Cute Overrides Evil

I don't know if I'd call it a pet peeve exactly, but why am I the only one who recalls that Tinker Bell is actually kind of a villain? I mean, there's all this merchandising and she's this beloved icon, starring in her own line of movies (and dolls, and costumes, and makeup, and clothing, and...) and I saw part of the first movie and THAT'S NOT THE SAME CHARACTER! She's all sweet and hard-working and loyal... in Peter Pan, she was a rotten mean little bitch, who tried to get the Lost Boys to shoot Wendy out of the sky with arrows and teamed up with Captain Hook, which almost got Peter poisoned!

Not that Peter was without his faults. He was one of my favorites growing up, but I think that was just because he was basically the only Disney boy (not counting those lame-ass princes)... keep in mind, this was before Aladdin and Hercules and the rest. Now when I watch, he's like this gleefully ignorant brat. Sigh. Rose colored glasses.

Also, I was so annoyed when I was IN Peter Pan when I was a kid and found out that in the play, Tinker Bell wasn't an actual character, just a little beam of light who "spoke" via jingling bells. Now don't ask me how I thought an actual performer was supposed to be like six inches tall and flit around the stage, but I guess I did. Also, am I the only one who hates seeing Peter Pan as a play and him being played by old women? Not just him, I think Michael and John were also women in the most recent version I saw. I can suspend disbelief a certain extent, but for whatever reason, that's a sticking point for me. You wouldn't put on Annie with grown MEN playing the orphans would you? (Oh, that would be AWESOME!)
But I mean, I guess everyone can be forgiven, since Tinker Bell was rumored to be Walt Disney's favorite creation.... well, you know what I mean. This version of her. He spent more time and money developing her appearance than any other character. Urban legend has it, Marilyn Monroe was an inspiration, but I think that's just a rumor. And she is cute as all hell! So money and time well-spent. He used her as the mascot to his TV series, The Wonderful World of Disney, which I remember watching every Sunday evening as a child. It's one of those bitter-sweet memories-- I enjoyed the show, but knew that Sunday night was the most depressing night of the week, because it meant the weekend was over.

Like I said, she's now a headliner in her own right, starring in a series of direct-to-DVD movies. In the latest, she adopts this UBER-KEWT autumn look:
Just as I collect black dolls, Cathy collects redheads, so I got her the doll of Tinker Bell's redhead friend Rosetta.

(L-R, Fawn, Silvermist, Tinker Bell, Iridessa and Rosetta.)

I think Rosetta and Silvermist are the most popular, because the doll I got Cathy was from a collection which ONLY included those three. They rolled out a new assortment after Christmas with all the characters, including Iridessa whom I snatched up. They're so cute! I was vaguely annoyed though that most of them are wearing pretty dresses, but Iridessa is wearing a pantsuit. Pantsuit=Frumpy, note to Hilary Rodham Clinton. AND the jacket part of the suit has a sunflower seed as a clasp. None of the other girls has an unsightly "decoration" on their outfit. Ah well... even though this assortment had Iridessa and the other less-popular character Fawn, they only had one apiece, whereas there were at least two of the more popular girls.

I only bought Iridessa and fairly quickly, the rest sold out, except one Rosetta that I think is still there today. So then, the other day, I went in to buy some 75% off Valentine's stuff and they'd restocked the Tinker Bell dolls. I'd always wanted to get Tink herself, but she'd sold out too quickly, so I grabbed her. (C'mon! She has an adorable leaf should wrap!) I'd also wanted Rosetta, because she's one of the cutest ones, so I grabbed her too. Then I grabbed Fawn, because she's so rare, so if I didn't get her then, I'd probably never be able to! (I think she's the requisite "tom boy," judging by her freckles, because freckles = tom boy, which may be why she isn't as popular.) That only left Silvermist, who isn't as cute as Rosetta or Tinkerbell or as rare as Fawn or Iridessa... but I didn't want to have an entire set except for one! I though, well, I could get her later. But what difference does it make if I spent $10 then or two days later? NONE!
So $40 later, I have a complete set of Tinker Bell dolls! Well, not complete-complete, just this assortment-complete. I'm not going back and buying the older ones. I collect enough junk, thanks! This was kind of just an impulse buy. Now if they come out with another assortment, which they will, we'll see if I take the bait then. (Let's start placing bets now.)
I haven't even opened them, and I may not. I used to think it was stupid to buy toys and not open them, but I can't really think of what enjoyment I might get from opening them. I'm not really going to play with them. I just bought them because they're pretty... it's exactly like buying art, people! By keeping them in their packages, it retains their perfection... no matter how well you take care of collectibles, they still get a little bit of wear and tear just being out. In the case of action figures or statues or other "hard" items, it isn't that bad, but with dolls... their hair can get all messed up, and dust gets into their hair and the fibers of their clothing... and once dolls hair gets jacked, the doll is just over! It's better not to expose them to that. Trust me, I've lost PLENTY of dolls due to such unfortunate events. In fact, I had a WHOLE bunch in an open plastic container, and David was doing some hardware-y thing down in the basement and next thing I knew, I had a box full of RUINED, SAWDUST-COVERED GARBAGE! Some I replaced, but others, I just threw out, which I hated doing because a lot of them had been presents, but I'd kind of already gotten all the fun I was going to get out of them and didn't want to pay eBay prices to replace them, with that being the case.

The only dust I want to deal with is Pixie Dust. This way, my pixies stay pristine and sawdust (and regular dust)-free. So, yeah, I guess even though Tinker Bell is a villain, she's an adorable one, so no hard feelings! Besides, the evil villainess is my favorite character on a lot of shows! So welcome to the evil pack, Tink!

Bad Girls... toot toot! Beep beep!