Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

You’re not supposed to know that fairies are the ones who change the seasons and the designs on butterflies’ wings, but sometimes someone lucky may get an opportunity to know. “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue” is the 2010 sequel in the Tinker Bell franchise and in here, humans are included.

While away in England, Tinker Bell (Mae Whitman) and the overconfident Vidia (Pamela Adlon) get stuck in a serious problem when Vidia gets Tinker Bell accidentally suck in a fairy house made by a human named Lizzy Griffiths (Lauren Mote). Lizzy and Tinker Bell soon become friends, the first fairy for Lizzy and the first human for Tinker Bell. However, Lizzy’s father, Dr. Griffiths, voiced by Michael Sheen, likes to collect butterflies for scientific research, so there is serious trouble while Tinker Bell is in the house. His walls are filled with butterflies. This is just scary, especially for a captured butterfly that is stuck in a jar.

Meanwhile, Vidia does her best to get back to the fairies’ headquarters to form a team, all of Tinker Bell’s fairy friends: Rosetta (Kristen Chenoweth), Silvermist (Lucy Liu), Iridessa (Raven-Symone), Fawn (Angela Bartys), Bobble (Rob Paulsen) and Clank (Jeff Bennett). They set up a plan and really fight through a serious rainstorm and dangerous traps on a mission to rescue Tinker Bell. However, Tinker Bell’s rescue soon becomes a rescue that is way more dangerous than anyone had believed.

The third Tinker Bell film doesn’t disappoint. The quality of this movie is really great. David Kobylanski is right when he said in his review, “It’s admirable to see that Disney didn’t get cheap when developing a movie for the straight-to-home video market. The film was actually released theatrically in the United Kingdom. The animation is smart, the colors are vibrant, the voice cast is convincing.” The backgrounds are just a joy to see. Every character does something, even the beloved and possible villain family cat, Mr. Twitches. Kobylanski admitted, “I think Mr. Twitches was such an awesome character that he should’ve have been given even more time on the screen. The animation surpasses the imagination of what many can fathom when thinking about straight-to-home video releases.”

This nice story is perfectly made to attract children audiences and the adults who like watching children movies. Anyone can relate to Lizzy and her interest to fairies, and her wanting her father’s understanding and attention. You’ll learn about honesty and friendship, especially when Vidia finally admits the truth of what really happened. Kobylanski said, “This release doesn’t take the time with an exposition that introduces the entire world of fairies. It sticks to the new story this film is all about and gets right down to it. The movie is split between the human and fairy worlds, but it intertwines them seamlessly.” The movie really divides the time of Lizzy and Tinker Bell with the rescue mission of the other fairies as they fly to get their friend back.

For anyone who has been a fan of the franchise so far, they should continue watching these sequels, regardless of the fact that they’re straight-to-video. This is a straight-to-video franchise that is actually good and worth seeing for the whole family. You should definitely not skip out on watching this franchise. Go on your Disney+ account and see them. This one is another good addition in the franchise. You learn a lot from this one and kids will love it too.

Look out tomorrow when we get even more excitement in the Tinker Bell franchise in “Disney Month 2020.”

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

Some time ago Tinker Bell has more of a famous character than the protagonist from the story she first appeared in, “Peter Pan.” It doesn’t come as a surprise though. Her flying around has been seen at the beginning of more Disney films and programs than Mickey Mouse. She apparently is the greeter of guests when they walk in the entrance of Disneyland. A lot of viewers find her adorable. Also, she has more attitude than most of the Disney protagonist put together. Tinker Bell has everything. That’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise that she now has her own direct-to-video franchise. “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure,” released in 2009, is the second film in the franchise and even though it’s not up there with the classic Disney films, it’s not a waste of time either. There is beautiful nature animation and telling a decent story, if nothing else, “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure” shows a world beyond the Never Land everyone has known since childhood.

