talking was really weird to me, but I got used to it in the first five minutes of the first movie, so it's all good.
Tinker Bell: A good solid start, introducing the premise without Info Dumping. Some bits of it were ultimately contradicted by later movies, but that's okay—some Early-Installment Weirdness is inevitable when you're first building your continuity. The only thing I find slightly uncomfortable is the Aesop—I'm sure they were going for something like "Every job is important, even if it's not glamorous" mixed with "Find what you're good at and excel," but since the fairies are essentially born to their roles, it could easily be interpreted as "Accept your lot in life and don't try to change."
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure: I agree with the above assessment—bog-standard story line, outstanding visuals. I would also add that the opening song is perhaps my favorite piece of music in the entire franchise.
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue: It's really hard for me to enjoy this movie when the antagonist is a scientist who berates his young daughter for being interested in fairies and exercising her imagination. Before seeing them for himself, he had no way of knowing they were real, but that doesn't excuse his behavior...or the writers for portraying a biologist as such a curmudgeon.
Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings: I've only seen this one once, so bear with me... It's not bad by any means—the visuals, as with Lost Treasure, are fantastic—but it doesn't quite click with me. Too many plot points introduced without ever being hinted at before and then resolved in the same story, maybe?
The Pirate Fairy: Now this one was a lot of fun. Zarina is a great character (a fairy chemical engineer!) and it was terrific watching the fairies all get used to their swapped talents. I think it might have leaned a little too hard on Tom Hiddleston's name, though. As in "Parents are probably sick of these movies by now but I bet they'll buy another one if Loki's in it."
Anyone want to talk about the messed-up timeline?
I think what helped me stick with the franchise was after consideration, realizing PH is a pretty well-constructed little world of it's own, all things considered. The magic's fairly consistent and there's certainly a lot of neat applications you could use with a talent.
For me the aesop of the first film came out as Be Yourself, but be creative about it. TB figures out her skills as a tinker allow for a lot of uses when she tries to adapt devices to get around her limitations, rather than forcing herself to try something she's much worse at.
Though I think given a lot of effort and practice, you could theoretically learn enough to get by on other talents, even if you won't get an inherent grasp like your primary one.
edited 12th Oct '14 4:47:56 PM by darkabomination
They're decent movies, actually, but I've never been able to believe their Tink is the same one we saw in Peter Pan, at all. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Yeah, the Timker Bell in the CGI movies is way too different to the Tinker Bell of the Peter Pan animated films.
Unless they make a new movie where she changes a lot.
"Tinker Bell 6: Tinker Bell becomes a mean fairy."
Yeah, I kinda think the links to Pan do worse for the franchise if they don't serve the prequels' verse first. Regardless I consider it an alternate continuity by default.
That, and the Pan stuff originally started out as really, really dark. Peter's a freaking sociopath, showing just why an immature preteen shouldn't be given immortality.
edited 13th Oct '14 9:36:11 PM by darkabomination
Maybe Peter is simply a bad influence on any fairy, and we're just lucky he didn't partner up with Vidia.
Given the stigma surrounding Disney sequels/prequels and the target audience in mind, I expect this thread won't last long.
But nonetheless, a discussion about the Disney Fairies media, from the somewhat darker Gail Carson Levine main novels, character-focused chapterbooks, and of course the cgi films starring TB.