Flying Tinker Bell: Tinker Bell Interview with her Tink Crew

Gina Rock With Her Tink Crew

by Joshua Shaffer

This interview project was a long time in the making. Gina Rock made contact with two of her Tink Crew members from the 1980s, Jim Moore and Bruce McGuire. She was able to get ahold of never before seen photos and video footage from Jim.

Richard and Sarah Woloski from the Skywalking Through Neverland podcast conducted the interview. Gina was interviewed along with Bruce, but at the last minute, Jim wasn’t able to make it on the call. Bruce and Gina told stories about their time together in Disneyland. Bruce worked in Disneyland from 1973-2001 and was with the Tink Crew from 1984-1987. Jim worked in Disneyland from 1976-1988 and was with Gina from 1985-1989.

Here is the interview with Skywalking Through Neverland episode #399 aired December 8, 2022.

You can also listen to it on your favorite podcast platform or directly from their website www.SkywalkingThroughNeverland.com

Jim was able to send us this never before seen footage of a daytime flight test with sandbags from 1983. This safety test was conducted to make sure everything was safe for Gina to fly for the nightly fireworks.

Sometimes Gina would come in for a hard crash landing. The mattress at the end was held by two Cast Members, referred to as spots. You can see Gina coming in hard in this footage from Jim. The radio chatter is the Cast Members and that countdown voice you hear is Jack Wagner, "The Voice of Disneyland."

While watching the fireworks, it does appear that Tinker Bell is flying right by the castle. In fact, the cable is further behind the turrets than it appears. Here are different angles to show Tink’s flight path from the top of Matterhorn Mountain all the way to the landing platform on the other side of Fantasyland.