With the Autumn Revelry celebration arriving soon, every fairy and creature in Pixie Hollow is preparing. Tinker Bell, voiced by Mae Whitman, has been assigned the task of taking care of the magical moonstone that is important to the pixies’ survival. However, the moonstone gets shattered and Tinker Bell must fly around to repair it and find a magical mirror.

Tinker Bell is joined by a spunky firefly named Blaze who helps her on her quest and causes a little sidekick trouble on the way there. There’s also Terence, voiced by Jesse McCartney, Tinker Bell’s best friend/enemy/possible fairy love interest. Ryan Cracknell said in his review, “The two share a blossoming relationship that is filled joy, anger and a whole lot of inexperienced anger. Sounds like destiny to me.”

Cracknell continued, “What I noticed immediately in Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure is the marvelous animation. In particular, I was amazed by the lighting and detail shown in the exterior scenes.” The film takes place during the time when summer is transitioning to autumn and everything is changing. The colors appear, amaze and are filled with a delicate light. It’s both beautiful and natural simultaneously and gives Pixie Hollow and the nearby area so much personality.

Another think that adds to the personality is the mixture of animals that viewers will find adorable. Mainly speaking, most animated movies have one or two of these animals and the occasional cameo. Here they’re in almost every scene. What’s even better is that they’re not irritating. Actually, the animals further add to the personality of the film.

Cracknell ended his review by saying, “Ultimately, it’s the personality pieces that make Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure watchable. Sure, the plot is light and predictable, not to mention filled with obvious morals that thwunk you on the head, but the world the film creates is one worth investing in for a short amount of time.”

If you saw the first Tinker Bell movie and you liked it, you will like the sequel. The movie is actually good for families to watch together and you will like the look and the story will keep you hooked until the end. Make sure to check this out on Disney+ and have a good time watching it.

Look out tomorrow where we continue the Tinker Bell franchise in “Disney Month 2020.”

Tinker Bell

Who doesn’t love Tinker Bell, the tiny fairy who helps Peter Pan in Disney’s animated version of James M. Barrie’s story? Not surprising, this famous character now has her spin-off movie. “Tinker Bell,” released in 2008, tells the story of where this famous fairy came from and what happened before she became a part of the Peter Pan crew. Betty Jo Tucker said in her review, “It also extols the wondrous mysteries of nature while emphasizing the importance of finding your true talent and using it to make valuable contributions to your world.”

With amazing, colorful CG animation, “Tinker Bell” creates a beautiful land where fairies create different types of magic. These amazing characters live and fly without any issues all over Pixie Hollow, a secret hideaway in Never Land. They give flowers their color, create rainbows, put dew drops on spider webs and other assorted magical activities. When Tinker Bell (Mae Whitman) is first born, in an interesting way, Queen Clarion (Anjelica Huston) explains that she must discover her talent. Is she a flight fairy, an animal fairy, a garden fairy or a tinker fairy? Obviously she is the latter, which she is really disappointed with.

Because Tinker Bell thinks tinkers aren’t as amazing as the other fairies, she goes through some very funny moments trying to belong in another category than she is placed in. However, after Pixie Hollow has a serious problem only a tinker like her can prevent, Tinker Bell learns the importance of her special talent.

Tucker credited, “Tinker Bell boasts impressive voice talent, and this adds to the quality of the film.” Along with Whitman and Huston, it’s amazing to hear great actors like America Ferrera, Lucy Liu, Kristin Chenoweth, Raven-Symoné and Jesse McCartney inferring different roles with such honesty and passion.

This is a movie that every person of any age can enjoy. My brother had seen the Tinker Bell movies and he said that they should be watched. I decided to check them out when my cousin lent us his Disney+ login, so I checked them out this past summer. I enjoyed the first movie, as it shows that a person wants to belong in another crew then they really belong in, which I think people can relate to. However, in the end, finding out where you truly belong is something that you have to come to terms with, regardless of how you think of it at first. See this one and have a great time, especially if you’re a fan of Tinker Bell from the Peter Pan movies.

