Wings of Starlight is the latest addition to Disney Fairies and the first Young Adult entry in a series that primarily targets younger audiences. This multimedia canon explores the background of Tinker Bell, as presented in the 1953 Disney animated film Peter Pan, which was, in turn, based on J. M. Barrie’s novel Peter Pan (1911). Currently, the Disney Fairies series comprises animated films, novels, chapter books, and graphic novels.

Disney Fairies launched in 2005 with the release of the book Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, written by Gail Carson Levine (best known for her 1997 novel Ella Enchanted) and illustrated by David Christiana. It established the realm of Pixie Hollow, hidden in Never Land. The protagonists are the Never Fairies, born from babies’ first laughs and gifted with “talents” that dictate their interests and abilities. These include water or light-talent fairies as well as baking or tinker-talent fairies. The popularity of this first book led to two more novels by Levine in what became the Fairy Dust trilogy: Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand (2007) and Fairies and the Quest for Never Land (2010) as well as a series of chapter books and short story collections, targeting younger readers, that focused on the characters established in the trilogy: Prilla, Rani, Beck, Fira, Vidia, and the preexisting Tinker Bell.

In 2008, DisneyToon Studios released Tinker Bell, the first of six direct-to-video animated films. The film was a significant departure from the jealous and silent versions of Tinker Bell depicted in Disney’s Peter Pan. It also expanded her role from the original Disney Fairies books, where she mainly served as a supporting character. Like Prilla, the protagonist of Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, Tinker Bell’s character arc in the film centers on her struggle with identity and belonging, which relates to her talent. She also has a different supporting cast of background characters than the original series: Silvermist, Iridessa, Rosetta, and Fawn. One exception is the fast-flying talent fairy, Vidia, who reprises her role as a semi-antagonist of gray morality. Another exception is the leader of the Never Fairies, Queen Clarion.

Clarion’s role in the larger Disney Fairies canon is relatively unchanged since her first appearance in Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, which depicts her as a wise, regal, and caring leader. However, this changed with the release of the fourth film, Secret of the Wings (2012). The film centers on the Winter Woods, where the fairies from the warmer seasons are forbidden to go for their safety. Likewise, the realm’s ruler, Lord Milori, enforces the rule that winter fairies can’t go to the realms of the other seasons. While the rules on both sides at first appear overly strict, they’re later revealed to stem from the desire to prevent further suffering. Queen Clarion and Lord Milori were once in love, but their relationship ended in heartbreak after Milori broke his wing crossing into the warm seasons to be with her. His wing could never be healed, and, as a result, both he and Clarion committed to enforcing the border between the realms. Their relationship provides a foil to the journey of Tinker Bell and her newly discovered twin sister, Periwinkle, a winter fairy. The sisters’ love and desire for connection eventually led Clarion and Milori to reconsider the old rules. By the end of the film, they work together to create a safe zone at the border where warm and winter fairies can meet.