Many believe that Tinkerbell – the fairy who appears in the 1953 Disney’ Peter Pan movie – is a creation of The Walt Disney Company. Not so. Tinkerbell is a character that was created almost half a century before the Peter Pan movie was released.
Tinkerbell, also known as Tink for brevity, is a fictional character that first appeared in a 1904 play by J M Barrie and later in a novel he wrote entitled Peter and Wendy that was published in 1911.
J M Barrie described Tinkerbell as a fairy who mended kettles and metal pots and pans just like an actual tinker would. Her dialogue in the play and in the later novel consists of the sounds of a tinkling bell, which is understandable only to those familiar with the language of the fairies. Though sometimes ill-tempered and vindictive (for example she coaxes the Lost Boys to shoot arrows at Wendy), at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter. The extremes in her quirky personality are explained by J M Barrie in his story as being due to the fact that her small fairy size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time, so when she is angry she has no counterbalance such as compassion or kindness.
Originally, Tinkerbell was only a minor / supporting character and was described by J M Barrie as “a common fairy”, however – following her success in Disney’s Peter Pan when children the world over fell in love with her animated incarnation, Tinkerbell has become a widely recognized as the unofficial mascot of The Walt Disney Company and recently as the star of its Disney Fairies media franchise including the direct-to-DVD film Tinker Bell.
Tinker Bell originally formed part of the Disney Princess franchise – however, she was removed from this in 2005 to take her place as the central character of the new Disney Fairies franchise. At Disneyland, guests are able to interact with Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow’s meet-and-greet area opened in 2008,.
Tinkerbell has fans the world over and many websites are dedicated to this delicate yet mischeivous fairy. For example at sites like Fairy Coloring Pages you’ll find the best
Interestingly, the copyright to the Tinkerbell character is owned by the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, England. A bronze statue of Tinkerbell appears at the hospital’s entrance to commemorate the fact that the Scottish born J M Barrie bequeathed the copyright to the character to the children’s hospital upon his death in 1937.
