Secret of the Wings 2D / 3D Flitteriffic Fairies Double Pack (Blu-ray Review)
Secret of the Wings is Disney’s highly-anticipated all-new movie in the Tinker Bell Disney Fairies film franchise. For Tinker Bell and the other warm season fairies, the Winter Woods remains a mysterious and forbidden place. Secret of the Wings takes audiences on an amazing journey of discovery with Tink, into this forbidden world where she discovers a magical secret that changes her life forever. Secret of the Wings is a magical fairy adventure for the whole family, and it features a spectacular voice cast including Academy Award-Winner Anjelica Huston (TV’s ‘Smash’), Timothy Dalton (TV’s ‘Chuck’, The Living Daylights), Lucy Liu (TV’s ‘Elementary’, Charlie’s Angels), Raven-Symoné (TV’s ‘That’s So Raven’), Megan Hilty (TV’s ‘Smash’), Pamela Adlon (TV’s ‘Louie’), Matt Lanter (TV’s ‘90210’), Debby Ryan (TV’s ‘Jesse’) and Mae Whitman (TV’s ‘Parenthood’), and introducing the sparkling new winter fairy, Periwinkel, voiced by Lucy Hale (TV’s ‘Pretty Little Liars’).
Film 
Secret of the Wings is Disney’s fourth entry of the Pixie Fairies line and much like the previous three, it’s a gorgeous looking film with a decent story about one of Disney’s iconic characters. While I enjoy each one of these installments with my son, every time I wish the writers would move Tinkerbell out of Pixie Hollow and return her to Neverland and Peter Pan. That won’t happen because they want to keep the Disney Fairies merchandise going as it’s very popular with young girls, but I can still hope that someday Tink will return to where she rightfully belongs.
This time around, Tink (Mae Whitman) gets herself in trouble when she lets her curiosity of the forbidden Winter Woods get the better of her. When the opportunity to help Fawn (Angela Barty) take some animals over to the Winter Woods to hibernate, Tink sneaks across to the wintry side of the forest and ends up getting her wings almost frozen. Tink noticed that her wings shimmered while in the Winter Woods and goes to the Book Nook to see if the effect had been written about before. She finds a book that does have that information but it’s been chewed through by a bookworm. Tink is upset at getting so close but a fairy (Thomas Lennon) there tells her that the author of the book known as the Keeper could help her but that he lives in the Winter Woods. Determined to get back there, Tink dresses in warm clothes and goes for a ride in one of the many snowflake baskets that the tinker fairies made and delivered to the Winter Woods fairies. Her plan is successful as far as she she is taken to the Winter Woods but once there her basket crashes and her book is thrown clear from her and is is discovered by Lord Milori (Timothy Dalton) who orders Sled (Matt Lanter) to return it to the Keeper(Jeff Bennett).
Tink surreptitiously follows Sled to the Hall of Winter where the Keeper resides but she is interrupted by another fairy who has come to ask the Keeper why her wings have suddenly started sparkling. Tink realizes that her wings are sparkling too and the Keeper brings them together which triggers a wave of images to flood the chamber. Among the images are one of a baby’s first laugh which appears to have created Tinkerbell and the other fairy, whose name is Periwinkle (Lucy Hale). The two are shocked to learn that they are fraternal twin sisters and while Tink was sent to Pixie Hollow, Periwinkle came to the Winter Woods. Their reunion is short-lived as they hide while Lord Milori arrives to warn the Keeper to send any warm fairies back to where the belong.
Tink and Periwinkle ignore his request and spend the day playing and having fun with Periwinkle’s friends Gliss (Grey DeLisle) and Spike (Debby Ryan) in the Winter Woods. When Tink gets cold later in the day, she starts a fire but the heat from it melts the snow floor beneath them which puts them all in danger. Realizing that Lord Milori was right, the Keeper tells Tink that she needs to go home before she is hurt. Tink agrees to go but comes up with a plan to meet her sister the next day at the border between the two lands. Back home Tink enlists her friends Clank (Jeff Bennett) and Bobble (Rob Paulsen) for help in making a snow making machine that will allow Periwinkle to safely visit Pixie Hollow.
