A Tooth Fairy Tale Review: Animated Adventure with a Touch of Family-Friendly Preteen Romance
In this cartoon journey for preteens, the world of fairies is dedicated to collecting baby teeth of sleeping youngsters and leaving gold beneath where they sleep. Skateboarding youthful nonconformist fairy Van (voiced by Booboo Stewart) shows little enthusiasm about spending his future to collecting baby teeth—a sentiment that’s entirely reasonable. He is just a bit more interested in the financial workings of the situation: the fairies hand over the molars to unseen goblins, who provide metal in exchange. But Van’s curiosity is piqued when he spots a goblin (played by Larkin Bell), who proves to be not at all the ugly creature he expected.
An Unlikely Connection and Shared Threat
The stage is set for an exciting quest with a light sprinkling of teen romance (though it’s very much suitable for children). The fairy and goblin communities are separated from one another, and nothing fuels the thrill of the forbidden to bring people together. Both groups portrayed in the film are incredibly similar, yet both maintain prejudiced beliefs about the other. The fairies are supposed to be self-centered sorts, given to taking anything they want, while the goblins are reportedly stupid, smelly, and primitive, but are in fact bright and advanced in technology.
Naturally, this scenario requires a common enemy to join forces against, and that need is met by some nasty spiders, with voices by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. There’s no beating about the bush about their intentions: they aim to devour the fairies and goblins, and they make for fairly bloodthirsty, if not particularly skilled, villains.
Ideal Viewers and Overall Impression
You won’t find all that many animated films aimed at the kind of audience that is beginning to have early romances, but aren’t yet old enough for whatever 14-year-olds are watching in lieu of Twilight. Should your youngster falls into this age group, this is unlikely to become their new all-time fave, but it’s a decent choice.
The Tooth Fairy Story arrives in movie theaters in Scotland starting October 10 and across the United Kingdom beginning October 24.
