One of the most recognizable and beloved characters in Disney animated history is Tinker Bell, who’s been whizzing over Cinderella’s Castle and sprinkling television screens with a little bit of pixie dust for decades. But before the platinum-haired fairy was made the Magic Kingdom’s mascot, she appeared in the 1953 animated adaptation of Peter Pan, based on J. M. Barrie’s stage play and novel of the same name.
Tink might have been a tiny fairy, but she made a big impression, looking and behaving differently than artists or actresses had depicted her before. It was quite a sight to see a character who normally had to be portrayed by a flashlight on stage suddenly come so alive, but then there are many things about Tinker Bell and her origins that fans might not remember.
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She Wasn’t Modeled After Marilyn Monroe
With her distinct hourglass frame and platinum blonde hair, it’s easy to think that Tink’s petite figure might have been modeled after another famous bombshell, Marilyn Monroe. It wasn’t Monroe (who was not yet a recognized Hollywood star) but Margaret Kerry who provided the bodywork for Tink.
22-year-old Kerry not only posed for sketches as the real-life Tinker Bell, but she also acted out her many actions with oversized props (including trying to fit through a keyhole and standing on a giant mirror). She can be heard in the movie as well, providing the voice for the red-headed mermaid when Peter and Wendy visit the lagoon.
She Was Very Different From Her Stage Version
In J.M. Barrie’s play, Tinker Bell was never embodied by a shape, much less a human one. In the end, she was imbued with certain characteristics, like spunk and a temper.
In You Can Fly – The Making of Peter Pan, Marc Davis explained that because the pixie was a purely pantomime character, she would need extra attitude to get her feelings across.
She Never Spoke
As expressive as she was, Tinker Bell never spoke a word in the entire movie. Instead, exaggerated body language and other tricks reveal Tink’s thoughts and feelings. When she was particularly mad, her entire body would turn red and become hot to the touch.
Despite never saying anything, Tink was an electric presence and stole every scene she was in, often adding to some of the movie’s most amusing vignettes, such as when she measured her hips on a hand mirror and stomped her foot in disgust.
Her Pixie Dust Wasn’t Always Magical
J.M. Barrie’s stage play contained fairy dust, but it wasn’t necessary to aid Peter Pan and the Lost Boys in flying. All they needed were happy thoughts.
Disney decided that Tinker Bell would have the ability to give others flight by sprinkling her pixie dust on not just people but even something like Captain Hook’s galleon. Pixie dust then became synonymous with the magic of the Disney franchise just as much as the movie.
She Never Carried A Wand
Despite the Disney mascot being known for flitting about the many theme parks creating magic with the simple flick of her wand, Tinker Bell didn’t carry a wand in the movie. Her pixie dust was responsible for making Wendy and the children fly and for many of the magical goings-on they encountered.
However, in Disney marketing materials, like in this vintage lithographic print, Tink was never without it.
She Originally Betrayed Peter
In the animated movie, Tinker Bell only betrayed Peter after being kidnapped by Captain Hook, who promised he’d remove Wendy from Peter’s life and spare the boy if Tink told him where the Lost Boys secret hiding place was.
The novel was a raucous party at the Lost Boy’s hideout that left Tink humiliated enough to deliberately meet with Captain Hook and tell him their location. In the movie, however, Tinkerbell was kidnapped.
She Almost Gave Peter Poison
In Barrie’s play, Captain Hook put poison in medicine meant for Peter, and Tink sacrificed herself to save his life. In order to revive the downed fairy, the audience would clap, and their thunderous applause would bring her back to life.
Instead of poison, Hook tried to kill Peter with a bomb in the movie, and Tink perished off-screen in the rubble of the Lost Boy’s hideout. However, she wasn’t gone for good, and Peter’s concern and love brought her back from the brink.
She Was In Love With Peter
While Tink never expressed her feelings for Peter in the movie, it was clear that she was jealous of Wendy, who, as a human girl, was everything she couldn’t be and, in her mind, a potential partner for Peter. She even tried to get the Lost Boys to shoot her down, an act which only served to push Peter and Wendy closer together.
In Barrie’s play and his novel, Tink tried to communicate her love to Peter, but it was unrequited, too mature an emotion for the boy who never wanted to grow up. The implied romance was more emphatic, but the visual medium of the animated movie allowed it to be more visceral.
She Died Of Old Age
In both J.M. Barrie’s play and the novel Peter Pan, it’s established in his world-building that no one can age in Neverland, and if a fairy dies, they can be resurrected by someone clapping their hands. Yet in Chapter 17 of the novel, Tinker Bell fans are horrified to learn that she dies of old age after her adventures with Peter.
What’s even worse, when Wendy brings up Tink’s whereabouts, Peter can barely remember who she is because “there are such a lot of fairies,” and he suspects she dropped dead somewhere. It proved a poor send-off to one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature and something Disney thankfully chose to leave out of its movie.