The Pirate Fairy Review
Tinker Bell and her fairy companions must rescue a fellow fairy who has left Pixie Hollow and has turned into a pirate in the Disneytoon Studios 3D animated film, “The Pirate Fairy.” This is a 2014 film that’s part of the “Tinker Bell” film series and the “Disney Fairies” franchise. It serves as a prequel to “Peter Pan” as we get to see a young James Hook with both hands and learn how the Tick Tock Croc swallowed the clock that made him tick.
This film is beautifully animated with the colors popping out everywhere. From a technical perspective, I really enjoyed this film. It was really cool to see the computer animation at work and to see how they made each of the fairies stand out from each other.
Tinker Bell has never been my favorite Disney character. I’ve enjoyed renditions of “Peter Pan” over the years but it’s never my go-to film, so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy this film. I’m also not the intended demographic, as this film is clearly targeting adolescent girls. But, that being said, it was a fine way to spend an hour and 18 minutes. I wasn’t bored. The story was easy to follow and I was able to find things in the storytelling and the animation to keep me invested. I’m not going to go out and watch all of the “Tinker Bell” series now, but I’m glad I took the time to watch this one. I would definitely recommend it to my niece or to my friends with daughters in the age range. I think some boys would also enjoy it, as there is some swashbuckling adventure like you’d expect from any pirate film.
One of my favorite parts of the film is the character James, who we found out in the course of the film is the future Captain Hook. When we first meet him, he seems like a bumbling first mate, serving the Captain who is also the missing fairy. But, after the Pirate Fairy provided the ship’s crew with the necessary pixie dust for the ship to fly, we see how villainous he is and what we’ve come to know about Captain Hook comes out. Tom Hiddleston, best known as Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, does an excellent job voicing James. He’s astute and caring when he needs to be and his voice turns dark and sinister at just the right time and inflection. We even get a nice homage late in the film as James and Zarina, the Pirate Fairy, are fighting and James grabs a hook to continue the fight. Plus, after James is thrown overboard, he is rescued by Mr. Smee setting up the events we would see in “Peter Pan.”
I love it when franchises are set up well and this one seems to be perfectly set up for its intended demographic. Like I said, I won’t be rushing out to watch more fairy movies, but I didn’t mind this one. It’s a fun watch for the adolescent girl in your life.
Ranking: 3 stars out of 5
What did you think of “The Pirate Fairy?”