In J.M. Barrie's original 1904 play "Peter and Wendy," the fairy Tinker Bell was typically represented by a powerful spotlamp, reflected onto the stage by a small hand mirror. Her dialogue was a series of small jingle bells, shaken offstage. When Barrie adapted his play into a 1911 novel, Tinker Bell remained mute, although she was able to participate in the action more closely. In the first film adaptation of Barrie's work, Herbert Brenson's 1924 film "Peter Pan," Tinker Bell was a light dangled by a string in long shots but actor Virginia Browne Faire in close-ups, either filmed against outside sets or composited into the frame.

In 1953, directors Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson brought Pan to life in the celebrated animated film "Peter Pan," released by the Walt Disney Company. In that film, Tinker Bell was also mute, but could be animated as a miniature person in most of her scenes,...