The Minds Behind Tinkerbell And The Legend Of The Neverbeast

I absolutely LOVE learning about how animated movies are made.  Tinkerbell And The Legend of The Neverbeast was such an exciting movie to learn about!  One of my favorite parts of getting to know how Disney animators work is learning how the movies were ever even thought of.  While I was in Lost Angeles a couple of weeks ago, I was able to sit down and talk to Tinkerbell And The Legend Of The Neverbeast director Steve Loter and producer Makul Wigert.  Our entire family are huge fans of the Tinkerbell movies.  I don’t know if you knew, but there was even a pirate Tinkerbell movie last year and it really hooked my son on the movies!  What was really cool about this movie was their ability to really bring in something fresh and new.  It seems that only Disney can do that with a series of movies like Tinkerbell.  The story of the Neverbeast really changes the way the movie is laid out and it certainly appeals to all audiences.  This is NOT your average “girlie” fairy movie.

“Return to Pixie Hollow for a heartwarming adventure, Disney’s Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast. 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. But this creature is not welcome in Pixie Hollow — and the 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 thrilling action-adventure roars to life with never-before-seen bonus extras on Disney Blu-ray.”

It was such a cool experience to hear Steve talk about how his daughter, even her gymnastics class, inspired Tinkerbell And The Legend of The Neverbeast.  They talked about creating the characters with such excitement and enthusiasm, it really makes you LOVE the process behind Tinkerbell.

Photo credit: Coralie Seright, Lovebugs and Postcards

We were given the amazing opportunity to ask these super creative minds about their experience creating Tinkerbell And The Legend Of The Neverbeast and I have a couple of my favorites to share with you!

Question: What’s your favorite part of the animation process?

Makul: My favorite part of the animation process is the collaboration and seeing an idea come to life through the work of a fantastic team of Artists. It’s been an absolute joy seeing Steve’s idea, which started 4½ years ago, and through story boarding and design into animations, to see that coming to life through the artistry with some amazing people was absolutely a joy.

Steve: 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. And there’s that – something magical that happens there because the Storyboard Artist is a new voice and they look at the written word and they say, “Oh I can add a joke here. I can put the camera here that’s gonna’ emphasize this moment or emotion.” For me that’s when things really turn and things really elevate. So that’s a magic time for me.

Question:  I know you mentioned that yesterday but can you please tell us a little bit about an idea about this movie?

Steve:  The movie was inspired by my daughter.  I grew up in a household with no pets of any kind, none.  No dogs, no cats, nothing.  And because of having no pets around I have a fear of very large dogs.  Like Irish Wolf Hound dogs, Horse Line dogs.  Many years have passed and I have a family of my own and 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.  And it was like, “UUUHHHH” so you get that kind of reaction and, “Okay the dog is okay to pet, whew.”

It showed me something once the fear subsided, something very important that 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?  In fact, the bigger they are the bigger the love they have to give.”  I thought that’s the story.  That’s the story.  Fawn, the animal fairy loves animals unconditionally.  She takes care of animals and she encounters a creature that can be perceived of as a monster and her open heart’s gonna’ be put to the test.  I thought, “Okay this is a message, this is a good message for Fawn, the character to have and for my daughter to learn too.”  It’s beautiful to think with an open heart.  To see the world through that perspective is a wonderful thing, but you also have to think with your head.  You need the balance, you need the balance to have a happy life and I thought that’s exactly the story that I wanted to tell.

Be sure to get Tinkerbell And The Legend Of The Neverbeast on Blu-Ray, Digital HD, and Disney Movies Anywhere March 3!