Mae Whitman Voices Tinker Bell
Avatar: The Last Airbender actor Voices Title Role in Disney Movie
Mae Whitman is replacing Brittany Murphy as the new voice of Tinker Bell, according to several online reports.
No reason was given for the casting change, but it follows a complete revamping of the troubled project, which was the subject of a massive turf war between Disney Animation boss John Lasseter and former Disney Toon president Sharon Morrill. The battle over the previous incarnation, subtitled The Ring of Belief, was especially troubling for Disney because the direct-to-DVD flick was supposed to launch the Disney Fairies line of merchandise. However, The Ring of Belief had tested so badly that the Mouse House scrapped over $40 million worth of footage and begin all over again.
Mae Whitman is best known to animation fans for voicing the role of Katara, one of the heroes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and for playing Rose in American Dragon: Jake Long. Whitman is 11 years younger than Murphy (Sin City) and, considering that the new plot will focus on a younger, less experienced vision of the character, Murphy's huskier delivery likely didn't fit with Disney's new vision for the movie.
Also voicing roles in Tinker Bell will be America Fererra (Ugly Betty), Raven-Symoné (College Road Trip), Kristen Chenoweth (Wicked), Lucy Liu (Kung Fu Panda), and Angelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums).
What's Tinker Bell About?
The movie ostensibly takes place before the events of 1953's Peter Pan (one of John Lasseter's big conditions for approving this flick was that Peter Pan, or the other Lost Boys would not have any part of a Tinker Bell movie). It features a hidden place in the middle of Never Land called Pixie Hollow, where the Disney Fairies (which will later include the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, among others) apparently make their home.
Here's the synopsis for the new Tinker Bell movie, according to Movieweb.
"Have you ever wondered how a flower gets its color . . . or pondered the source of a dew drop . . . or contemplated from where rainbows originate? It's all the work of fairies! This landmark motion picture from DisneyToon Studios reveals the story of Tinker Bell's early life in the fantastic world of Pixie Hollow. Each fairy is born with a special talent, whether it's making flowers grow, giving fireflies their light or tracing beautiful patterns into a winter morning's frost. Tinker Bell thinks her fairy talent as a 'tinker' isn't as special or important, because tinkers don't go to the mainland like the other fairies. But when Tink tries to change who she is, she creates nothing but disaster!"
Of course, being a Disney flick, Tinker Bell learns to harness her powers for evil, enslaves her pals Fawn, Iridessa, Rosetta and Silvermist, and engages in a thousand-year war with Cthulhu to become the ruthless tyrant of the multiverse, dedicated to spreading despair and misery among – no, wait, Tinker Bell eventually learns that evergreen lesson: to thine own self be true.*
The Tinker Bell movie comes to DVD shelves on October 28th.
*(I still think my version was better, though)
