Toon Tuesday : Are you ready for the walkaround versions of the Disney Fairies ?

Jim Hill

17 years ago

I’m sure that you’re familiar with the animated version of Tinker Bell that appeared from Walt Disney Productions’ 1951 release, “Peter Pan” …

… not to mention the live-action version of this pixie that periodically appears in fireworks displays …

Photo by Jeff Lange

… and parades at the parks.

Photo by Jeff Lange

But what with Walt Disney Home Entertainment getting ready to roll out four brand-new “Tinker Bell” films … Disney’s Character Programs & Development department (i.e. the folks who are in charge of all of those characters that you see walking around in the parks) was tasked to come up with walkaround versions of five of the Disney Fairies. With the hope that these new face characters could then be used to help promote these home premieres (The first of which — “Tinker Bell” — hits store shelves on October 28th).

And given that the CG versions of the Disney Fairies …

… look significantly different from the Tinks that we see in the parks (Or — for that matter — are quite a departure from the Fairies that we were first introduced to back in August of 2005, when this new Disney franchise first took flight) …

… Character Programs & Development spent more than a year perfecting the look of these walkaround face character versions of these Disney Fairies.

Now you’ve no doubt already heard that Tink & her pals will booting Ariel out of her grotto at Disneyland later this year. But where will the walkaround versions of these “Disney Fairies” face characters be settling once they fly into Orlando? The smart money right now is on Ms. Belle and her cohorts taking over one of the Judge’s Tents at Mickey’s Toontown Fair over at WDW‘s Magic Kingdom.

Mind you, these walkaround face characters are only one component of the “Tinker Bell” movie promotional campaign that the Walt Disney Company will be unleashing later this year. Just wait ’til you get “Pixie Hollow” …

… the new virtual world that Disney Online will be launching this fall. Where Fairy fans will actually be able to explore by making use of some new Internet-connected toys called Clickables.

And that’s just the start of Disney’s new “Fairies” -based initiatives. There’s also those three other home premieres (i.e. “Tinker Bell: North of Never Land,” which is tentatively slated to be released in 2009; “Tinker Bell: A Midsummer Storm,” which is supposed to hit store shelves sometime in 2010 and “Tinker Bell: A Winter Story,” whose premiere is pencilled in for 2011). Plus cool toys like that remote control Tinker Bell flyer that WowWee FlyTech will be releasing in the Fall.

But all of that is still months away. Right now, the folks at Disney’s Character Programs & Development are concentrating on finding just the right performers to play these “Disney Fairies” walkaround characters in the parks. Which — in Tinker Bell’s case — means that the Mouse is looking a performer who’s 4′ 11” to 5′ 2″ feet tall. In the case of Fawn, Iridessa, Rosetta and Silvermist, performers can be a little bit taller — 5′ 2″ to 5′ 5″ feet tall.

So what do you folks think? Do you have what it takes (i.e. “faith, hope and pixie dust”) to become one of a “Disney Fairies” ?

Your thoughts?