Children will enjoy this wonderland romp in a frozen forest with their favorite fairy Tinker Bell.  Disney’s Secret of the Wings, the newest in the Fairies collection, has been released in a Blu-ray combo pack and for the first time includes a Fairies feature on a disc in 3D.

This adventure starts in Pixie Hallow showing Tink working with her friends that are making baskets for neighboring winter fairies living in the forbidden winter woods.  Curious about the winter woods, Tink volunteers to help the Animal Fairy take the rabbits to the edge of the frozen forest.  There she sees the rabbits cross a mysterious gateway that changes their fir from brown to white so they can survive the cold.  

She finds the special change exciting and when the Animal Fairy turns to get a badger that’s reluctant to go beyond the entryway, Tink goes to the winter wood side opening her wings.  Sparkling, her wings light up brilliantly fascinating Tink, but she starts to freeze.  Saved by the Animal Fairy, the Pixie Hallow doctor thaws her out.  But Tink wonders why her wings were so shiny.  When she goes to the library and gets a clue, she sneaks back to the winter wood where she meets her sister and a whole new world filled with ice fairies.

Tinker Bell and Periwinkle are sisters in Disney’s Secret of the Wings

The sweet story plays out magically and will appeal to most all children.  In fact, if you watch the film along with your child you’ll be delighted as well.  The Disney story writers are mindful of family values and Tink’s adventure has no offensive material.  Even when Tink and her new found sister Periwinkle are in peril there’s always a safe way the fairies get saved.

That brings me to the look of Disney’s Secret of the Wings.  The Visual Quality: I found the animation extremely good with softer edges than some of Disney’s work that’s shown on the Disney Channel.  This makes the characters more likable and real.  The enhancement of Blu-ray (even if the DVD is played on a Blu-ray player) adds to this with sharp visuals that really entrance the viewer.  Several of the snow scenes are magical with show boarding and skiing on realistic looking snow.  Even through the fairy wings you can see the background clearly.

If you have a 3D Television and 3D Blu-ray player (the 3D Blu-ray player still can play regular Blu-ray and DVD discs) you will be amazed at the quality and performance of the 3D video disc.  I found the feature to be extremely bright with exceptional fine depth of field.  The movie goes beyond the front of the screen and shows the characters so touchable you may want to remind your youngsters not to make contact with the screen.  Fairies and other background do come out at you, but should not scare even the youngest viewer.  In fact you may even catch them raising their hands in the air as if to touch the animated characters.

Audio Quality:  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 does an excellent job with all the dialogue, music and special effects sounds.  Played through my Blu-ray player to my HD Television surround speakers the songs by the McCain sisters are crystal clear and rockin’. Even the background giggles of the snow playing fairies that skate and sled down hills are understandable.

Your young ladies will love this new adventure that’s a visual delight, whether in brilliant Blu-ray, DVD or the enhanced feature of 3D.   Even the outside case that the video comes in has a 3D visual on the cover.  Hold it up in the light and you will see Tink’s wings sparkle and protrude beyond the box.  In my opinion however, there happens to be a drawback to the case itself as the four discs are packed inside in a challenging way.  Instead of each disc having its own seating, the Blu-ray disc sits on top of the 3D Blu-ray and on the opposite side, the DVD sits on top of the Digital disc.  Children should not handle the case as they may dislodge a disc improperly when getting to either the 3D disc or the Digital disc. Make sure that your disc snaps back into place when returning it to the case.

The Extra Features are on both the Blu-ray disc and the DVD of Disney’s Secret of the Wings and are genuine bonuses. In fact your daughter will probably be playing them more often than the feature.

Bonus Features:

• Pixie Hallow Games Bonus Adventure- This is a 22-minute adventure comedy featuring the garden fairies, prim and proper Rosetta and sporty Chloe, who are chosen as a team to enter the Pixie Hallow Sports Competition. The nonstop comedy that includes several mud and slime contests shows what teamwork and friendship will accomplish.  It’s an “A” in my book.
• “Great Divide” Music Video Performed by the McCain Sisters- This music video is snappy and rockin’ with the Sisters singing in a background of animated clips from Disney’s The Secret of the Wings.
• “Dig Down Deeper” Music Video performed by Zendaya- This musical number will have the youngsters hopping to a fun song featured in the Pixie Hallow Games short film.
• Pixie Preview: Fright Light- Just in time for Halloween this short film features Tinker Bell saving a mouse.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  A wonder filled feature for the whole family. (A)

Specifications and additional film information:

• Cast: Mae Whitman, Lucy Hale, Timothy Dalton, Lucy Liu, Jeff Bennett and Anjelica Huston
• Directed by: Peggy Holmes
• Co-Directed by: Bobs Gannaway
• MPAA Rating: G
• Genre: Children, Animated
• Running Time: 1 hr 15 min
• Street Date: October 23, 2012
• Language: English (also tracks in Spanish and French)
• Format: Blu-ray, DVD and Blu-ray 3D
• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Video: 1080p HD, 1.78:1 Enhances for 16×9 Widescreen (DVD)
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Number of Discs: 4 discs
• Distributed by: Buena Vista Home Entertainment