Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure Movie & DVD Details Director: Klay Hall / Writers: Evan Spiliotopoulos (story & screenplay), Klay Hall (story) Voice Cast: Mae Whitman (Tinker Bell), Jesse McCartney (Terence), Jane Horrocks (Fairy Mary), Lucy Liu (Silvermist), Raven-Symoné (Iridessa), Kristin Chenoweth (Rosetta), Angela Bartys (Fawn), Rob Paulsen (Bobble, Tall Troll, Owl), Jeff Bennett (Clank, Small Troll, Fairy Gary), Grey DeIsle (Lyria, Narrator, Viola), John DiMaggio (Minister of Autumn), Eliza Pollack Zebert (Blaze), Bob Bergen (Bugs and Creatures), Anjelica Huston (Queen Clarion) Songs: "If You Believe", "Fairy Tale Theatre", "The Gift of a Friend", "Where the Sunbeams Play" Running Time: 80 Minutes / Rating: G Blu-ray: 1.78:1 Widescreen, DTS-HD 5.1 (English), Dolby 5.1 (French, Spanish) DVD: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French, Spanish) Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; Closed Captioned; Most Extras Subtitled Release Date: October 27, 2009 / Suggested Retail Price: $39.99 Two single-sided, dual-layered discs (BD-50 & DVD-9) Blue Keepcase with Embossed, Holographic, Textured Slipcover Also available in Standalone DVD

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By Aaron Wallace Among those things never to happen in Never Land was fairies talking. More to the point, Tinker Bell was never to talk, as she was for all intents and purposes the only fairy around. All of that changed last year when Disney released Tinker Bell, a direct-to-video feature film that gave the famous fairy a voice at long last, along with a whole world of fairy friends she could jabber with. That sudden game changer didn't sit well with fans until the movie actually hit store shelves and proved to be both harmless and forgettable. Of course, if harmless and forgettable entertainment means anything, it's that a franchise is in the making. All that's needed to seal the deal is an audience. With the Peter Pan connection and one of Disney's all-time most popular characters in the foreground, that was nothing less than inevitable for Tinker Bell, but the release's success still exceeded expectations. One year later, Disney is looking for big sales again with a sequel, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. Like its predecessor, this new film tells a very simple little story. Tinker Bell and the other fairies, as you surely know, thrive on pixie dust, a magical substance that apparently comes from a tree in their neck of the woods. The tree requires occasional harvesting from a rare moonstone during a ceremony called the Autumn Revelry. Tink is charged with heading up the project but when she gets too distracted flirting with (read: leading on) a boy fairy named Terence, she breaks the fragile stone. Tinker Fail. With the magic of all fairykind at stake, she sets off in a homemade hot air balloon to track down some ancient magic that will set things right. Lost Treasure is an improvement over the first movie, which is to say that it is moderately more enjoyable but pretty equally forgettable. The story deliberately keeps its focus squarely on Tink, largely forgetting about her female fairy friends. That's a surprising move, given the big names that voice them (such as Lucy Liu, Kristin Chenoweth, Raven-Symoné, and Anjelica Huston) and the fact that this series' very reason for existing is its potential to sell fairy merchandise. The characters were annoying and shallow, though, serving only to show how diverse a nation Pixie Hollow really is, so their roles' diminishment is a plus. Terence, on the other hand, is much more a compliment to Tinker Bell. Their are-they-or-aren't-they friendship/romance breathes some life into Pixie Hollow and unlike the fairy characters that dominated the last movie, Terence is believable as an individual. Pop star Jesse McCartney voices the character, lending him a modern teen credibility. Of course, it is Tinker Bell who carries the lead. As a protagonist standing on her own, she's likeable and engaging enough, even if she lacks any character attributes that might make her exciting or unique. She also generally lacks the traits that defined her as a sassy and vindictive sprite for more than fifty years in the Disney universe. Though her face still reddens with anger, she's pretty much just a nice girl next door here, divorcing her from the very persona that made her popular enough to justify an eponymous film series. Then again, save for a few fleeting shots (including a cool one of Skull Rock), the world shown here has very little to do with the one seen in 1953's Peter Pan, so perhaps it's best to conceive of this series as part of some alternate Never-reality. Just in time for the autumn season that permeates the movie's animation, Lost Treasure comes to DVD and a Blu-ray/DVD Combo today, the latter of which is reviewed here. VIDEO and AUDIO The movie is animated in the 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and presented that way on Blu-ray in 1080p. The CGI Tinker Bell films show off some dazzling animation and some of the vistas are breathtaking in high definition, even if these landscapes generally lack realism or the authenticity of the traditional animation that birthed Disney's Peter Pan. Each and every shower of pixie dust (and there are lots of them) makes quite the visual impression. Simply put, the movie looks amazing on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray offers DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Sound (48 kHz/24-bit) audio track, delivering utterly enveloping and crystal clear audio that leaves no room for complaint. There's no doubt that Tinker Bell offers a home theater experience that is altogether more exciting than most direct-to-video films, even if the movie itself isn't so remarkable. The DVD offers an entirely