Tinkerbell And The Pirate Fairy

With more and more sophisticated animated features appealing to mums and dads, as well as older kids, what's left for the six-year-olds who still play with Barbie?

The answer is before you. Tinkerbell (Tink to her friends) is an American pre-teen who lives with her posse of identical fairies in Pixie Hollow. They address each other as "You guys" like every other Legally Blonde wannabee.

Anyway, let's not bitch about what Disney has done to Peter Pan and enjoy the movie. Despite Tink's team being girlie twirly, there are compensations.

Zarina, the inquisitive fairy, who is always asking why, gets herself grounded for making the wrong coloured pixie dust that creates havoc amongst the flora and fauna. Rather than hang about sucking goodygumdrops, like the others, she flies off in a huff and a year later is captaining a pirate ship full of disparate fun characters, including an Old Etonian called James Hook (voiced by an Old Etonian called Tom Hiddleston).

The film is so much better than you dared expect. The title alone puts it into the straight-to-DVD slush pile. Don't write it off because of this.

The animation is not quite at Toy Story's level, but close. The plot is scattered with surprises and the jokes are simple, which is exactly right.

Imagination, believe it or not, has joined the cast. Rather than churn out a fourth grade cheapo product, the creative crew have sold no one short.