TheLittleSongbird
All of the Tinker Bell films personally were surprisingly enjoyable films, not perfect but great for its main target audience but sadly falling victim to "target audience stereotyping". Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy is the fifth film and quite possibly the best one, though all five are ranked very close together in terms of ratings. Maybe a few parts are a tad rushed and the dialogue is ropey at times, but what was good about the previous Tinker Bell films are evident also in Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy. The animation is not quite as beautiful as The Secret of the Wings but it is still very smooth moving and the colours are so warm and elegant, a far cry from "all gloss, no depth" quality. The action is thrillingly animated with no jerky editing in sight really. The music score has a Celtic touch but also have rousing and ethereal qualities too, that is sympathetically used, doesn't detract from the storytelling and match the visuals remarkably well. The songs are not the best in the world but for both the pirates and the fairies are cute and surprisingly hummable, with plenty of rouse and charm. The dialogue does have good-natured and suspenseful parts as well as the at times ropey ones, and of all the five films it's Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy that has the most eventful story that is bright, breezy and mostly solidly paced if rushed in spots. It has bags of charm and not only has parts that are genuinely funny like with Zarina but also some heartfelt ones too like Tinker Bell's return of the blue dust. Predictable? Yes. Charmless? Certainly not. The characters carry the film very nicely, James is an interesting villain, Zarina is a amusing addition and Tinker Bell is still a good identifiable role model. The voice acting is wonderful, especially from Christina Hendricks who makes a sassy contribution and Tom Hiddleston who shows with his suave yet subtly menacing delivery how he is born to play villains. Mae Whitman is very emotive though too, and the pirates and fairies are voiced with no obvious problems. To conclude, a pleasant and good film that is my personal favourite of the five and should be given a chance without prejudice. 8/10 Bethany Cox
viceroy_88
This early 2014, the Tinker Bell Universe got another good addition. This DisneyToon children movie did not make me regret taking 78 minutes of my sleeping time, even after struggling through two hours of traffic from office to my home. The Pirate Fairy was a good choice when I feel like in need of light entertainment.With pretty animation, beautiful colors, and fairies with "superpowers", I could certainly enjoy this movie. It's a good thing the duration is not that long too.You can see the young Captain Hook here. And remember the ticking crocodile that Captain Hook is so afraid of in Peter Pan movie? You can find it here how come the crocodile ticks, and how come Captain Hook is so traumatized by it.I think this movie deserves a 7 among other direct-to-video movies, because it gave me a positive mood after I finished watching.
pthread
The Pirate Fairy is the fifth in the series of 75 minute computer-animated films from the Disney Fairies franchise. Featuring Tinker Bell as the main protagonist, the films are based on the children's books by Gail Levine. In the opening film we were introduced to the beautiful, enchanted world of Never fairies called Pixie Hollow. With their distinctive Celtic-themed musical score and spellbinding visuals the films were a delight to watch, a major departure from the usual direct to video fare. The redesigned Tinker Bell's character retained her wide emotional range and feisty personality, lost the jealous part, and was upgraded to a brilliant, somewhat rebellious, builder and inventor - an excellent role model for the target audience (children 5-12). I really liked the message, which was this: you don't need glamorous looks or extraordinary powers to make a difference, if you have creativity, determination, and heart. Time and again Tink's contraptions achieved what other fairies could not with all their magic. Because of their positive message and wonderful new reinvention of Tink's character, the first three movies were a treat for the whole family. Five years since the first one was released, my two younger kids and I still enjoy watching them over and over again.With the fourth film (Secret of the Wings) things started to break down. No longer a family feature, the movie targeted the more profitable teenager market. A multitude of new characters was introduced, almost none with a memorable enough personality, but sporting pop star outfits and hair, in contrast to the original cast whose clothing was inspired by nature. The use of cartoon physics made the film seem disconnected from reality. The musical score became heavy on pop, borrowing the rest from the first movie. Tink's idealistic desire to help others was replaced by a selfish wish to be with her sister. Her emotional response was toned down (she does not become angry and turn red anymore). Still, "Secret" was not a bad movie, featuring at least one successful new character in Lord Milori and revealing