When Enchantment Meets the Real World

Kicked off my Easter season this morning with The First Easter Rabbit. This 1979 Rankin-Bass special tells the origins of the Easter Bunny. Originally a stuffed rabbit (hense his name, "Stuffy"), a fairy turns him into a real animal and anoints him the symbol of spring and head of Easter Valley. Can he keep the valley's Golden Lilly blooming in time for the holiday...or will a chilly character called Zero put his celebration on ice?

I left for work shortly after the DVD ended. Work was pretty much dead all day. The day had started out sunny, but the sun disappeared about half-way through my shift. When I got out at 4, the day was gray, blah, and windy, though not quite as chilly as earlier in the week.

As soon as I got home, I changed into a sweater, pulled my coat back on, and went back out. I wanted a walk and I needed milk at WaWa. It was very busy there when I arrived; I had to wait a little while to get my milk.

Spring is in full bloom in the neighborhood, despite the temperatures. Canary-yellow daffodils and soft lavender hyacinths bloom in every garden. Some of the trees have their first creamy white magnolia blossoms. Others have buds that'll be leaves in the next few weeks.

Not trusting the weather, I spent the remaining afternoon inside, cleaning the kitchen, listening to music, and watching Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue.

The third movie in the Disney "Fairies" series introduces something new to Tinker Bell's world...humans. Fairies and humans aren't supposed to go near one another, but Tinker Bell is very curious about the human world. She can't resist following a Model T when she sees one for the first time, but the grouchy night fairy Vidia follows her and reminds her to restrain her curiosity. If humans find them, they might hurt them...or worse!

Fortunately, the human who does find Tink and takes her home is Lizzie, a little girl who likes fairies. Vidia gets upset when Tink is captured and tells the others, which spurs a mission to rescue her during a huge rainstorm. Lizzie's having problems of her own. Her very "modern" naturalist father will have none of her nonsense talk of fairies. To him, the only things that exist are the ones that are visible to the naked eye. Tink, however, has a few lessons in ingenuity, faith, and magic to teach everyone, fairies and humans alike...

I'm glad Disney didn't shut this series down when they disbanded their made-for-DVD/video animated movie division a few years ago. I've enjoyed the tales of Tink and her magical buddies. Here, for once, we get to know her friends slightly better, and everyone gets a chance to shine.