I did receive an all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to facilitate my review, but all fairy dust, Neverbeast loving, and happy dances are my own.
Ever since I was a kid I’ve had a thing for Tinkerbell. There’s just something about a gal that has a little spunk that speaks to you, you know. During my McFarland USA trip to Los Angeles, we had a chance to sit down with director, Steve Loter, and producer, Michael Wigert, of Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbest I was stoked. This latest film in the fairy movie dynasty was really different from other Tinkerbell movies. It was a fresh, new look into the land of the fairies, and the most amazing thing about it is it was inspired by the director’s daughter and her love of all animals.
Director Steve Loter and Producer Michael Wigert
About The Inspiration for the Story
Sitting down with director Steve Loter and producer Michael Wigert, Steve shared that his daughter was the inspiration for the movie. He told us,
I have a fear of very large dogs. My daughter loves one thing above all else, very large dogs, and our neighborhood just has a ton of dogs. She’ll see a neighbor walking a dog down the street and she’ll run up to the dog and she’ll throw her arms the dog in a big loving hug. [Her love of animals] showed me something. Once the fear subsided, something very important. My daughter has a huge open heart. I had to sit her down and we had to talk about this encounter we just had with the dog. And she would say, “Well all animals are my friends. Why wouldn’t they be?
This heart warming concept was what inspired the Legend of the Neverbeast, an animal that looks large and terrifying, but Fawn, the animal fairy, sees so much more. It’s this relationship between Fawn and the Neverbeast that is the main vehicle for the movie.
About Animation
Both Director Steve Loter and Producer Michael Wigert are long time fixtures in the Disney Animation world. They’ve had many roles during their tenure with Disney, and we wanted to know what their favorite part of the animation process was. Michael shared that his favorite part of the animation process was “collaboration and seeing an idea come to life through the work of a fantastic team of artists.” While Steve shared his favorite part was,
For me it was a story. You get to this really sweet spot when you’ve got a script and then you’ve got storyboard artists visualizing the script. Something magical that happens there because the storyboard artist is a new voice.
About Fawn the Animal Fairy
Steve had already shared that Fawn was inspired by his daughter and her unconditional love of animals. The story wasn’t the only place that Steve found inspiration from his daughter. Many of her mannerisms inspired things you see Fawn doing in the film.
My daughter was not just the inspiration for the initial idea through. She basically became Fawn. I looked to her for acting, for moments.
About Nyx and the Scout Fairies
In Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast, there is a new fairy sector introduced, the scout fairies. The scout faires are awesome. They are the rough and tumble protectors of the fairy land. Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast was such a personal story for Steve. He shared that,
Nyx the Scout Fairy, the over protective Scout Fairy is me. She was a very easy character to write for because that’s the helicopter parent that I am.
They both shared that the scout fairies were there so girls could have strong, warrior like characters to relate to. Nyx isn’t a villain. She is strong and has a strong duty to protect the fairy kingdom. It was a really refreshing change to see the addition of the scout fairies to the Tinkerbell saga.
About Working with Ginnifer Goodwin
From the start, both Steve and Michael knew who they wanted to voice Fawn. Even with the challenges of filming around her Once Upon a Time schedule, and later on around her pregnancy, they knew Ginnifer was the one that was going to bring the bubbly, upbeat spirit of Fawn alive. Michael shared,
We loved Ginnifer Woodwin and her voice. We knew was going to be Fawn. That was easy for us. We’ve been blessed on this project having a terrific cast.
It was really fun sitting down with both of them and hearing about the passion and inspiration that they both put into this film. I think when parents watch new Disney DVD releases they just look at it as another movie to entertain their kids. I know I did. Now that I’ve had to talk to the creators and animators on this Disney animation, I’ve left inspired. There is so much heart passion, and creativity that goes into creating and producing these movies.
Trust me, you are going to love Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast. It comes out on DVD March 3, 2015. I’ve already pre-ordered Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast. I love it that much!
Linda Trinklein says
I loved reading this, learning about the people behind the story ! We have enjoyed all of the tinkerbell movies and look forward to watching this one!