Oh, the struggling and dreaded Tinker Bell movie. Two years ago, we learned that Brittany Murphy had signed on to bring words to Tinker Bell in a new series of films. Last year, there was behind-the-scenes, executive trouble. This year, in April, pictures were released. Now, poor Brit is out.

Hollywood Newsroom reports that Brittany has been canned, and Mae Whitman is in. The post details all the woes with the Tink series, as well as Murphy's current decline -- from Ashton dumpage, to rumored drug use and a marriage to a man with a lot of legal trouble. This isn't exactly Disney-desired behavior, and it seems that her voice was lacking some sort of magic in the role -- not entirely surprising. Also, get this: "The story didn't work, too many fart jokes and lesbian innuendos." Fart jokes for Tink? What were they smoking when they originally put this together?

But now John Lasseter is working through this new Tink series, and one of the big changes is the voice -- Mae Whitman. HN mentions her role in Independence Day as the President's daughter, and her voice work on flicks like The Jungle Book 2, but she's also the strange teen paramour Ann Veal from Arrested Development. Remember her?

The post also includes a Lasseter-introduced clip from the upcoming movie, so you can check her out in action over at HN. Tinker Bell hits shelves this October.

Do you remember that whole post I wrote about the rumors over Sharon Morrill's departure from Disney? The one that had Disney CCO John Lasseter saying that sequels "erode" the brand? I guess that was tongue in cheek. Cinema Blend has thrown up some pictures for the upcoming Tinker Bell movie, which will be one of at least four direct-to-DVD movies. Gee, there's no erosion at all! Maybe he means that sequels after #5 are? The first film is hitting shelves on October 28, with the following stories to hit later -- Tinker Bell: North of Neverland, Tinker Bell: A Midsummer Storm, and Tinker Bell: A Winter Story.

They've definitely kept the same basic look -- skimpy green dress, blond bun, full hips, and cotton-puff shoes, but they've also made Tink and her friends look a bit more mature than the early days of Tinker Bell. However, I'm impressed that the other girls cover a variety of races, and are getting a bit more clothing coverage (especially in the other picture over at CB). No matter what adults might think, I'm sure young girls will go nuts for this.

This just in: Today in New York City, our Moviefone colleague Kevin Polowy attended the Disney/Pixar Animation Presentation hosted by Dick Cook and John Lasseter. Apparently, a whole handful of new, upcoming titles were announced -- some of which we've known about and some brand new. Additionally, they screened 30 minutes of WALL-E footage and announced that Sigourney Weaver would do a voice in the film. Kevin reported back, saying the footage "looked really strong, and turned this skeptic into a believer." (I don't know how Kevin was worried about this one; it's just too damn adorable.) Aside from WALL-E, here are highlights of what else was announced:

• Up will follow WALL-E for Pixar, featuring the voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger and Jordan Nagai.
  
• Tinkerbell will go direct-to-DVD, followed by three sequels. So four Tinkerbell films all together.
  
• Rapunzel is back! Not only that, but the classic story will be done in full CGI.
• King of the Elves is another film coming from Disney animation in 2012, and it's based on a Phillip K. Dick story.
  
• Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to be released in 3-D in 2009 and 2010.
• Toy Story 3 hits theaters on June 18, 2010
• Newt will be Pixar's film in 2011, and it comes with this description: "What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can't stand each other?
• Cars 2 coming in 2012!

UPDATE: Full press release after the jump, including more titles from Disney animation ...

Off with her head! Er, wait that's the wrong movie -- one of the few that Disney didn't "honor" with a direct-to-DVD sequel. As for other classics, they weren't so lucky. At first, it seemed like only the more recent animated hits would be affected. In the 90's, we got videos like The Return of Jafar and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Of course, this was a short-lived blessing as old-school films started getting picked up. In 2001 it was Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure. Then there was Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (followed this year by a second sequel). Then, the whole thing became unstoppable and almost nothing was sacred -- 101 Dalmations, Bambi and The Fox and the Hound all got sequels. Now, amazingly, Disney has decided to halt future sequels citing inferiority to the originals -- duh!

Some sources, like the previous AHN link, say it's the crappy quality, but over at Variety, there's a little different news about the who and what of the switch. Disney has sacked Sharon Morrill, who has been head of DisneyToons direct-to-DVD work for a while now. She's not completely gone, however, as a Disney rep says that she's being moved to some sort of "special projects" work, whatever that means. The reasoning behind her dismissal, according to V -- the costs for the upcoming Tinker Bell adaptation have skyrocketed to the not-so-costly $50 million (AHN says it's $30 million). Apparently the movie has had around two dozen script versions and a ton of different directors attached. To top that off, sources say that she's not getting along so well with Pixar heads, since Disney bought the company last year.

