Just a Little Pixie Dust

Disney’s new CG Tinker Bell DVD brings us the pixie’s back story, with the help of some of Disney’s top players
by Jake Friedman.
*Originally printed Oct, 2008 in Animation Magazine

Disney’s new direct-to-DVD movie, Tinker Bell, was a long time coming. Let’s face it – this character is almost as much of a Disney icon as the Mouse himself. To synchronize the push of the new fairy franchise, the creative folks over at Disney had the daunting task of taking the emblematic pixie and turning her into a movie star. The end result, believe it or not, is something that makes the most creative minds at Disney not only filled with happy thoughts, but also downright proud of their work.

“It’s such a great project,” says Tinker Bell director Brad Raymond. “It’s about Tinker Bell’s origins in Never Land, what makes Tinker Bell who she is and finding her place in her world.”

A major player in the making of the movie was John Lasseter, who mentored Raymond and offered creative input throughout the process. “The first thing John said when he came in is that he loves seeing worlds created,” says Raymond, “and of course he’s done that time and time again in the Pixar movies. It was his idea to jump in using the book The Realm of the NeverFairies (Disney Publishing) as inspiration and build the world from there. It was a lot of fun creating such a rich world, and having him over your shoulder helping you with that was an incredible process.”

Raymond and screenwriter Jeff Howard worked together to create an engaging story that would win Lasseter’s approval. “Jeff and I thought, ‘what would be the best way to set up that world with a story that would be entertaining?’ It just felt natural to tell Tinker Bell’s origin story, to take a character we know and love and follow her through her world.” J. M. Barrie’s original Peter Pan story was used canonically for fairy lore (as everyone knows, a fairy is born from a baby’s first laugh). “We pitched the story to John a number of times, and at each pitch he added to it and made it better,” asserts Raymond.

A few of Lasseter’s tricks-of-the-trade found their way into the Tinker Bell movie. “He really understands the importance of relate-ability and how the audience’s world connects to the world you’re showing,” says Raymond. “There’s the magic of nature like snowflakes and the leaves changing, and it was John who said, ‘what if fairies are the ones that bring that to our world?’ He also helps us understand that everything – the story, the costumes, the props – all has to connect with that world.” Raymond points out that something as simple as a fairy vehicle, a miniature wooden cart was redesigned out of a hollow gourd, with acorns for wheels. “He really knows Disney magic, and he’s the most artist-friendly boss I’ve ever worked for,” says Raymond. “John loved the final film – he’s seen it every step of the way.”

Andreas Deja gave further artistic support to Raymond’s design team. “Redesigning the character in CG wasn’t easy. We wanted her silhouette to look and feel like Tinker Bell, so we had Andreas look at it. He gave us a very detailed chalk talk on some key elements in her design. He had talked with Marc Davis numerous time about his design of Tinker Bell, so it was almost like having Marc Davis there showing us how to draw her.”

To give Tink’s home a fairy feel, the task fell upon art director Fred Warter to create something unique. “The different settings are part of the magic of relating to these characters,” says Raymond. “When we start off in London, it’s a little more realistic. Pixie Hollow, though, is in the mountains of Never Land. We wanted to keep that same style, and the mountains in the distance are the rounded mountains from Never Land, but we wanted it to stand on its own. We used art neuveau styles to give it a slightly more stylistic world. There are a lot of curves and straights in the lines, echoing Mary Blair’s concept sketches of Peter Pan.” Warter also created a color script for the film, which gives visual clues that follow Tinker Bell’s journey.

The film was written and designed at the DisneyToon Studios in Burbank and animated by Prana, a studio in India, working on the Maya platform. The production team took a few trips overseas, but mostly relied on video conferencing to compensate with the thirteen-hour time difference. Raymond estimates around five hundred people in total worked together to meet their 20-month production schedule.

“It was a little daunting to tackle the film,” concludes Raymond, “but with John Lasseter and a great crew throughout the process, it was a chance of a lifetime. It was an incredible honor to see her origin story, and it makes it a bit easier when you have a great character to start with.”