Peggy Holmes
Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy hit the big screen over the weekend and saw Peggy Holmes return to the director’s chair; this is her second Tinker Bell movie.
We caught up with the filmmaker to chat about the new project, the fantastic cast she has brought together, and what lies ahead.
- Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy has just hit the big screen, so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy is a high seas adventure movie that takes us out into the seas of Neverland; it bridges Tinker Bell’s world in Pixie Hollow from her world in Peter Pan.
We have a brand new fairy called Zarina, who makes a big mistake and runs away Pixie Hollow. She ultimately figures out that she has made that mistake and does everything that she can to right that wrong.
- This movie sees you back in the director’s chair, so where did this project start for you?
It started here at Disney Toon Studios; we all sat together and thought ‘we want our next project to be big adventure for Tinker Bell, what should we do?’ We sat with John Lasseter and some of the directors and writers here and said ‘we know we want a fairy that makes a mistake.
We know we want her to runaway from home, but where should she go?’ All of a sudden John just went, ‘Pirates. She should run into pirates’. So, that really did get the whole ball rolling.
- John Lasseter has been very hands on with this project, as well as Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings, so how do you find working with him?
It is amazing. John is the best storyteller of our time he is an amazing storyteller. He is also such a great collaborator and mentor. He just wants to tell the best story that we possibly can, and he really is with you every step of the way.
He is so fun; he is like a little kid. When we decided that we were going to introduce a young Captain Hook, John just went crazy and was like ‘oh my god, that is going to be amazing’ (laughs).
- As you say, it has been a very collaborative process making this movie, so how hands on were you in the scriptwriting side of things? And how much did the story change from that initial idea to the film we are going to see on the big screen?
As a director in animation, collaborating with all of the artists is the biggest job that you have. You have to figure out the vision of the movie and the tone of the movie, but then you work alongside all of the other artists here at the studio: so you are working with the writers, story artists, the character designers and the art director.
You all work together, and each person makes each stage of the movie better; that really is the best part. You might come up with an idea, but then the writer goes ‘oh my gosh, if you do that, then maybe we can do this’.
For example, we knew that we had Zarina and she was the captain of a pirate ship, so one of our directors said ‘we should make her a little tiny captain door inside the big captain door’. It is so fun to work in a collaborative environment like that.
In the case of Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy, once we knew we wanted to go into the seas of Neverland, introduce a young Captain Hook, and put the girls in a big adventure with pirates, we pretty much rolled forward and stayed in that vein the whole time.
- You were in the director’s chair for Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings so what made you want to return to this popular character?
I love Tinker Bell, I just love her. She is curious at heart and she is incredibly loyal. One of the things that I love about Tinker Bell is the fact that she is not afraid to admit when she makes a mistake or has done something wrong.
She is just someone that you always want to explore. She wears hear heart on her sleeve and shows her emotions all of the time; I think most of us wish we could be as brave as Tinker Bell.
- This movie brings together a great voice cast as Mae Whitman, Christina Hendricks and Tom Hiddleston are all on board. Can you talk a bit about the casting process?
We have a casting director here at Disney called Jason Henkel, and he sits with you and talks with about what you are looking for in a character. He then starts to compile a list of actors that he thinks could be right for this.
In the case of this film, our young Captain Hook we wanted someone who could be a charming cabin boy and then could turn on a dime and become a villain and Tom Hiddleston was at the top of our list. At the time, we didn’t realise that he also sang.
Tom was our dream casting for this role as he is so could and such a good actor. You want these characters to be incredibly believable, and he does such a good job. He also sings in the movie, which is really fun.
Christina Hendricks takes on the role of Zarina. Zarina is the pirate fairy and is the captain of a pirate ship, despite the fact that she is just seven inches tall.
She need to have a commanding presence and a tough side to her, as well as being very vulnerable; she feels bad about a mistake that she has made and wants to come back home. Christina carries both vulnerability and toughness.
- How did you find working with these actors? Did you record the voices in the traditional manner of just one actor at a time?
We did indeed, we recorded traditionally. What is fun about it is that it is the ultimate playground for imagination. The actors come in the booth, we set the scene and tell them what the scene is all about and we have a script, but it is ok it they go off script as they get caught up in the moment.
That is really what we want. We have really great actors in this film, and we want those spontaneous moments that none of us could have thought of, to really come through from these brilliant actors.
- Is the recording process one that the actors find quite challenging, as recording alone goes again everything that they usually do as an actor?
It is a discipline and the more they did it the more that they relaxed. Having such great film actors like Mae Whitman, Christina Hendricks and Tom Hiddleston, they have to tale the emotional that would normally come through in their face and put it in their voice.
Therefore, it is a really interesting discipline for them and I think it is fun for actors to stretch that way. They cannot rely on their body language or their face to portray their sadness; we have to make sure we hear it in their vocal performance. They can also come to work and not have to do hair and makeup (laughs).
- Tom Hiddleston takes on the role of a young Captain Hook in the film, how difficult a character was this to develop, as you have to slightly undo everything that we already know about him?
You just want to play respect to who that character is. We all know Hook to be a larger than life character who is super ambitious. You get the sense that Hook’s life has not gone the way it would go, and he has had a lot of failure (laughs), that has made his very bitter, ambitious and made his always want to win.
Tom was so keen on understanding that was about. He is so good at making a character over the top but believable. Tom was definitely the one who pushed the charm; he starts out in the film as a cabin boy and we really need to love him and be charmed by him.
Tom really understood that, and made him so unassuming and charming. Then, he can turn on a dime, and that is the brilliance of Tom Hiddleston.
- We were introduced to the character of Tinker Bell on the first time in Peter Pan back in 1953, what do you think has made this character so enduring? She is as popular now as she has ever been.
Yeah, I think she is. I think that Tinker Bell has a huge heart and it show in her loyalty. She can’t help show when she is angry, when she is happy, excited, or sad and I think that we all have those emotions raging within us. Tinker Bell is just able to show all of those without ever apologising, which is so great.
- During your career, you have worked as a choreographer, actress and now a director, so how much is this the place that you always wanted to be?
I love it. I was working as a dancer and television, and I love that: I grew up dancing and it was my dream to dance in TV and film. I found that I started to be an assistant choreographer on some jobs and I just loved the idea of working with camera and having some more responsibility on the set.
Therefore, half my year I would work on camera and half of my year I would work off camera. I really came to love being on the crew and working on the production side. I don’t miss performing at all, even though I loved it at the time, I don’t miss it.
I did a lot of live action jobs as a choreographer for Disney, and the music executive said ‘hey, why don’t you come over and choreograph this song sequence inside one of our animated movie?’ So that is how it all started.
- You have worked extensively with Disney over the years, so what kind of studio are they like to work for? Everyone I do speak to does seem to absolutely adore working for them?
We do love it. One of the things that is so interesting when you come into the Walt Disney Company, is the values that Walt Disney himself had are still very important. For instance, when we are here at work and we have friends come, they are guests coming into our home.
For the most part, we are all so proud of making films that have wonderful heart and full of adventure. It is something that we all love to watch and we love to make. It is a fantastic place to work, I love it so much.
- Finally, what is next for you? Have you got plans to stay at Disney or do you want to move into live action?
I plan to stay here at Disney Toon Studios. I am in love with working with John Lasseter, it is an amazing experience and I am growing as an artist: which is really fun to do. We want to keep finding a voice and keep finding stories that we want to tell.
I am very happy to stay here and tell these wonderful, heart-warming Disney stories. I am about to do into development next, and I will get to blue sky about what kind of stories I want to make.
Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy is out now.