On my recent press trip to Hollywood with Disney and ABC, I had the pleasure of previewing one of Disney's newest animated films, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast. Not only that though, I also got to sit down with the people behind the film, including Director Steve Loter and Producer Makul Wigert. This might have been my favorite part of the experience. It's so fascinating to hear the story behind the movie and learn how the ideas for this new animated feature came to light.
In Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, you'll return to Pixie Hollow for another heartwarming adventure. In this story, an ancient myth of a massive creature sparks the curiosity of Tinker Bell and her good friend Fawn, an animal fairy who's not afraid to break the rules to help an animal in need. Unfortunately, this creature is not welcome in Pixie Hollow and the newly introduced scout fairies are determined to capture the mysterious beast, who they fear will destroy their home. Fawn must convince her fairy friends to risk everything to rescue the NeverBeast. This action-adventure roars to life with never-before-seen bonus extras on Disney Blu-ray and DVD on March 3, 2105.
Director Steve Loter, photo courtesy of Kayvon Esmaili and Disney
Director Steve Loter, who's previous credits include "The Legend of Tarzan", "Kim Possible", and "Penguins of Madagascar" among others, was the mastermind behind the concept of Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast and told us that his daughter was the inspiration behind this particular fairy film. His young daughter is a lover of animals, and although Loter has an aversion to large dogs, his daughter just adores them. He told us a story about how they were walking down the street one day and she fearlessly approached a massive dog to greet him and said, "All animals are my friends. Why wouldn't they be? In fact, the bigger they are the bigger the love they have to give." It sparked an idea in him and that was the first twinkling of the character Fawn and her relationship with the NeverBeast. He's said his daughter's perspective on animals, and the world, became Fawn's point of view.
Loter went on to tell us that he wanted to create a film that was reminiscent of the way he felt when he saw films like "Pinocchio" and"Bambi." He said those stories have many emotional peaks and valleys, and he wanted the audience to feel a range of emotions in this film as well. Spoiler alert - he succeeded! Just wait until you see this movie!
Producer Makul Wigert, photo courtesy of Kayvon Esmaili and Disney
Producer Makul Wigert told us a little about the technical aspect of making the film and how the project spanned 4 years. I was amazed! I'd never really thought about how long it must take to create a Disney animated film and how the creative talent behind the movies spend years of their lives devoted the film. Wigert told us that the initial pitch that Loter created for Disney, from Fawn and her relationship with Gruff (the NeverBeast) and how's he misunderstood, to the ending were all in the initial pitch and that's the film that they ultimately ended up making. He said after talking with Loter and learning more about him and the story behind the idea of The Legend of the NeverBeast, he fell in love with the concept and felt passionate about helping him make this movie.
In this film, we meet some new fairies, namely the Scouts. We asked whether or not we'd get to meet these characters again. Wigert told us "We hope so. That's one of the exciting things about this series has been the opportunity to expand the world of Tinker Bell and to revisit some elements that we may have touched on in previous films, but also to look ahead to see what else we can open up and expand. In this film we got to look at the animal fairies in a method we haven't before, and that was fun." Loter went on to tell us that the idea behind the scout fairies was his daughter's gymnastics team. They asked Loter to create fairies like them - physical fairies that run and jump, so he did. He also told us the Nyx is modeled after himself, a typical helicopter parents that has the best interests of those she loves in mind, but goes a little overboard in the execution. I just love that Loter was able to incorporate so much of his daughter, himself, and his family into this film. It just personalizes on it a much deeper level.
Loter also told us how the coloring in the film changes as the scenes change, evoking different emotions in the viewers. Again, this was nothing something I noticed or thought about while watching the film, but looking back I realize now how those technical elements influence our reactions in a whole new way. It's truly fascinating. The people who work for Disney think of every last detail - it's just amazing.
This film has some big names on the casting list, including Ginnifer Goodwin and Rosaio Dawson. We asked them if they had an idea of who they wanted to cast in the various roles, or if it was more of an audition process. Makul Wigert told us, that Ginnifer Goodwin was pretty much a given. "We loved Ginnifer Goodwin and her voice and we knew was going to be Fawn. That was easy for us. We had a conversation about then who would be playing against her and we wanted somebody who could contrast the joyful bubbly nature that was Fawn. So for Nyx, we then discovered Rosario [Dawson].When we brought Rosario up she just has this cool voice and you can hear her passion and her belief in what she feels is right and that contrast we thought was really beautiful and really nice. And working with both of them was just an absolute joy."
The Neverbeast Bloggers, photo courtesy of Kayvon Esmaili and Disney
One thing we had a lot of questions about was the character "Gruff". We asked Loter how much the NeverBeast evolved over the course of animating the film. He told us, "Pretty quickly I realized that I had this character in my head and I knew what I wanted. So I did a drawing very early in the process and we did a painting of it, and then we showed it to John Lasseter and John said, “That’s it, done, there’s your character.” It was a wonderful thing to have approval and understand and visualize the character very early on. The challenge was following up on that because you have a beautiful 2-D painted imagine and now you have to realize that in a CG world, in a dimensional world." Loter went on to tell us that he wanted Gruff to made up of a bunch of different animals because he wanted elements to be recognizable by a child. They wanted him to be familiar, yet different. They definitely succeeded in this endeavor as well. Gruff is so strange, yet lovable.
Keep an eye out for my full review of Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, a meeting with animators and the musical talent behind the film, AND an interview with Ginnifer Goodwin! Those posts will be coming soon.
Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/3/15!
Here's a quick trailer for you!
Jasmine P says
This looks so cute! Great post!
Laura says
We love Tinker Bell! I enjoyed reading this!
Rachael Petty says
This movie looks great!Can't wait to see it:)
Lori Mahan says
Great review. Sounds like a great resource to help teach kids about not judging a book by its cover and kindness to others that are different.
Emily Endrizzi says
I can't believe it took four years to make the movie! I thought they were much quicker now that they aren't hand drawn. Can't wait to see the end product!
Michele Ash says
WOW! What a Fantastic Review on Behind the Seen of the Tinker Bell Movie! I really enjoyed reading this review! You must have had a blast there! It's so interesting how they come up with the characters and even the idea for a movie! I would have never guessed that this movie was in the making for 4 years! WOW! I know I would have had so many questions on the "beast" and how they came up with the way he looked and his personality, etc. That is terrific that they came up with him right away! He looks so different, yet he's cute too! This sounds like a really terrific movie and I know my grandkids will love it! I'm not too sure about my kids, but I know my grandkids will! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful experience with all of us! I truly honestly appreciate it! Thanks again, Michele 🙂
Sandra Watts says
It's okay Gruff. Even if you do look like that other character your still cute. Can't wait to see your full review.
Sarah L says
What a great experience. Makes me want to be a Hollywood blogger like you.
Lily Kwan says
This movie looks very interesting. Thanks for sharing!