Peggy Holmes

How Did Periwinkle Get Her Name in The Secret of the Wings

Disclosure: I was provided with a trip to Los Angeles in return for my honest review on the event mentioned above. All expenses were paid by Disney and no other compensation was given. Regardless, all opinions are 100% my own.

Have you ever wondered how characters get their names in movies? On my recent trip to Hollywood, I was honored to be involved in an interview with Peggy Holmes, the director of The Secret of the Wings.

Secret of the Wings

The Secret of the Wings

I will tell you the answer to the above question in just a minute, but first I would just like to share with you how incredibly awesome Peggy is! She was so sweet and wonderfully bubbly. Seriously!

She was so full of joy and you could feel the passion that she had about the movie. You could not help but feel uplifted in her presence and there were smiles all around.

Take a look… (I apologize for the quality of the photos… they were stills taken as I was simultaneously videotaping her interview). See how amazingly animated she is? How could The Secret of the Wings be anything less than remarkable with Peggy at the wheels?

Peggy Holmes

Now the answer to the aforementioned question: As Peggy and her team began to research ideas for the movie she knew she wanted to focus on Winter as a season. She began to notice shades of blue  and white as a constant theme.

As they learned all sorts of different names for shades of blue, they happened upon the name “Periwinkle” and the character’s name was born, so to speak.

Secret of the Wings

Plus, Periwinkle was not originally going to be Tinker Bell’s sister. She was just a girl that Tinker Bell felt an uncanny pull towards but did not know why.

You know that feeling? That one person that completes your life unlike any other. Yeah… that! But, as the story developed the emotional attachment was not there so the idea of sisters was born via a suggestion by Clay Hall (director of “Lost Treasure“). It just sounded right.

… we came upon this idea that… Oh my gosh! There were two little wisps we just didn’t see it in the first movie!

This opened the door to new insights into Tinker Bell’s emotional side. Not only has she shown her loyalty to her friends such as Peter Pan, but she has also shown her incredibly big heart.

Upon the discovery of her sister she now unleashes a more emotional side of her character that we have not yet seen. That deep love and bonding simply enhances Tinker Bell’s story.

Everything else goes away and they just want to learn about each other’s life.

I found it most interesting that Peggy and her team brought in a twin specialist for the movie. She specialized in twins that had been separated at birth or an early age, and then reunited later in life.

They wanted to make sure that Tinker Bell and Periwinkle’s relationship was believable and realistic. Even tough Tinker Bell has more life experience, Periwinkle still shares her spontaneity and spunk. It was through the assistance of this specialist that one of the most significant quirks between the two sisters came to be.

What is the quirk? Watch the movie and find out!

Peggy Holmes
Photo Credit: Disney

And did you know there is an actual Doctor of Snow? Of snow? I never heard of that! But, since John Lasseter loves research, they brought in Tom Painter, who is a Doctor of Snow.

They would call him, and he would answer while skiing down a hill in Utah, and ask if a particular scene in the movie could actually happen. He taught the team how frost actually protects from freeze.

This becomes a detrimental part of the plot as the story unfolds and Periwinkle, a Frost Fairy, uses her special talent to help the Pixie Hollow fairies.

…it’s a really fun process to sort of use research to develop creativity.

Additionally, Peggy’s team brought in a hairstylist who travels the world for different women’s causes. He actually dyed the wigs for Periwinkle’s hair in his bathtub the night before, and then brought them to the studio.

He then styled the hair cut-by-cut in front of the technicians so they could see how to make the style work. Since Peggy wanted an angular, different style for Periwinkle, the techs needed to understand how to make it work in CG.

The result is Periwinkle’s incredibly beautiful and unique hair.

What a process! And there were still others.

An in-house animal expert, the McClain sisters, and many others were helpful in developing the story and the characters. I found it simply awesome that each Tinker Bell story is scripted according to its directors story.

Peggy said that John gives them the liberty to do the movie from their perspective and I found that fascinating.

I must say, Peggy Holmes’ story is a marvelous one and you do not want to miss The Secret of the Wings! You can read my review and learn more.

Secret of the Wings

The Secret of the Wings releases to Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Download on October 23, 2012.