I know that I was going to review all the Tinker Bell movies together, but obviously, I put it on hold and now I want to finish it...even if I only reviewed the first movie! Given how popular the Disney Fairies franchise is and the fact the world of Pixie Hollow (in itself a part of Neverland) has a number of other places to explore along with the mythology, it's no surprise that there would be sequel released. With Mae Whitman reprising her role as Tinker Bell, can this follow-up manage to be as beautiful as finding a full chest of treasure, or is it as bad as losing the treasure in the first place? Let's take a look!Story: The story itself isn't really anything we haven't seen before. It's your generic quest plot as Tinker Bell wants to fix her mistake of breaking the scepter she was assigned to make by creating a new one through a scavenger hunt around Neverland to make a wish on a magic mirror so blue Pixie Dust can be created during the blue harvest (which occurs every 8 years) to strengthen the Pixie Dust tree. And like other quest plots, it also results in the cliches of Tink being horrible to Terrence, a cute animal sidekick, conflict ensuing which easily could have been avoided if Tink wasn't such a horrible person. However, I will say that the morals surrounding Tink's behavior are well done as she's rightfully called out by pretty much everyone & actually learns from her mistake. And unlike most quest plots, there isn't much romance between Tink & Terrence as they treat each other more as friends & it's left more ambiguously with the nature of their relationship. I did find this refreshing as it shows not every X chromosome and Y chromosome=love after a big adventure (something which can still bother me in films if it's done wrong). And I will say that it is interesting to see more of Neverland instead of just being stuck in Pixie Hollow or seeing the Mainland again & seeing more of the mythology of the world is admittedly interesting (if not a bit complicated for the target audience). Although that doesn't really stop the deus ex machina over the moonstone in the ending which comes out of nowhere with no proper build up/establishment beforehand. Sure, it may be pretty unoriginal & predictable in terms of structure & plot, but the execution & morals surrounding it aren't that bad.
Animation: Like the last movie, the animation is what you'd expect from a direct to DVD movie. The character designs yet again go for more of a 2D look in a 3D world, and it definitely works on some characters, although on others who are drawn more over the top or childish i.e. the animals, don't really work for me personally. I will say however, that the movie does add more scale by having Tinker Bell travel around Neverland & it does look pretty nice to watch as seeing how big everything is compared to the fairies does add a bit more peril & excitement to the adventure. Even though the textures like on the hair, skin & plants on the costumes may not exactly be theatrical quality, the attention to detail they were able to do on the budget they had is still a pretty good effort. And speaking of, in a fun little fact, in over 50 years, this would actually be the first ever time we'd see Tink in a different outfit other than her famous little green dress! The effects are also pretty good on the magic & pixie dust in this & it can get pretty creative, especially at the end with the raining blue pixie dust. I will say that it is definitely a good effort, it's just that the quality is pretty evident of what it's supposed to be (even if it is dependent on budget).
Characters: When it comes to the characters, honestly, nothing has changed with them. Tinkerbell is essentially the same except she can be a bit more bratty and bossy when it comes to Terence and Blaze despite her good intentions to save Pixie Hollow and find the moonstone. She can come across as too headstrong & it may sound crazy, but I think it actually respects the character more than in the first movie! In the original Peter Pan film, she did have a fiery temper & had a tendency towards being jealous/ a bitch while still having a good heart when necessary thanks to her loyalty to Peter & the Lost Boys! But anyway, I do like that she learns from her mistakes & how the consequences affect everyone & will go out of her way to make it up to everyone at Pixie Hollow. And speaking of, Terence plays a much bigger role in this compared to the first movie and annoyed me trying to tag along with Tink despite only trying to help her in her adventure. And like mentioned before, may also be qualified as a 'love interest', but we never really see it come into play other than a few teases. Blaze is the cliched cute animal sidekick despite being a bug and also annoyed me with his antics. Oh yeah, and despite the trolls rightfully calling Tink out on her general bitchiness, they can just be qualified as the bumbling villains who only serve as a brief conflict in the plot who are never seen or mentioned again afterwards. The rest of Tink's friends like Rosetta, Iridessa, Silvermist, Fawn (not voiced by America Ferrera this time round), Clank & Bobble barely appear & are easily qualified by their talent or character traits. Queen Clarion & the Ministers of the Seasons are also pretty much their same selves with Clarion being the benevolent & motherly queen & the Ministers being more authoritative figures while still having funny moments. Yes, the characters may be cliched or not play as big of a role compared to the first film, but at least Tink's (cliched) development can sort of make up for it.
Honestly, out of all the Tinker Bell movies, I think this is the weakest one. Despite the interesting concepts surrounding the story along with the good moral & the animation looking good for what it is, the plot itself & some characters are still pretty cliched, & some parts admittedly got on my nerves. I supposefans of the Tinker Bell films & Disney Fairies franchise& target demographic will enjoy it, but I guess it's just not for me! It's not the worst thing to come out of DisneyToons, but the best I can describe it is...mediocre. And after all, I've still got 4 more movies to go for this series, so hopefully they'll gradually get better & better! Who knows!
Story: 4/10
Animation: 7/10
Characters: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
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