“What if there were a world where fairies lived… where they played music and danced and sang under the light of the fireflies? The wonder of it is that there is such a place. It is the world of Disney Fairies… the secret, tiny world of Tinker Bell and her fairy friends.”
— From a Walt Disney Company press release
Lately, I have had Tinker Bell on my mind as evidenced by some of my recent columns about different aspects of the character. I only recently realized that my focus on the mischievous pixie was because I was debating in my mind whether the Disney Fairies franchise is dead.
First, let's begin with a little background on the franchise.
In 2000, the Disney Princess franchise was launched by Disney Consumer Products. It was an organic idea that originated with the fact that young girls were dressing up in homemade princess dresses for a variety of venues and that Disney might capitalize monetarily on that fact.
The continued existence of multiple Bibbiddi-Bobbidi-Boutiques and their pricey make-overs demonstrates that desire still exists.
The original line-up consisted of princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine as well as Pocahontas, Esmeralda, Mulan and…Tinker Bell. Esmeralda was quickly removed as well as Tinker Bell since they didn't seem to fit comfortably into what the brand was expected to be. Over the years, the line-up of princesses has continued to change with the release of new animated films.
From 2001 to 2006, the product sales increased from $300 million to three billion dollars. By 2009, the franchise made four billion dollars in sales and it has continued to grow from there.
Of course, Tink was never a princess of the fairies although she shared similarities with those royal characters. In fact, an early draft of Disney's Peter Pan (1953) had her as the Queen of the Fairies when the very young Peter is found and brought to her palace in Never Land.
She declared that the fairies would raise him and when he grew into boyhood he would be able to defend them “against the pirates, Indians, wolves” and other menaces. As a result, he is given the ability to fly and later all the fairies love to dance in a Fairy Circle to the music of his pan pipes.
Another early version of the screenplay describes Tink as the “prettiest and naughtiest of all fairies, sort of a Cinderella who mends the fairy pots and kettles”.
The Disney Fairies franchise was an artificial creation launched in 2005 to try to start another profitable enterprise for the Walt Disney Company.
Of course, there had always been an affection for Tinker Bell with merchandise of her first appearing with the release of the film in 1953 and expanding with the opening of Disneyland in 1955 where the fairy was closely associated with the new theme park and sales remained steady from that point.
Instead of incorporating the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio (1940); the many different fairies from Fantasia (1940) that included the Dewdrop fairies, Summer fairies, Autumn fairies, Frost fairies and Snowflake fairies; the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella (1950); and Flora, Fauna and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty (1950), the decision was made not to mix different animation universes (especially since it was one of the things Roy E. Disney hated about the Disney Princess franchise) but to focus the new franchise primarily on Tinker Bell and immerse her in an entirely new universe called Pixie Hollow (originally to be called Fairy Haven).
She and her newly created fairy friends were to focus on girls younger than the demographic for the princesses, roughly six to ten years old.
Original and revised designs show the evolution of the appearance of Tinker Bell and her fairy friends.
The official launch took place on Sunday, August 28, 2005 in the Brisa Courtyard at the Grand Californian Resort & Spa where Newbury Award winning author (for Ella Enchanted) Gail Carson Levine signed copies of her yet to be officially released book Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg.
Disney Publishing Worldwide had specifically hired Levine to write the book and establish the world of Tink and her fairy friends. At one o'clock, Levine read an excerpt from the book. Then shortly afterwards she was joined by David Christiana who had illustrated the book as well as Margaret Kerry, the live action reference model for Tink in the original movie.
All three autographed copies of the book and in addition to selling copies of the book, the Disney Gallery sold other related items including a petite print version of one of Christiana's illustrations, a Tinker Bell sculpture as well as a Disney Fairies dangle pin.
The book that was released to the general public on September 20, 2005 became a New York Times bestseller for twenty weeks, It sold over a million copies worldwide thanks to Disney marketing, which released the book in 51 countries and 33 different languages and backed it with a million dollar campaign that included Levine's global tour.
