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Parents' Guide to

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

By Sierra Filucci, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

A few tense scenes add drama to family and friendship tale.

Movie G 2010 72 minutes
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 4+

Based on 25 parent reviews

age 4+

Good movie but catty girls

I like this movie as does my 4 year old but some of the fairies are super bratty
age 3+

Anti science themes discouraging

This was the first of the Tinker Bell series my kids and I watched. A friend had recommended the series as a whole, so we decided to try this when we came across it. It started out innocently enough, with the fairies arriving at their summer camp. But soon the anti-science messages kicked in. The human girl's dad, a scientist, neglects his daughter. When there is any depiction of his interests, they're either shown as horrifying (pinned butterflies) or boring (when he tries to show his old field journals to his daughter.) Horrifying quotes in the film like "You don't have to understand, you just have to believe!" are the type of nonsense that discourage girls from STEM careers. After we watched the film, I sat my daughters down for a talk about how science and creativity can go together. Disappointing, we won't be watching this again.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (25 ):
Kids say (16 ):

Disney's fairy world is a gorgeous place to inhabit -- colorful and full of drama and personalities -- but unlike some other kiddie franchises, the Tinker Bell fairies pack a slightly edgier punch. Some of the characters are brassy or grumpy or impetuous -- which is a nice contrast to the constant cheerfulness and eternal optimism that can sap any hint of realism out of other kids' movies.

That's not to say that isn't filled with earnestness that will appeal to the youngest viewers. In The Great Fairy Rescue, the action focuses a bit more on the fairy-loving girl than Tink and her friends, which is a departure from previous films in the collection, but provides a nice variation on the formula. The flying scenes during the climax will fill young kids with wonder and encourage them to fantasize about magical worlds.

Movie Details

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