Not a surprise, this movie had some other sequels, which we will look at over the course of the next few days. Check in tomorrow to see how the first sequel is in “Disney Month 2020.”

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie

Felix Vasquez started his review by saying, “I find it’s very hard to display any sense of malice or distaste for something like “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” which is so harmless and adorable in its presentation with simple animation and such an uncomplicated story. It’s the closest thing to quality for me that Disney’s created in years. Disney’s creativity and imagination has all but diminished over the years, except for when it applied to “Winnie the Pooh” and its many spin-offs.” Despite Christopher Robin not being in the movie (allowing showing up briefly during the credits), “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie,” released in 2005, is still a very entertaining and harmless story about friendship that is in the same vain as “The Fox and Hound” only less emotional.

Vasquez admitted, “Now, I love Winnie the Pooh and all its incarnations (except that one featuring the puppets), I’ve always thought Winnie the Pooh was a great story with an excellent world and fun characters, so I take every such opportunity to watch anything featuring these wonderful characters.” The group gets scared to find large footprints showing up in their fields in the Hundred Acre Woods, and decides to find the scared Heffalump, and Roo, who is told to stay behind, goes out to find the monster, but encounters a friendly blue elephant who says to be the Heffalump.

The two spend most of the film becoming friends while Roo finds out that “Lumpy” is innocuous like Piglet. Vasquez credits, “Newcomer Kyle Stranger is utterly adorable as Heffalump and really manages to provide a memorable performance here with some great voice work and a sense of awe within Heffalump who is a big fish in a large pond, and Jim Cummings performs his usual excellent voice work as Tigger and Pooh.” Meanwhile, the unmatched Brenda Blethyn is the highlight as Mrs. Heffalump, the character who appears in the climax to make a huge role in the story.

Vasquez ends his review by admitting, “Though, the film is for children mainly with a simple story, I still found myself entertained by its unabashed innocence. It’s adorable and non-threatening and a pretty good time. I’ll forgive you Disney for inserting Heffalump for marketing purposes, I’ll forgive you for releasing a film that’s not even ninety minutes, and I’ll forgive you for not including Christopher Robin, because this is a very cute film, with good acting, and a very simple but entertaining story. I’m a sucker for Winnie the Pooh and all its incarnations, and I had fun, so ease up on the marketing schemes, Disney.”

This is another Winnie the Pooh movie that you should see. It’s another good one about friendship that I think the whole family will really love. I saw this one day On Demand, but I didn’t remember it, so I thought of rewatching this on Disney+. Check it out if you have an account, you will not regret it.

Check in tomorrow to see what franchise I will look at next in “Disney Month 2020.”

Piglet's Big Movie

I feel sorry for Piglet. It’s hard to be a misunderstood small animal in the large Hundred Acre Wood. Kit Bowen said in her review, “Winnie-the-Pooh Eeyore Tigger and the other denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood are always making big plans including the most recent–to harvest some honey–yet they always leave Piglet out. It’s not because they don’t like him; they just think he’s too small to help and that’s enough to give anyone an inferiority complex. A dejected Piglet walks away and when his friends realize he’s gone and can’t find him anywhere they use his scrapbook which outlines all the fun adventures they’ve had as a map to find their little friend. In the process they discover that this “Very Small Animal” has had a bigger influence–and been a bigger hero– then they ever imagined.”

Never before have animated characters been so permanently implanted on our imaginations than the ones from A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie the Pooh stories brought so clearly to life by Walt Disney. Despite most of the original actors who voiced the characters, including Sterling Holloway, who first voiced Pooh’s sternly inflection in 1966, have passed away, their replacements do a good job on continuing their work very well. The personalities are all there: cuddly Pooh (Jim Cummings) willing to have some of your honey, energetic Tigger (Cummings) ready for a bounce, nervous Rabbit (Ken Sansom) just wanting to pass judgment, depressed Eeyore (Peter Cullen) the sad and shader, the motherly Kanga (Kath Soucie) and her active child Roo (Nikita Hopkins) always there to help out, the omniscient Owl (Andre Stojka) giving advice, the observant Christopher Robin (Tom Wheatley) supervising over the stories, and lastly the always-loyal Piglet (John Fiedler) the shy voice of reason.