During the tour, Levine stated that when she was growing up, her favorite book was Peter Pan by James M. Barrie, and she thought Wendy was an idiot for wanting to leave Never Land.
In the book, new fairy Prilla who is clumsy and seems out-of-place has arrived and has no idea what her special talent is since each fairy has their own special talent. When Never Land is hit by a hurricane, the Never egg that prevents the inhabitants from growing old and dying is damaged and three fairies are sent on a quest to repair it before it is too late.
Prilla is chosen to be one of three. A selfish fairy, Captain Hook, snobby mermaids, a fierce golden hawk, and the evil dragon Kyto whose fiery breath could mend the egg complicate the efforts to save Never Land.
The series would produce two other books (Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand and Fairies and the Quest for Never Land) with the last one coming out in 2010. It was also around this time that Disney released chapter books starting with The Trouble with Tink about the Disney Fairies, based on the world Levine had created in her trilogy.
There are a total of twenty-six chapter books under the banner “Tales of Pixie Hollow”, and one that was only published in Japan and Australia. The book series generated a line of toys that revolved around the new characters from the books.
Besides the books, the first product to hit the shelves were a series of ten inch dolls that were originally sold as a Disney Stores exclusive. They were followed by a Disney Fairies magazine that sold out its initial 140,000 copy press run and was supported by a “Disney Fairies” display at Seibu's flagship department store in Tokyo.
That merchandise was also supported by a Disney Fairies website that debuted August 2005 with games, a newsletter and excerpts from the books. A paperback, Walter Foster's Learn to Draw Disney Fairies was released.
Playmates Toys released a series of Disney Fairies related items including 3.5-inch small dolls, 8-inch fashion dolls, playsets & activity sets. Many of these dolls included in-pack DVDs and collectible story cards.
Figurines of Fawn, Iridessa, Tinker Bell, Silvermist, and Rosetta were one of the many merchandise lines inspired by the Disney Fairies franchise.
Perhaps the peak of the Disney Fairies franchise was probably around 2008 with a multitude of books, a toy line, straight-to video movies, a magazine, an interactive online game and a variety of merchandise ranging from apparel to stationery and more, all based around the world of Disney Fairies.
A series of ten postage stamps were issued in Japan in 2006. They were distributed in a hardcover case, including some information about the Fairies.
Disney Consumer Products explored creating other new brands in the same manner as the Disney Fairies franchise, including Disney Bunnies (that would be centered on Thumper the Rabbit from Bambi with his brothers and sisters), Disney Dwarves (that would explore the seven little men before meeting Snow White in a universe reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings about how they first met and Dopey being abandoned as a baby and raised by full-sized humans), Disney Horses, Disney Mermaids and Disney Trains. The first book about Disney Bunnies was already in the works through Disney Publishing and a Seven Dwarfs storyline was already being storyboarded for a straight-to-video product from DisneyToon Studios.
Eventually, a Disney Villains franchise developed and for a very short time there was an attempted franchise with some merchandise released devoted to young Disney feature animated heroes, primarily the princes and Peter Pan, in an attempt to capture the young male market as the Disney Princess franchise had done for young females.
Pixie Hollow is located in the mountains in the north of Never Land where all four seasons co-exist at the same time and are each presided over by a Seasonal minister. Areas include Spring Valley, Summer Glade, Autumn Forest and Winter Woods.
The entire area has been ruled for hundreds of years by the regal Queen Clarion. The Pixie Dust Tree is located at the center of Pixie Hollow. It produces pixie dust that is gathered by the dust keepers (usually male fairies known as “sparrowmen”) and is allotted to each fairy every day, usually no more and no less than a teaspoon helping.
A fairy is created from a baby's first laugh but only some are borne on the breeze and carried to Never Land where they become Never fairies. When the new fairy arrives, she is surrounded by symbols of every talent. The one that glows the brightest determines where they will live and the role they will play in the community.
The Seasonal fairies assist with the transition of the seasons on The Mainland (generally England) where people known as “clumsies” (humans) live. Supposedly, the events in the stories take place before Tinker Bell met Peter Pan which is why she could interact with a young Wendy, a young James Hook and a baby crocodile.
