Disney's original Tinker Bell, 96, reveals character trait she snuck in herself: 'Golly, I can do...

Reflecting on what the part has meant to her career, Margaret Kerry, 96, said, &34;Everything that I have done, people are enjoying today. That's amazing.&34; Disney's original Tinker Bell, 96, reveals character trait she snuck in herself: 'Golly, I can do that' Reflecting on what the part has meant to her career, Margaret Kerry, 96, said, &34;Everything that I have done, people are enjoying today. That's amazing.&34; By Lauren Huff :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/PXL202501060627063092a245c0a56a194868af7b6a47af56223c.

Reflecting on what the part has meant to her career, Margaret Kerry, 96, said, "Everything that I have done, people are enjoying today. That's amazing."

Disney's original Tinker Bell, 96, reveals character trait she snuck in herself: 'Golly, I can do that'

Reflecting on what the part has meant to her career, Margaret Kerry, 96, said, "Everything that I have done, people are enjoying today. That's amazing."

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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November 22, 2025 12:00 p.m. ET

Margaret Kerry; Tinker Bell. Credit:

Greg Doherty/Getty; Courtesy of Everett Collection

Talk about art literally imitating life: Margaret Kerry, the actress and dancer who served as the model for the original Tinker Bell in 1953's *Peter Pan*, reveals the defining character trait of the fairy that she put in there herself.

Speaking to Woman's World, Kerry, 96, recalled working closely with legendary Disney animator Marc Davis when crafting the iconic cartoon character.**

Kerry remembered asking Davis what his vision was for the character. "I said, 'What do you want her to be? Ditzy like Betty Boop? Above it all like the Queen of the Angels?'" she said, adding, "He said, 'Margaret, we want her to be you.'"

Per the outlet, Kerry smiled as she recalled saying to Davis, "I said, 'Golly, I can do that.'" And true to his word, Davis let her turn the character "into a dancer," with every bit of movement balletic and graceful. "There's always a ballet move," she said of Tinker Bell.

Margaret Kerry in 2004.

Mike FANOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

"At that time, they didn't have electronics. Everything was done by hand," she explained of the process. "So, they cast a person in the role and then filmed them with 35-millimeter film ... a man on a little cart with a pad that came out, and that was the camera."

Disney then filmed Kerry's movements, reactions, and pantomimes, complete with props but without any dialogue to work with, over the course of nine months. Then, she said, "They would process the film, and then pick out the main frames. Marc Davis would do what he wanted with that frame and start the movement. And the in-betweeners would do each frame or every other frame, all by hand. Six hundred and fifty thousand pieces of art were done for that movie."**

And voilà, the iconic green fairy was born. The character would go on to appear in many more film and TV projects and has even become a widely recognized unofficial mascot for Disney.**

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Reflecting on what the part has meant to her career, Kerry told the outlet, "I could have been the actress who got her throat slashed in *Psycho. *What do you do with that? Everything that I have done, people are enjoying today. That's amazing."

In a different interview with Wilma Mag recently, Kerry also had this to say about the role: "I love people, and people loved Tinker Bell, so it was a great match. Also, I'm a person who can't wait to see what's around the corner, no matter what happens. And that's exactly who Tinker Bell is. She could hardly wait to peek around the corner to see what's going on."

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Kerry is also known for appearing in various roles across 52 episodes of *Space Angel* and 48 episodes of *The New 3 Stooges*. She also appeared in two episodes of *The Andy Griffith Show*.

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Source: Animated

Published: November 25, 2025 at 11:38AM on Source: MARIO MAG

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