Bowen noted, “Disney first started turning the classic Pooh stories into short animated featurettes in 1966 with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree but only just released its first full-length feature film in 2000 with The Tigger Movie.” Now it’s Piglet’s turn and finally they made a movie about this character. Bowen said, “With his unassuming ways but dogged determination to help his friends Piglet infuses all the heart in the Pooh tales–and gets little recognition for it.” To make a movie about him gives a great message to all the small children watching: they too can make a difference. “Piglet’s Big Movie,” released in 2003, doesn’t act like it is one of Disney’s most abundant animated films but the original songs by Carly Simon give the basic storytelling an energizing advance.

I really liked this movie and I really encourage everyone to watch this movie, especially if they have a Disney+ account. You will love this movie because of the message of who and when to give credit to the underdogs out there. Instead of taking the credit, you should also give credit to the other people, especially the underdogs, when they have made a contribution and assistance to what you were working on, whether it’s together or separately. I promise you, this is a Pooh movie you don’t want to skip and you will feel really good after watching it. Give it a watch and enjoy.

Look out tomorrow when I review the last Pooh movie for “Disney Month 2020.”

The Tigger Movie

Jeffrey M. Anderson started his review by saying, “My wife and I are huge fans of the A.A. Milne "Winnie-the-Pooh" books and of the original movie The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (released in 1968). But Tigger is not my favorite character. So although I was looking forward to The Tigger Movie with some trepidation, I was pleasantly surprised with the result.”

Despite this not being the best of the films, “The Tigger Movie,” released in 2000, succeeds with the story it tells. Ever since this was theatrically released, the filmmakers felt it was needed to include a few large “money shots” that feel out of place. Anderson noted, “One is a crafty musical number called "Round My Family Tree" that looks like something out of "Animaniacs," and the other is a loud avalanche sequence. (Animation fans should take heart: the work on this film is top-notch, unlike the current "Pooh" cartoon that runs on Saturday mornings.) But the overall content and tone of the movie left me feeling fine.”

Everyone knows Tigger’s theme song, where the last line goes “the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I’m the only one.” In “The Tigger Movie,” Tigger, voiced by Jim Cummings, decides that is actually not a wonderful thing. He starts to yearn for his own family, other Tiggers that he can bond with. The rest of the characters in the Hundred-Acre Wood (Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga & Roo, and Eyeore) decide to make him feel better by writing a letter to him from his “family.” However, Tigger mistakenly thinks they’re coming to visit him, which puts the rest of the characters in a bad situation.

Anderson said, “The thing that really struck me about the movie was its theme of family.” The characters in the film are like a family despite the fact that none of them are blood related (except for Kanga and Roo). In one scene, Roo asks his mother why he can’t have a brother like Tigger. Kanga says that Roo does have a brother like Tigger – Tigger himself. Anderson said, “The other thing that struck me, and this is the reason I love these characters so much, is that they act like a real family. Each of the characters have different sides, especially the annoying and deplorable sides. I mean, really, who would want to spend any time with Eyeore (Peter Cullen), who constantly complains?” For the other characters: Owl (Andre Stojka) goes on with his boring speeches, Rabbit (Ken Sansom) is arrogant and bossy, Tigger is inconsiderate and causes a mess, Pooh (Cummings) is selfish, Piglet (John Fiedler) is easily frightened, Kanga (Kate Soucie) is overly protective, and Roo (Nikita Hopkins) is a curious child. However, they’re each part of the family, so we love them anyway, and undeniably.

After spending 75 minutes with our favorite characters, the message we’re left with is not only to love your family, but also that anyone you love can be part of your family as well. Anderson ended his review by saying, “And that, coupled with superior animation, is certainly better than whatever message the insipid Pokemon is delivering to kids.”