satisfying 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround feature presentation. Both the Blu-ray and DVD offer French and Spanish tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Bonus features on both discs are available in either Dolby Digital 5.1 English or Dolby 2.0 Spanish. English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are available for the movie and the bonus features on both discs as well. BONUS FEATURES, MENUS and PACKAGING The bonus features are basically the same on both Blu-ray and DVD, although the former presents all of them in high definition. First up is a short entitled "Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow: Autumn" (4:42). Bonus feature clip - Demi Lovato's "Gift of a Friend" music video: This is less of a short and more a guided tour through low-rent animation. Those enchanted by Pixie Hollow will find some enjoyment here, but this is clearly meant to convince us that there's more to this fantasy realm than we see in the movie without providing any real insight into the fairies' world. Tinker Bell and Terence narrate. There are two features in a section called Outtakes & Bloopers. The first is "Scenes You Never Saw" (4:02), a collection of fully-animated joke scenes. These very short gags play in rapid succession. The sheer randomness of some of them might have added a welcome air of levity to the movie. The second is a lengthy batch of genuine Deleted Scenes (16:10), which are introduced by director Klay Hall and producer Sean Lurie. These eight cut sequences appear in unfinished form, relying primarily on storyboard sketches. Hall and Lurie appear on-screen before each scene to provide quick context. The deleted scenes are less enjoyable than the bloopers. Under Backstage Disney is one featurette: "Pixie Hollow Comes to Walt Disney World" (8:18). This is a behind-the-scenes look at the Pixie Hollow exhibit built for this year's Flower and Garden Festival in Epcot. While it's a tad painful to hear Imagineers talking so seriously about a concept as flimsy as Pixie Hollow, the interviews are a nice reminder of the attention Disney Parks is willing to pay to even the most trivial details. Though this doesn't mention it, the temporary exhibit is but the beginning of an expansive Disney Fairies presence in the theme parks. Under Music & More is Demi Lovato's music video for "The Gift of a Friend" (3:23). I can't believe Disney allowed Lovato to sing a song about friendship without Selena Gomez appearing alongside her. As one should expect from Demi Lovato, the song is boring, disgustingly trite, and not particularly well-sung. The music video is lifeless and uneventful. "Learn How to Take Your Favorite Movies on the Go" is a one-minute ad for Disney home videos that include Digital Copy. Only Disney could include this and label it a "Bonus Feature". Exclusive to the DVD, "Blu-ray is Suite" (4:45) finds Cole and Dylan Sprouse along with sometimes TV mom Kim Rhodes pitching the high-definition format on, among other things, its games and lack of spaghetti wires. The Blu-ray's main menu doesn't have a lot to look at. Some score plays while a treasure trove twinkles across the screen. In the top-right corner, a silent video preview of whatever is selected (be it the movie or a bonus feature) plays in a small box. When bonus features are selected, a not-so-accurate runtime displays on the screen. A number of sneak peeks are included on the Blu-ray disc: a promo for Disney Blu-ray in general, the Disney Movie Rewards program, Santa Buddies, Ponyo, G-Force, Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition, Pixie Hollow online, Disney on Ice Presents Worlds of Fantasy, and Dumbo: 70th Anniversary Edition. The DVD's trailers promote The Princess and the Frog, Dumbo: Special Edition, and Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue. Its Sneak Peek menu adds ads for G-Force, Ponyo, Santa Buddies, Disney Movie Rewards, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse": Mickey's Choo Choo Express, Disney On Ice , Disney Blu-ray, the Pixie Hollow website, and "Sonny With a Chance." The combo is packaged in a standard translucent Blu-ray case, with the DVD housed on the inside of one panel and the Blu-ray disc on the opposite panel. Inside the case are an ad booklet, a "Tink My Ride" Sweepstakes flyer, and a Disney Movie Rewards magic code. The case comes with a cardboard slipcover around it, one that is textured with some detail and made both holographic and sparkly -- it's a nice effect. A blue border (signifying that this is a Blu-ray release) surrounds the slipcover on four sides, but the cover art itself on only two sides (top and bottom). CLOSING THOUGHTS The new Tinker Bell movies have very little to do with the classic character who shares that name and likeness, but the two scantily clad pixies are ostensibly one in the same. That's a contention one just has to swallow wholesale to get into these but even then, there's not much to sink one's teeth into. The story in the series' second installment, Lost Treasure, is diverting enough and the characters likeable enough to make watching it a pretty harmless experience, but I doubt you'll remember much of what you saw three months from now. I can't recommend anything more than a rental, but whether renting or buying, you'll want to see this on Blu-ray if at all possible. The digital animation is pretty impressive for a direct-to-video affair and really pops in high definition. Fortunately, the Blu-ray/DVD combo unit makes that pretty easy to do (if not now, then at sometime in the future when you may inevitably own a Blu-ray player). A couple of decent (though certainly not extraordinary) bonus features add value as well. The movie is no lost treasure but it's certainly nothing to pan either. Buy Blu-ray/DVD Combo from Amazon.com / Buy on DVD from Amazon.com