Dina Rabinovitch talks to Geraldine McCaughrean about Peter Pan in Scarlet for the Guardian.
McCaughrean makes some interesting points towards the end of the interview about Tinkerbell and Peter. Here's what she has to say:
"In the US, she's discovered, they are obsessed with Tinkerbell - drawn, in her words, 'to the saccharine and cutesy'. In the UK, on the other hand, it's Peter all the way.
'I don't dislike Tinkerbell,' she says, 'but the fairy aspect is the bit that least interested me. I'm most interested in characters who inhabit that sliding scale between good and evil - I don't like it when the hero's just all good, and the villain's all bad. I wanted to bring out the ambiguity of Peter; it's his dark side that's of interest to me.'"
But doesn't Tinkerbell have a dark side as well? What do you think?
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By: Kelly Herold,
on 2/5/2007
Blog: Crossover (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Kelly Herold,
on 2/5/2007
Blog: Crossover (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Geraldine McCaughrean, Peter Pan in Scarlet, Peter Pan, Add a tag
5 Comments on Geraldine McCaughrean, last added: 2/8/2007
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She certainly does... doesn't she try to poison Wendy? Hrumph.
I wonder how much of the attitude to Tinkerbell has been coloured by the Disney animations (general rule: if you want a sacred text made a total hash of, give it to Disney every time). Are audiences reacting to the buxom animated drawing, or to the original Tinkerbell who was just a glimmer of light on a stage, plus a voice?
Yes, Tinkerbell has a dark side. In the book, the orginal book, she had quite foul language as well. She was definitely stubborn, foul-mouthed, and possessive. Nothing cutesy about her!
Hi Nick: I do think McCaughrean is responding to the Disney version. I was busily trying to remember the actual book as well--as opposed to the stage version or the film.
Wendy and Becky--I'm glad to see I'm remembering the book correctly! The agression towards Wendy and the foul mouth.
Tink is sassy, feisty, spirited, fiercely loyal, jealous -- she has many more layers than Wendy has, in my opinion!