Throughout the series there were inconsistencies especially between the films and the books like Tinker Bell's house changing many times from a wooden house, to a tea kettle filled with Lost Things, to a room in the Home Tree. One printed version claimed the stories took place after Tink's adventures with Peter Pan when she left him because she still felt betrayed that he had brought Wendy to Never Land. New fairies were constantly being added to the stories.
Pixie Hollow Online appeared in September 8 2008, ten days before the first Tinker Bell movie was released. The site was from Disney Interactive Studios that had created other online games like Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Toon Town, and Club Penguin.
Though the game was free to play, players could purchase a membership and get access to exclusive content. There was also an in-game currency created so you could use real world money to purchase items.
Five years later, Disney Interactive Studios decided to focus on more app and phone games and online games, like the now defunct Disney Infinity. Pixie Hollow Online closed its doors in 2013.
In 2013, the Disney Fairies franchise was valued at approximately $435 million, which was sizable but still less than the Disney Princess franchise ($1.6 billion) or Star Wars ($1.5 billion), but more than Angry Birds ($250 million) or Barbie ($242 million).
In 2015, the very last Disney Fairies movie was released and the energy and growth surrounding the popular franchise started to decline just as the Disney Princess franchise experienced an upsurge in popularity thanks to the release of The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Brave (2012) and especially Frozen (2013).
These princess-centric feature films may have been produced specifically to take advantage of the Disney Princess franchise. Of course, remnants of the Disney Fairies franchise still exist, but not with the robustness it once had.
The Walt Disney Company felt that to better leverage the franchise, there should be a physical location in the Disney Parks. In October 2008, two Pixie Hollow meet-and-greet locations were opened at Disneyland (at the entrance to Tomorrowland where the previous Ariel's Grotto was located, changing the rotating mermaid seashell into Tink's teacup house) and the other in the character greeting area of Walt Disney World's Toontown Fair.
Another version opened at Hong Kong Disneyland in January 2011 as part of the park's fifth anniversary celebration. Guests had the opportunity to meet Tinker Bell and her fairy friends Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa, Fawn, Terence and Vidia, and her twin sister Periwinkle at all these locations.
The Walt Disney World location closed in February 2011 for the expansion of the New Fantasyland. The original plans for the New Fantasyland included a larger, more elaborate Pixie Hollow location but it was abandoned along with other expansion plans. Preliminary proposals then suggested including Pixie Hollow as part of Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival and later as part of Disney's Hollywood Studios because of the film connection but these never happened.
Tinker Bell and her fairy friends eventually returned to Walt Disney World in July 2011 in Tinker Bell's Magical Nook located in the Adventureland Veranda but later closed in 2014. The fairies can now be greeted at the Town Square Theater on Main Street.
The Tinker Bell “Songs from Pixie Hollow” Play-a-Song book was another merchandise item associated with the franchise.
The greatest support for the franchise came from the straight-to-video films about the characters. The first four films grossed over three hundred and thirty million dollars worldwide on a production budget of thirty to thirty-five million dollars each resulting in quite a healthy profit.
An offshoot of Disney's television animation unit, DisneyToon Studios not only made direct-to-video sequels (often referred to by Disney fans as “cheapquels”) but also the occasional theatrical release usually capitalizing on the block of Disney Afternoon television series with films like DuckTales: The Movie – Treasure of the Lost Lamp and A Goofy Movie (inspired by the TV series Goof Troop).
Over the course of its existence, the division produced 47 animated feature films and had several films in pre-production—including the first Tinker Bell straight-to-video film—when newly appointed Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter (who had a dislike of doing animated sequels and prequels because he felt that it undercut the value of the original film) stopped production on all the films and finally closed DisneyToon Studios in June 2018.
However, the Walt Disney Company was already committed to the Disney Fairies Franchise with other divisions including Disney Publishing planning for the release of books and other merchandise in 2007 in expectation that there would be a video to support these efforts. The intent was to release a new film annually to compete with the Barbie franchise of Fairytopia that included DVDs, toys and games.
