Live-Action Tinker Bell Series Has Been Stuck in Development Since 2010. Now It’s a Reality
Tinker Bell is finally getting her own live-action drama series on Disney+, and the creative team behind it may be more interesting than the IP itself.
Liz Heldens and Bridget Carpenter — longtime friends who previously worked together on Friday Night Lights — are writing and executive producing Tink, a high-priority project for the streamer that has been gestating in various forms for over a decade.
Deadline was first to report the news.
The Writers Bringing Tinker Bell to Life
Heldens and Carpenter bring résumés that span an unusual range of tones and genres.
Heldens started her TV career on Boston Public and has since accumulated credits on Mercy, Deception, The Passage, Camp, The Big Leap, The Orville, and The Dropout, Hulu’s limited series about Elizabeth Holmes.
She is currently co-showrunner on ABC’s Will Trent, now in its fourth season.
Carpenter got her start on Showtime’s Dead Like Me. Her credits include Parenthood, The Red Road, 11.22.63 (based on the Stephen King novel), Westworld, and Only Murders in the Building.
She is also a respected playwright, with work produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Public Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Disney Is Treating ‘Tink’ as a Priority
The upcoming Tink series is being produced through Disney’s 20th Television.
Gary Marsh, the former President and Chief Creative Officer of Disney Branded Television, is executive producing. Quinn Haberman of Heldens’ production company Selfish Mermaid is also executive producing.
Marsh’s involvement is particularly worth noting given his history with the project. According to Variety, the project was retooled in 2021 after Marsh stepped down from his Disney role.
His return here as an executive producer suggests a continuity of creative vision — and perhaps explains why the project has finally found its footing after years of false starts.
More Than a Decade of False Starts
Tinker Bell was originally created by J.M. Barrie and first appeared in Disney’s 1953 animated film Peter Pan.
The choice to build a series around her — rather than around Peter Pan or the broader Neverland ensemble — speaks to a bet on her standalone appeal.
In fact, a Tink live-action project has been in development in various forms for over a decade, according to Variety. The timeline reads like a map of shifting industry priorities:
In 2010, the project was announced as a live-action romantic comedy with Elizabeth Banks attached to star, and Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot, and McG as producers. That rom-com framing and producing team evoke a very specific era of studio filmmaking — one that largely doesn’t exist anymore.
By 2015, Reese Witherspoon was attached to star in a live-action film version. The shift from Banks to Witherspoon, and from romantic comedy to a broader “live-action film” description, suggests the concept was already evolving.
The project was retooled in 2021 after Marsh stepped down. Then in 2023, Yara Shahidi (Black-ish) played Tinker Bell in the live-action film Peter Pan & Wendy, giving Disney a different live-action take on the character — though clearly not one that extinguished the appetite for a Tinker Bell-centric project.
Disney has yet to announce any official news or plot details surrounding the project.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