the romantic side of Queen Clarion's personality.I was hoping the fifth film would reverse the downward trend, but that did not happen. From the start, it feels unoriginal by including scenes and ideas from earlier films: Opening from Peter Pan, blue dust from The Lost Treasure, stadium from Pixie Hollow Games, fairy teaching human to fly from The Great Fairy Rescue, fairy trapped in a lantern (Peter Pan), and somebody saying "Ironic, ain't it" yet again. The main character (Zarina) is a modest and inquisitive young fairy-scientist who quits her job to become an aggressive and glamorous pirate fairy, again with a pop star outfit and hair. The story of her eventual redemption is predictable and shallow. There are no moral choices to make, no time for reflection, no thinking required from the viewer. The film encourages the young viewers to choose the glamorous Zarina over the scientist Zarina, which is the opposite of the message from the original Tinker Bell series. The story line is unpredictable only to the extent that the viewer would not expect so many holes and inconsistencies in the plot, which I considered an insult to my intelligence. The story called for the fairies to operate the pirate ship (turn the wheel, open doors, tie the ropes, etc), which they are clearly not capable of doing. The filmmakers' solution, which is as dumb as it is unimaginative, was to make them ten, sometimes a hundred times stronger than a normal fairy (without any explanation), in an episode that calls for it, then go back to normal in the next episode. This kind of constant tampering with the laws of physics made the scenes on the pirate ship feel cheesy and cartoonish. The pursuit, escape, and fighting sequences are repetitive - I actually lost count of how many time the blue dust phial was stolen and retrieved. The film feels hastily put together and poorly edited. At first I liked the idea of talent switching, and it did generate some amusing story twists, but upon some reflection I realized that it destroys the original message of the series that talents (which are much more than magical powers) are unique and at the core the character's very identity. Being true to yourself seems no longer in fashion.Tinker Bell's performance here is even less inspired than in the "Secret". She is no longer a "very special fairy", but a generic water talent. Her emotional response was narrowed even more, no joy and laughter this time. The pirates are 100% cliché. The soundtrack is again not up to the standard of the Tinker Bell movies. The songs are good, but apart from the theme played during Zarina's chemistry experiment (lifted from The Great Fairy Rescue), the score is mostly unmemorable pop and generic pirate tunes. The Pirate Fairy just doesn't have the magic and the heart of the earlier films in the series.To be fair, there are a few positive things to say about the film. The animation is vivid and colorful, on par with a modern theatrical feature. The opening song is very good. There are several genuinely funny episodes, like when Vidia realizes she became a tinker fairy. And I enjoyed the heartfelt scene when Tink returned the stolen blue dust to the pirates to save her enemy's life. The young James Hook is amiable, and the cook does some acceptable comedy. But the lack of imagination and originality throughout most of the movie relegates it to the list of underwhelming sequels. Kids will like this movie (mine did, although not enough to ask for a second viewing). As a parent, however, I recommend avoiding this release - go buy your kids one of the first three Tinker Bell movies on BD, or better yet, a book from the Disney Fairies series.
Adam Lebech
I have been a fan of the Tinker Bell franchise, since I started watching them with my children a few years ago. There are relatively few high-quality animated movies that, like this one, are appropriate for very young children, so we look forward to each new installment. The Tinker Bell universe adds a little Pixar magic to the original Disney Peter Pan universe story and brings it up to date. Compare it to the original Disney Peter Pan movie, and it is striking how aged and inappropriate for young children that one feels.I watched the movie in the cinema during the winter holiday with my daughter (4 1/2 years) and son (3 years). They were glued to the silver screen the hole time and loved it just as much as the other installments. My daughter now wants to be a fairy pirate like Zarina. I enjoyed it, too. I have watched the other four Tinker Bell movies, and it actually manages to renew the universe and bring in new three-dimensional characters like Zarina who tests the limits of Pixie Hollow even more than Tinker Bell.One of the interesting things in the movie is how they have started to bring in a little more of the original Peter Pan universe in an unexpected way. I would not be surprised to see even more of this in the next installment. I also liked the score, where they added a few pirate songs to the always beautiful fairy songs (I should mention that I watched the Danish-language version of the movie). Summing up, a great movie for young children that adds positively to the charming Tinker Bell universe.