DisneyToon Studios had begun work on Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief. President of DisneyToon Sharon Morill was reportedly especially fond of the Tinker Bell movie and put lots of input into the storyline. She had worked closely with Disney Consumer Products from the very beginning on the “synergy” required between the two divisions to successfully launch the Disney Fairies franchise.
Lasseter was reported to have seen a work-in-progress screening of the Tinker Bell film. He told CEO Bob Iger that it was “virtually unwatchable” and needed to be heavily rewritten among other changes. Nearly thirty million dollars had already been invested in the film.
Testing revealed the original film's story wasn't appealing to a broad enough cross section of children and tweens, the target market for the Disney Fairies line of merchandise
The film revolved around Tinker Bell and her friends living in Pixie Hollow, as they all train to become “Wing-Maidens”, who aid in continuing the “Ring Of Belief” that keeps imagination, and their world alive.
When Tinker Bell is deemed unready, she swipes the Pixie Dust for herself, which proves to have disastrous consequences because it ends up breaking the Ring Of Belief, which causes all of the children to lose their sense of wonder and imagination.
Because of Tink's transgression, all of the magic begins to disappear from the world of imagination. Now Tinker Bell and her friends must restore balance by completing individual quests that not only reveal their inner strengths, but empower them to save the world of imagination.
The film would have also shown how Tinker Bell first met Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Captain Hook and the pirates would also have appeared.
Another draft had human orphan children, including one named Victoria who believed in fairies, being brought to Pixie Hollow, where they would attend fairy school. Attending fairy school was mandatory for fairies, as a fairy had to complete fairy school to be allowed to use pixie dust. There were many different versions and different sections in each version.
Many of the animators who worked on the film described it as more “epic” than the final version that was made and the film would have included fifteen original songs including character songs.
Disney had opened the Licensing International 2006 event in June in New York by revealing actress Brittany Murphy with a long resume of live action and voice over work as the voice of Tinker Bell.
“I've had the good fortune of playing many interesting characters, but none as magical as Tinker Bell,” said Murphy. “To give Tinker Bell a voice for the first time in history is such an honor.”
“Tinker Bell is such an indelible character to pop-culture even without a voice,” said Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios. “She is sassy, feisty and independent. Brittany's distinctive voice and superb talent will bring all these qualities to life, as well as show new sides to Tink's personality. Audiences will get to know Tinker Bell like never before, and I am sure will fall in love with her all over again.”
Lasseter was dividing his time between Disney's Burbank facilities and Pixar's studios in Emeryville. He would hold meetings with the animators, who would work closely with him on changes he wanted made in the film. Reportedly, during his absences, Morrill would review the work being done and frequently order work to continue on the original scenes from the movie.
“For quite some time, when John [Lasseter] would return to check on our progress,” said a Toon Studios artist, “he'd be shown one version of the film—his version. At the same time we also had Sharon's version in the works. We were working on two versions of the same film at the same time and that was delaying progress and running up the budget.”
When Lasseter found out, Morrill was ousted from her position by Lasseter and President of Walt Disney Animation Studios Ed Catmull on June 18, 2007.
They issued a mandate to produce fewer and higher-quality films tied to Disney consumer products, rather than endless sequels to theatrical releases. Cancelled were films in production including Dumbo 2, The Aristocats 2, Chicken Little 2: The Ugly Duckling Story, Meet the Robinsons 2: First Date and others.
Morrill had also pushed for a “Disney Princess Enchanted Tales” DVD series that would feature all-new adventures of classic Disney characters like Aurora and Jasmine but that was also cancelled.
Morrill had made billions for the Walt Disney Company during her last thirteen years running DisneyToon but that made no difference. She was transferred to a different area.
Many pieces of concept art, merchandise, promotional material, and even early trailers feature various elements from the earlier drafts of the Morrill version. Brain Freeze Entertainment, who made storyboards for the film, has one of the sequences from the original cut and can be found on their website.
Next week: In a column already written, a look at some of the changes Lasseter made, all of the Disney Fairies Franchise films, and why they stopped.