I got this from the library a long time ago, but I rewatched it on Disney+ because I didn't remember this very well. This is another feel-good Winnie the Pooh movie that the whole family can sit down and watch together, especially with the message on family. If you’re a Pooh fan, you will absolutely love this film, I promise. You will be left with a good feeling after watching this, like you would after watching any Winnie the Pooh film.

Check in tomorrow for the next Winnie the Pooh film I will look at in “Disney Month 2020.”

Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

Winnie the Pooh, the protagonist of an Oscar-winning series of Walt Disney short cartoons, came back to the screens in 1997 with “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin,” which was a straight-to-video movie that we own the VHS for to this day.

In the famous Hundred Acre Wood, Christopher Robin (Brady Bluhm) regularly visits his best friend, the sweet, honey-loving bear Pooh (Jim Cummings). However, one day after Christopher sadly talks about “saying goodbye,” Pooh finds a note left by his friend on his door, and takes that note to his intelligent friend, Owl, voiced by Andre Stojka. The smart but mistaken Owl misunderstands the honey-covered message as a cry for help saying that Christopher Robin is being held captive in a scary place known as “Skull.”

Owl gathers a search party led by Pooh and his other friends Piglet (John Fiedler), Tigger (Paul Winchell), Rabbit (Ken Sansom) and Eeyore (Peter Cullen). Owl decides to not include himself in what he says will be a dangerous search but gives the team a map to “Skull.” The scary path takes them into an ancient area, and Piglet gets really scared of his traditional boogeyman, the heffalumps and woozles, and this one also include a new scary creature, the fearsome “Skullasaurus.”

The characters literally get scared of their own shadows as they journey through vast canyons, furious rivers and horrifying forests. Even after they lose the map, they stay the course to get to “Skull,” a large crystal cave. There, Pooh actually finds Christopher Robin, who is actually safe. The boy had left the note saying he’d be at a new place called “school.” TV Guide said in their review, “"Skull" is seen to be simply an odd-shaped heap of stones. Other scary landmarks of the journey, no longer magnified by fear, recur as ordinary creeks and thickets, as Christopher Robin leads his friends back to their homes.”

TV Guide went on to say, “It's an index of Disney's success with A.A. Milne's storybooks that Winnie the Pooh's cartoon popularity rests on a mere four short subjects, premiered irregularly on television since 1966 (and packaged into a 1977 theatrical omnibus THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH). In fact, POOH'S GRAND ADVENTURE could have done better as a short itself; even at 75 minutes, the slight story material seems overly padded. Generally, Disney writers have avoided tampering with essential settings and characters, and the most jarring moments here are those hinting at an outside universe, from Owl in an Uncle Sam recruiting-poster pose, to the JURASSIC PARK influence of the imaginary "Skullasaurus." Such pop-culture icons seem distinctly alien to the timeless bedtime-story milieu of the Hundred Acre Wood. Suitably, Pooh's "Grand Adventure" is hardly grand or a real adventure, though (despite chronic bumbling) Pooh, Piglet and the rest prove their courage and loyalty simply by following through. For the benefit of young viewers, there's also a canned moral about Rabbit believing Owl's faulty map no matter what, singing, "Trust not what you think/'til it's printed in ink."”

Usually the songs (by husband-and-wife Michael Abbott and Sarah Weeks) are forgettable, but the fine animation shows a lot of work beyond the Disney Channel’s previous two cartoon series from the same production team. TV Guide ended their review by saying, “Of the talented vocal cast, John Fiedler and ventriloquist-turned-surgeon Paul Winchell have been with the cartoons since their inception.”

Despite what people might say about this movie, I actually enjoyed it as a child. I saw it a lot in my childhood after we bought it and I would recommend every Pooh movie out there for all of the Pooh fans. You should see this one and get a good feeling after watching this film, and having some laughs along the way. My recommendation to everyone is if you’re a Pooh fan, don’t skip over this one.

There are other Pooh movies that I will look at over the next few days in “Disney Month 2020.”