By the time I returned from the pool, yesterday, the painted rock on our Sun City Peachtree bench had been snagged.  I’m guessing a grandmother (or grandfather) snatched it up for their grand kid.  Curious to know what I missed, I contacted the artist and learned it was Tinker Bell.  Thanks to the artist for e-mailing this photo:

Yay for Disney characters!  Growing up in Long Beach, California, Disneyland was a short distance away.  I have fond memories visiting there with my family, ride ticket books in hand.  My brother and I loved those “E” tickets, so we could bobsled our way around the Matterhorn and scream our lungs out.  Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, however, is one my best friend Laura and I laughed our way through the most.

Back to Tinker Bell, she became famous in the 1953 Disney film, Peter Pan, as Peter’s sidekick on his adventures.  She may appear as a delicate and sweet fairy, but this girl is a badass with some sass!  See, she wants Peter Pan all to herself, so when any other girl poses a threat (especially Wendy Darling), the claws come out, and her temper flares.  Her jealousy and spite get the best of her, I’m afraid.  (I remember girls just like her back in high school!)

Miss Bell is quite the narcissist, too, because she just LOVES admiring herself in the mirror!  She doesn’t like seeing her wide hips, though. 

“Tink” (or, “Miss Bell”), has some special powers.  She is equipped with Pixie Dust, which grants herself and others the ability to fly, so long as they think “wonderful thoughts.” 

Since Miss Bell can fly, she can visit (and admire) her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame any time she likes!  Perhaps she can bring her twin sister Periwinkle with her to admire it, too.

The flying fairy doesn’t talk—at least in a way us humans can understand.  Instead, she speaks in an unintelligible fairy language, and her vocalizations sound like a jingling bell to us.

Tinker Bell brings in the bucks for Disney as one of its most popular characters.  Realizing the gold mine they had with the pretty fairy, they gave her the ability to talk, so she could become a spokesperson for Walt Disney Company.  She eventually got her own franchise, Disney Fairies, which spun off a series of full-length feature films beginning with Tinker Bell, which made a mint in 2008.

For that matter, Tinker Bell is a cash cow (Sorry for the “cow” reference, Tink!) for Disney—just one of many characters that have made Walt Disney Company very profitable since the 1950’s!