Tinker Bell's Alter Ego Still Believes

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The woman Disney animators modeled Tinker Bell after flitted into town Tuesday for a private tour of Pixie Woods. I caught up with her at the giraffe slide.
Margaret Kerry, 78, is a pixilated 5-foot-2 and still has many of the perky moves that won her the role as "reference model" for Tinker Bell in Disney's 1953 "Peter Pan."
She also uses the expression "Good golly."
"I am enchanted; that is the only word," Kerry gushed of the children's park. "There are enchanted places on the face of the Earth, and this is one of them."
Kerry was heading home to Glendale after signing autographs for Tinker Bell's many fans at the California State Fair.
"I'm so fortunate," Kerry said. "They come up full of warmth and love and caring and tell me what Tinker Bell means to them. I'm so lucky."
Brawny men roll up sleeves and ask her to sign Tink tattoos. One woman retreated to a tattoo parlor so that Kerry's signature could be inked on her arm beside her tattoo of the 31/2-inch sprite Kerry helped to create in 1953.
Born Peggy Lynch in Los Angeles, Kerry took ballet from age 4, acquiring the poise, body shape and mime's control of motion that later helped her characterize a mute fairy.
Becoming a child actress, she played an unnamed brat in the "Our Gang" comedy shorts, a teenager in the movie "If You Knew Susie" and a daughter in one of the first TV family sitcoms, "The Charlie Ruggles Show."
But the break for which she is best known came in '53, when her agent arranged an audition with the legendary Marc Davis at Disney's Burbank studios.
One of the famed "nine old men" of Disney, Davis created unforgettable characters such as Thumper, Cinderella and Cruella De Vil. He also designed Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion rides.
Davis had sketches of Tinker Bell, but no animating soul. The night before auditions, Kerry practiced making a pantomime breakfast to an instrumental record.
"So when they put me in front of the camera in my little bathing suit, then it was up to me to give her personality. I played her as a 12-year-old girl who was seeing life for the first time."
Saying this, Kerry broke into the scene in which Tinker Bell, seeing her first-ever mirror, preens and fusses. Sure enough, there was Tink, just as Davis captured her on film over a half-century ago.
"And they said, 'Would it be convenient for you to come to work next Tuesday?' " Kerry remembered. They worked in a near-empty sound stage. Davis filmed Kerry and projected her giant shadow on the wall. Giving directions, he often whipped off a sketch of Tinker Bell so swiftly, Kerry recalled, "I thought, 'Good golly! He's a genius.' "
Walt Disney stopped by once. "He was just as charming and nice as he could be" - although word was Disney could be "Bear Country" when stressed.
Tinker Bell became a bigger star than expected through a quirk, Kerry said.
Disney execs, afraid Disneyland would bomb, prevailed upon Walt Disney not to use major stars such as Mickey Mouse in the park. That way, if Disneyland went bankrupt, they could still make money off Mickey cartoons.
Disney promoted Tinker Bell to mascot. Tink became "hostess" for Disney's various TV shows. She still flies over the Disneyland castle every night during fireworks.
"That's why I'm so tired every night," Kerry quipped.
In later life, Kerry became a voice - and lips - on the "Clutch Cargo" cartoon series. Today she hosts a religious radio show in Los Angeles and does appearances.
She'll be at the Manteca Pumpkin Fair on Oct. 6 and 7. A PR person for the fair sits on Pixie Woods' board, hence the visit.
Kerry looks forward to Tink's comeback in a new Disney animated feature film, "Tinker Bell," scheduled for release in 2008.
"She is recognized in Outer Mongolia," Kerry said of her alter ego. "I think that's astounding. And when her new movie comes out, it's going to be right back up top."

Source: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.d...0320/-1/A_NEWS