Interview: Tinker Bell’s Raven-Symone

Talking with Raven-Symone on the telephone, it was easy to imagine that I was really speaking to Iridessa, the character she plays in the new DVD, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. She has such a sparkly quality, I could hear just why she was selected for the role.
NM: Were you a fan of Tinker Bell when you were a little girl? Did you watch ‘Peter Pan?’
R-S: Of course I did! I loved all the Peter Pan incarnations.
NM: Tell me about Iridessa, the character you play.
R-S: She is a light fairy, like lightning bugs with their glow, and I am excited to play her. She is fun, smart, and kind of wary, and that is like me, because I am, too.
NM: You are known in your television show, That’s So Raven, for a lot of physical comedy. How do you convey a character just through voice?
R-S: You have to be able to make the words come alive. And I am lucky because the artists and the director are so creative and imaginative — they inspire me.
NM: I hear that they tried to make this Tinker Bell story boy-friendly and that it is directed at boys as well as girls.
R-S: The underlying story of friendship is universal. And it really is a story that appeals to everyone, boys and girls and young and older. There is a great boy character, Terence . And Tinker Bell is really a guy’s girl, a best friend, not overly tomboy but very adventuresome. She is also humble and she messes up — she’s a normal person with wings!