For the record, Fairy Haven is by no means perfect. It’s not a utopia. The fairy society there might not be as creatively oppressive as the one in Pixie Hollow, but they have their own faults. Don’t think I’m trying to play it up as perfect.
The fairies are on the whole, rather self-interested and superficial. They judge each other and gossip very quickly. They can be nasty little things. They aren’t polite (at least not by human standards.)
But I’d rather them than Pixie Hollow, just personally. Everyone else is free to favor whichever one they favor and I won’t judge! I’m stating my personal opinion here.
I think they’re more interesting and unique than the fairies portrayed in the films. There’s more of a sense of Never fairy culture in the books, from languages to customs and celebrations and communications and daily life…something I have trouble pinpointing in the movies.
The only language differences are a couple of punny words, “flitterific,” “jingles.” They have the Blue Harvest Moon in Lost Treasure, which is the most interesting thing we got based on Never fairy mythology in the movies. Otherwise we have the Pixie Hollow Games, which are pretty much based on all the games and tournaments in the books (Great Game Day from Prilla’s Priza?) and the Four Seasons Festival, which was not shown for the sake of expanding the world of Pixie Hollow and fairy culture, but as a plot device to get everyone in the same place so Zarina could drug them. We didn’t even see a full act from the festival.
Fairies in the books say “Fly with you” instead of “hello” and “I’d fly backward if I could” instead of “I’m sorry” and they don’t call anyone “Miss” or “Mister” nor curtsy, or say “thank you.” “Fly with you” is short for “I look forward to flying with you” and they also say as a farewell, “Fly with you later.” A little known fact to fairies is that the phrase originally came from the more extended, “I would happily fly with you to the farthest reaches of Never Arbor and to the top of Torth Mountain if you asked.”
We’ve learned about Leaf Lettering in the books, the ancient written fairy language, and we learned that it is uncommonly used now, found in old books, formal letters/invitations and secret letters. We know nothing about the written fairy language in the movies, besides what it looks like. And it was never focused on. We know a lot about the fairy celebrations in the books: fairy dances and the Molt and the Bluebell Festival. The Purple Moon Dance, Butterfly Ball, and others exist as well. We see nothing about formal dances in the movies.
All we get to know about in the movies is how the fairies change the seasons.
We know that the fairies in the books trade with other creatures on Never Land called Tiffens. The Tiffens are banana farmers. Do the fairies in the movies have any diplomatic relations with other species in the area? Do they exist? We see nothing about the world around them!
It’s easy to write about fairies in the movies, because they act like humans, just in a cute fairy world. The fairies in the books have a very specific mentality and way of thinking and behaving and speaking, that you have to be aware of.
The movies have a setting, but the books have unique characters in a unique world.