The machine works and Tink is able to introduce her friends Fawn, Iridessa (Raven-Symone), Rosetta (Megan Hilty), Silvermist (Lucy Liu), and Vidia (Pamela Adlon) to her sister. When the machine runs out of ice to make snow, they rush Periwinkle back to the Winter Woods and are met by Lord Milori and Queen Clarion who tell the girls that they can’t see each other again because of the danger. Heartbroken, the sisters separate and no one notices that the snow-machine goes into the icy stream and starts to create a massive snow storm that will threaten to upset the seasons and freeze Pixie Hallow and put an end to the Pixie Dust Tree which would mean an end to all Pixie Dust. Despite the rules, the two sides of fairies will need to join forces to stop this disaster before it’s too late.
Secret of the Wings is a cute movie with some great animation and voice acting from the cast. The story is fairly slight (much like the other entries), but it’s enjoyable enough to watch with young children. For those youngsters who love the whole Disney Fairies line, they will enjoy this movie quite a bit I’m sure. With each one of these installments, Disney expands the Fairy world more each time which offers new merchandising opportunities and chances to show how Tinkerbell became the fairy that we know and love in Peter Pan. As I said earlier, I would much prefer to see Tinkerbell back in Neverland, but I’m glad that at least her direct to video solo adventures aren’t simply a cash grab and a lot of effort and skill went into making these movies.
Video 
2D Video 3D Video 
Both of these 1080p (1.78:1) transfers look fantastic although I’d say that the 2D version looks slightly better than the 3D transfer. They both offer vibrant colors which really pop off the screen for this movie thanks to the varying locals within the film that offers the lush greenery of Pixie Hollow and the stark icy beauty of the Winter Woods. Detail is razor sharp as most of their direct from digital films are and it’s very impressive to see. Black levels are dark and deep in both lands and the contrast is spot on. The 3D version is just as good with plenty of depth and dimensionality which really brings the movie to life. This really isn’t one of those gimmicky 3D efforts with things constantly coming out of the screen but the extra depth really brings you into the movie instead. I also didn’t notice any major ghosting or other issues which is always nice. Both transfers are very impressive, with the 2D one looking slightly better than the 3D version, but I still prefer the dimensionality of the 3D version.
Audio 
Secret of the Wings’ DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is also very good but doesn’t quite reach the same heights. The front channels offer clear dialogue while the rear channels deliver some very nice ambiance (which sound really good in the land of ice). There’s a lot of directional sound effects too which are accurate and add a lot of immersion. The LFE comes to life during the end of the movie when a huge snowstorm threatens to overtake both of the fairy lands but is low key during the rest of the film. This isn’t one of Disney’s best audio efforts, but it’s a good mix for a direct to video movie.
Extras
Disney generally is pretty generous with their extras but that didn’t happen this time around. The best of this limited selection is the “Pixie Hollow Games”.
- Pixie Hollow Games – This is a cute bonus cartoon that gives us a look at the Pixie version of the Olympics. It’s cute and a nice bonus to an otherwise pitiful collection of extras.
- Music Videos – Two videos are included: “Great Divide” by the McClain Sisters and “Dig Down Deeper” by Zendaya.
- Pixie Preview – A very short preview of “Fright Light”.
Summary 
These direct to video Tinkerbell adventures are cute but offer safe and unsurprising stories. They always are about teaching some kind of lesson which is good for kids but adults might not be as enthused. The animation is very good and the voice acting is top notch with a lot of talented people involved in this one including Timothy Dalton, Angelica Huston, and more. The Blu-ray offers two fantastic 2D and 3D video transfers and the 5.1 mix is also pretty good. I wish more extras had been included but if you have a young child that likes Tinkerbell, then this is an easy movie to recommend for them.
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