Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue completed by The Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 16 August 2010.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

ACCM review

This review of the movie Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman) and her friends have left Pixie Hollow to spend summer on the mainland. Unlike the other fairies Tinker Bell has not been to the mainland before and, despite warnings to stay well away from humans and their homes, her curiosity is piqued when she hears a car engine approach. Tinker Bell follows the car to find out how it works, but is trapped by a lonely little girl with a special love for fairies.

Lizzy (voiced by Lauren Mote) has come to the country for a summer holiday with her father Dr. Griffiths (voiced by Michael Sheen), who is very busy collecting scientific data to present to the London museum. He means well, but has very little time for his daughter and does not understand her fascination with fairies. Lizzy can hardly believe her eyes when she realizes that a little fairy has found her way into the house she made.

Tinker Bell is terrified at first, especially when she is pursued by Lizzy’s cat, but soon she and Lizzy become friends. While Tinker Bell teaches Lizzy about fairy life, Vidia (voiced by Pamela Adlon) and the rest of Tink’s friends launch a desperate plan to save her.

In the end it is Lizzy who helps to save the fairies and keep their secret safe.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Animals used for science, work-obsessed parents with little time for their children

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie including:

• Tinker Bell is chased by Lizzy’s cat. It repeatedly tries to claw Tinker Bell before she flees into an old bird cage and Lizzy takes it out of the room.
• Lizzy’s cat pursues Vidia and the other fairies

Material that may scare children

Under five

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Vidia is trapped in a muddy patch of road. The other fairies are trying to help her get out and a car in bearing down on them. It stops just millimetres before it would have crushed them all. Even though everyone is fine, the scene is somewhat tense and may worry some very young viewers.
• A heavily loaded bird crashes to the ground and narrowly misses crushing Tinker Bell.
• The fairies rescue boat goes over a waterfall and crashes. The boat is in pieces and the fairies are scattered but everyone is fine.

Under eight

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

It is unlikely that anything in this film would frighten children over the age of five

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Nothing of concern

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Nothing of concern

Product placement

None, although there is likely to be Tinkerbell merchandise related to the film

Sexual references

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• The fairies make use of some cat nip when they are chased by Lizzy’s cat. The cat later appears dazed, drunk and disoriented

Coarse language

None of concern

The movie's message

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue is an animated adventure generally suitable for the whole family. The plot is predictable, but young children will want to see it as will fans of Tinker Bell.

The main messages from this movie are that friendships can be formed in the most unlikely ways and that sometimes you just have to believe the unbelievable.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• friendship
• faithfulness
• creativity and problem solving skills

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as

• not following directions
• using animals for science
• not making time for family