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Tinker Bell (also known as "Tinkerbell" in common usage), is a fictional character in J.M. Barrie's play and subsequent novel Peter Pan, and various adaptations of them. She is described as a common fairy who mends pots and kettles, i.e. a tinker, and is often referred to simply as Tink. Though sometimes ill-behaved and vindictive, at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter (for whom she apparently has romantic feelings). The extremes in her personality are explained by the fact that a fairy's size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time.

In one famous scene, she is dying, but will survive if enough people believe in fairies. In the play the characters make a plea to the children watching to sustain her by shouting out "I believe in fairies," an example of "breaking the fourth wall." In the novel and the 2003 film, Peter calls out to dreaming children within the storytelling universe. At the end of the novel, when Peter returns to the Darling home after a year, it is revealed that Tinker Bell "is no more" since "fairies don't live long, but they are so small that a short time seems a good while to them." Peter has forgotten her. Screen adaptations of the story omit this scene.

Although originally just a supporting character in Barrie's story, she has become widely known beyond this context. This is especially true of her interpretation by the Walt Disney Company, who have long used her as a mascot and later established a media franchise built around her. The character's name is often used as a synonym for fairy.

Contents 1 Representations in Media 2 Disney 2.1 Disney Fairies 3 References 4 External links

In stage presentations, Tinker Bell is typically represented by a tightly focused spotlight or other lighting effect. (In a London staging of it, the lights failed, so they used a matchstick fastened to an ice cube.) In the book, she is described as "a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in a skeleton leaf, cut low and square, through which her figure could be seen to the best advantage. She was slightly inclined to embonpoint."

On screen, she has been played by Virginia Browne Faire (Herbert Brenon's 1924 silent movie Peter Pan), Julia Roberts (Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook), and Ludivine Sagnier (P. J. Hogan's 2003 film Peter Pan). Despite an urban legend that Disney modeled the character in the 1953 animated film version after actress Marilyn Monroe, Margaret Kerry actually served as the animators' reference.^[1] In the anime series Peter Pan no Boken, she is voiced by Sumi Shimamoto. She appears briefly in the animated film Shrek. The character is to star in a Disney animated feature film, voiced by Mae Whitman; it is scheduled for release in 2008.

A bronze statue by London born sculptor Diarmuid Byron O'Connor was commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital — to whom Barrie bequeathed the copyright to the character — to be added to his four foot statue of Peter Pan, wresting a thimble from Peter's hand. The figure has a 9.5 inch wingspan and is 7 inches high, said to be the smallest statue in London. It was unveiled on September 29, 2005 by Sophie Countess of Wessex.

In addition to Arthur Rackham's original illustrations, Tinker Bell has also been portrayed by Brian Froud and Myrea Pettit.

In the official Disney Character Archives, Tinker Bell is referred to as a pixie, rather than a fairy, they call her fairy dust "pixie dust". ^[2] Disney's version of Tinker Bell as portrayed in the animated film Peter Pan is clad in a lime-green, hip-length dress with a rigid trim, and green slippers with white puffs. Small amounts of pixie dust generally follows her when she moves, especially when she flies, and according to the story, her pixie dust can help humans fly as well, if they believe it will. In the film, and in most other uses by Disney of the Tinker Bell character, she does not speak in words, with her voice represented by sound effects, including musical expressions, and most often the sound of a tinkling bell.^[2]

Tinker Bell is prominently featured in Peter Pan's Flight, a suspended dark ride at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris theme parks. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions that was operational on Disneyland's opening day in 1955. The ride's story is based on Disney's animated film version of the classic story. During the 1970s through the late 1990s, Tinkerbell was featured as a live performer flying through the sky at the climax of the Disneyland nightly fireworks display (more recently, there have been a series of new fireworks shows at Disneyland, some of which do not include the Tinker Bell flight).

The Tinker Bell character became one of the branding icons for the The Walt Disney Company generally known as "a symbol of 'the Magic of Disney'", ^[3] Tinker Bell has been featured in television commercials and program opening credits sprinkling pixie dust with her wand, to shower a magical feeling over various other Disney icons, such as - for example - the Disneyland castle that is used as the logo for Walt Disney films and DVDs. Although she uses a wand in this marketing role, the animation character of Tinker Bell in Peter Pan does not use a wand.

Tinker Bell appeared with various other Disney characters in the television series House of Mouse, and appeared in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. She has also made appearances in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection by waving her wand the text turns into the logo. Tinker Bell appeared as the hostess on several Disney television series in the late 1950s and 1960s, including "Disneyland", the TV series that introduced the theme park while it was still under construction, and also the shows "Walt Disney Presents," "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," and "The Wonderful World of Disney".

In 2002 Disney released a sequel to 1953's Peter Pan, entitled Return to Never Land. The film takes place during the Battle of Britain, many years after Peter and Tink's last visit to Wendy, and instead involves Wendy's daughter Jane. At the end of the film she finds a dying Tinker Bell (from the lack of faith in fairies) and restores her strength by saying "I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!"

In Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, she shares mutual affection with the sparrow man (a male fairy) Terence.

In Peter Pan in Scarlet, the official sequel to Barrie's novel, she falls in love with the fairy Fireflyer. After Fireflyer commits a heroic act, she and Fireflyer are married. They spend the rest of their lives performing the dangerous job of catching dreams with a tripwire and selling them to pirates and Roarers.

The character was originally part of the Disney Princesses franchise, but was later removed from that group and made the central character of the Disney Fairies franchise.

Tinker Bell now has her own book series. Written by Ella Enchanted author Gail Carson Levine, Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg is the first entry in the Disney Fairies series. In it, Tinker Bell and three fairy friends are faced with the task of protecting the egg responsible for keeping Neverland's inhabitants young.

In the forthcoming film Tinker Bell, the character will speak in words rather than the traditional sound effects; Mae Whitman will provide the character's voice.

Today, Tinker Bell is displayed on posters, clocks, bedroom doors, hats, shirts, umbrellas, and even rings and necklaces. She has her own line of merchandise and has become an icon for many young girls. Disney has released previews of a new movie starring Tinker Bell. It is set in the secret world of "Pixie Hollow" and introduces various new fairies that form part of Tinker Bell's world.

• Disney's character profile of Tinker Bell

v • d • e Peter Pan
Major Characters	Peter Pan - Wendy Darling - Captain Hook - Tinker Bell - John Darling - Michael Darling - The Lost Boys - Smee - Tiger Lily - George Darling
Official Books and Stage Plays	The Little White Bird - Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up or Peter and Wendy - Peter Pan in Scarlet
Feature Films	Peter Pan (1924) - Peter Pan (1953) - Peter Pan (2003) - Hook - Return to Never Land - Tinker Bell