A brand new Tinker Bell flitted onto the big screen last week with the release of Peter Pan & Wendy, and audiences are already deeply in love with Yara Shahidi’s take on the character.
Over the years, the petite, sassy fairy has been brought to life by a range of different actors. Some iterations are far more popular than others — a fact that is heavily impacted by the quality of the film they appeared in — but each and every one of these Tinker Bell actors deserves a shout-out for delivering their own unique flavor of the cinematic world’s most famous fairy.
Every Tinker Bell actor
The very first Peter Pan movie was released all the way back in the mid-1920s, and fresh versions of Peter, Wendy, and Tink have populated screens nearly every decade since. In recent years, releases have become even more frequent, as filmmakers return to J.M. Barrie’s story time and again with the hope of injecting it with something fresh. We’re not going to include versions of Tink with no actor behind them (like the CGI Tink in Peter Pan Live!) or those who cropped up in particularly small or minor televised releases, and it’s worth noting that Tink’s character is almost always silent, but that doesn’t detract from the talented performances that brought her to life.
Peter Pan (1924)
The first-ever film adaptation of Peter Pan hit screens in 1924 and quickly made it a staple of the cinematic world. The first on-screen iteration of Tink — along with the rest of the cast — didn’t actually speak in the silent adventure film, but the talented Virginia Cecelia Labuna still managed to portray the character brilliantly.
Peter Pan (1953)
Perhaps the best-known Peter Pan out there was released several decades later, in 1953. Disney’s animated Peter Pan remains the most-viewed entry on this list and tends to serve as the flick folks are referencing when they think of Peter, the Lost Boys, or Tinker Bell.
The Tink that appears in the ‘50s Peter Pan also informed the vast majority of following pixie performances. Like her ‘20s iteration, this Tinker Bell doesn’t speak, but, despite rumors that Marilyn Monroe provided inspiration, she is based on actress Margaret Kerry, who also provided the character’s pantomime.
The Adventures of Peter Pan (1989)
Have you ever heard of the Peter Pan anime? While streaming the 1989 series might be a bit of a chore these days, dedicated fans of the story can enjoy it in that classic early ’90s anime style. The series contains a total of 41 episodes and follows the much-extended adventures of Peter, Wendy, and the Lost Boys as they battle pirates and massively depart from the source material. Sumi Shimamoto, best known as Nausicaä in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, plays Tinker Bell in the anime, alongside a similarly talented voice cast.
Peter Pan and the Pirates (1990)
An animated television series followed the Peter Pan anime by a year, dropping on Fox and providing a similarly stretched-out take on the longstanding story. The series ran for right around a year, aired a full 65 episodes, and starred a surprisingly stellar cast. Tim Curry as Captain Hook? Sign me up!
Tink is played by the similarly iconic — but far less easily recognizable — Debi Derryberry, who is well known for her vocal talent. Keen-eared listeners will recognize her voice as Jimmy Neutron’s from the cartoon of the same name, as well as Wednesday Addams in the animated Addams Family, and Diana in Sailor Moon.
Hook (1991)
The first major alteration of the Peter Pan story cropped up in the late ‘90s, nearly 70 years after the first on-screen adaptation. Hook arguably presents the most popular iteration of Tinker Bell ever to grace the screen — portrayed flawlessly by the unmatched Julia Roberts — with even future Tinker Bells like Yara Shahidi crediting Roberts with a spectacular performance.
Peter Pan (2003)
2003’s Peter Pan faced similar criticism to Peter Pan & Wendy when it was released, due to the film’s general lack of anything new. It doesn’t make the adaptation bad, necessarily, but it did force viewers to wonder if it was necessary, considering the short distance between it and flicks like the original Disney animation or the 1960 live-action. Despite its lack of originality, the film was plenty popular among its viewer base, as was Ludivine Sagnier in her role as Tinker Bell.
Disney Fairies (2005)
The Disney Fairies series of releases, which started in the early 2000s and stretched all the way to the mid-2010s, dug into the background and origins of the animated Tink introduced in the 1950s staple. Tinker Bell was the primary character in most of these releases and actually enjoyed a speaking role, unlike the majority of her on-screen iterations. She is played by the talented Mae Whitman, who is known as Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Katara, Cassie Sandsmark (aka Wonder Girl) in Young Justice, and April O’Neil in 2012’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Neverland (2011)
A Syfy miniseries that aired near the end of 2011, Neverland put another unique spin on the Peter Pan story. Intended as a prequel of sorts to the original, Neverland positions Peter and the Lost Boys as regular London youths in the early 1900s, whose theft of a mysterious orb accidentally teleports them to a world where time stands still. Here, they face off against Hook, meet Tinker Bell — played by Keira Knightley — and set up elements of the story necessary to the classic Peter Pan tale.
Once Upon A Time (2013)
Pretty much every Disney character ever imagined cropped up in Once Upon A Time at one point or another, and Tinker Bell is no exception. The iconic fairy got her own dedicated arc in the series, starting with season three and returning for a handful of episodes over the next several years. Rose McIver, known for her work on Netflix’s Christmas Prince franchise and iZombie, played Tink in the series, once again adding some weight and background to the typically simple character.
Pan (2015)
Ah, Pan. The critically-panned (see what I did there?) film is far from the most popular Peter Pan offering, despite the star power of additions like Hugh Jackman, and is generally looked on as an easily-ignorable addition to the lineup. There’s technically no actor behind Tink’s voice in the unfortunately failed attempt to switch up the Peter Pan story, but director Joe Wright did lend an appropriately tiny voice to the character. Recordings of his newborn son, Mohan, burbling and cooing serve as the “voice” of Peter’s loyal fairy in the 2015 film.
Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)
The latest Peter Pan offering to take a stab at the age-old story released in 2023 to mixed reviews. While plenty of people wholeheartedly enjoyed Peter Pan & Wendy, the film offered little variety to the story. With this in mind, many viewers found it a charming, but overall unnecessary, addition to the wealth of existing Peter Pan adaptations. Despite its middle-of-the-road ratings, however, few people (apart from the racists) have anything but praise for Tink actress Yara Shahidi, who did a stellar job in bringing the sweet little pixie to life.
Tink (?)
It’s still in development and may never see the light of day, but one other Tinker Bell project deserves a mention on this list. Tink was announced all the way back in 2015 with Reese Witherspoon tapped to portray the titular fairy, but the arrival of Peter Pan & Wendy in 2023 cast doubt over the film. It’s still unclear if it will ever be completed, but — as of 2021 — the film was still in development and headed for an eventual release.