What the exact story is, remains to be seen. I would imagine that if this was all about Morrill, then Disney wouldn't be bringing their DVD sequels to an end, they'd just find someone to replace her. Whatever the exact numbers and rationale are, I can't help but be a little relieved that it's coming to an end, and relieved that Disney CCO John Lasseter acknowledged that not only are the sequels inferior, but they "erode" the brand. Quality over money...wonders never cease!

Did you know that the Tinker Bell character accounts for 4% of all merchandise sold at Disney parks and resorts? Yep, that's what Variety tells me, and it seems like the folks over at Disney have just started to take notice. Not only will there be a CG-animated direct-to-video Tinker Bell flick in 2008 (with Brittany Murphy providing the lead voice), but you can prepare your daughters for an unending outpouring of "Disney Fairies" merchandise.

You know how every little girl in the known universe has a passionate affection for the "Disney Princesses"? (That'd be Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel, I believe, and sometimes Mulan and Pocahontas.) Well, the Disney Global Toy Syndicate has decided to skew their next line a little younger. After tink's flick arrives in '08, it will be followed by four more movies following in successive years, and each new movie will also introduce a new Disney Fairy, which will then adorn every toy store, shopping mall and airport terminal for the next 32 years. One of the selling points seems to be that, unlike the Princesses, the fairies will be able to interact and go on all sorts of crazy adventures together. Start saving your pennies, parents.

Okay, so it might be a bit creepy for an adult to admit that an animated character is hot, but come on, Jessica Rabbit wasn't really bad, she was just drawn that way, right? Animated characters have been sexualized since the early days of the genre because sex sold just as well back then as it does today. It's pretty evident when you check out all of Disney's animated leading ladies that they've been drawn to look appealing to the eye, going back as far as Snow White and Tinkerbell. (An interesting side note here, according to this interview with Margaret Kerry, who was the character model for Tinkerbell, she claims that her real name is Tinker Bell, two words, although Disney officially has it as one. Her interview is pretty fascinating, check it out.)

The Being a Man Spot over at fanpop has a list of Disney's top ten hottest women, and there are no real surprises on the list. What's notable are the omissions like Jessie from Toy Story 2 who was both sassy and smart, and Daisy Duck, who sort of falls into the creepy Wayne's World category of Bugs Bunny in a dress being attractive. Daisy had a fair amount of sass as well, and she didn't take Donald's nonsense either. That has to count for something, because she definitely wore the pants in that pants-less relationship.

The real question is, what effect does the traditional Disney female image have on young kids? Not everyone is a fan of the oversexed and vivacious look that runs rampant in the Disney-verse, arguing that it gives little girls an image to live up to that is far from what a normal person looks like, and that is sets a very limiting stereotype of what a heroine can look like. Barbie has faced the same sort of criticisms, especially during the whole "Math is hard!" fiasco, yet both Barbie and the Disney women are still created to look like pinup girls.

Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? What do you think, Cinemites?

[Thanks, Marsha]

Last fall Disney unveiled a line of merchandise called Fairies, which follows the company's successful Princesses franchise. As part of the series of products and licensing deals, Disney will release straight-to-video animated films featuring Tinker Bell (since when is her name two words?), the tiny pixie duster from Peter Pan, and her fairy friends. As if J.M. Barrie isn't rolling around in his grave enough after the video sequel Return to Neverland or from the fact that Disney has created a clique of friends for Tink (unlike with the Princesses line, Disney doesn't already have a bunch of fairy characters to mine from), Disney is further ruining the playwright's iconic characters by having Tinker Bell speak. And providing her voice is Brittany Murphy.

Maybe some people are okay with a talking Tink, but if I'm not one of them. If I remember correctly, a lot of the plot points in Peter Pan have to do with her inability to communicate by any other means than pantomime. Maybe she just is so small that her voice doesn't  project to humans, and she can speak perfectly with other fairies, but it still ruins part of her character to hear her voice, especially if it is the same as Murphy's voice.  What next? Pooh loses weight? Donald buys pants? Oh, I know! Make another Bambi sequel that claims Bambi's mother wasn't actually killed by the hunters.