How did Tinker Bell get her name? In J. M. Barrie's original version of the play "Peter Pan,"the little sprite's name was Tippytoe, and she had speaking lines. But over time, Barrie decided that the fairy's expressions would be best voiced by musical chimes. During the early 1900s, vagabonds known as tinkers traveled from town to town, performing jack-of-all-trade repair services. Their arrival was hailed by the jingling of bells fashioned from tin that they mounted on their wagons. One of these "tinker bells" was used to give Peter's fairy friend her voice in the original stage production, and the name stuck.

Now, more than a hundred years later, it is difficult to believe that this popular pixie began as a circle of lamplight, reflected in a mirror controlled by a stage hand behind the curtains. She is now the center of a major Disney franchise, she flies through the skies in Orlando and Anaheim introducing the nightly fireworks displays, and she opens every Walt Disney Pictures film with a sprinkling of pixie dust.

Tinker Bell: An Evolution is a full biography of the fiery little fairy. Designed in collaboration with the Animation Research library, it contains artwork that has never been seen before. The book is heavily illustrated, highly detailed, and will make the perfect gift for every grown-up who believes in fairies.