The silent, mischievous pixie of Disney’s Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, will get a voice in a new 2007 film based around the character. Film star and King of the Hill voice actress, Brittany Murphy will voice the fairy in the film, Disney announced at the Licensing International Expo in New York recently. The film will be a straight-to-video film that will bring Tinkerbell to life through the medium of CG animation.
Tinkerbell has, through heavy merchandising aimed at younger girls and tweens, experienced a huge burst of popularity lately. The new film will join a new merchandising line through Disney featuring Tinkerbell among other new Disney fairies. The Disney Fairies line officially launched in 2005 with a novel entitled, “Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg.”
Personally, I have to say that I liked the fairy as the silent, expressive fairy she became in the original 1953 animated film. However, it’s obvious that Disney is banking on the Fairies line being as profitable, if not more, than the Disney Princess line. Disney Spokesman Gary Foster told Yahoo News that he fully expects the new Fairies line to generate at least $1 billion in worldwide annual sales within four years.
For now, however, you can see Tinkerbell in all her intended glory by purchasing the original film, Peter Pan, used from Amazon as it’s currently in the Disney Vault.