A Tooth Fairy Tale Film Analysis: Animated Adventure with a Sprinkling of Kid-Appropriate Preteen Romance
Throughout this cartoon adventure for preteens, the world of fairies focuses on gathering teeth from slumbering youngsters and leaving gold beneath where they sleep. Board-riding youthful nonconformist fairy Van (voiced by Booboo Stewart) is less than thrilled about devoting his life to gathering baby teeth—a feeling that’s entirely reasonable. He is just slightly more interested in the underlying economics behind it all: the fairies hand over the molars to mysterious goblins, who provide metal as payment. But Van’s curiosity grows when he catches sight of a goblin (played by Larkin Bell), who turns out to be far from the ugly gnome he expected.
An Unlikely Connection and Shared Threat
Everything is prepared for an adventure with a gentle touch of young love (though it’s very much suitable for younger kids). The fairy and goblin communities are separated from one another, and there’s nothing like the thrill of the forbidden to bring people together. Both groups as seen here are incredibly similar, yet each holds biased views about the opposite side. The fairies are said to be self-centered types, prone to taking whatever they fancy, while the goblins are allegedly dim-witted, smelly, and backward, but are in fact bright and technologically advanced.
Of course, this scenario needs a shared foe to unite against, and that need is met in the form of a group of vicious spiders, with voices by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. There’s no beating about the bush about their intentions: they want to eat the fairies and goblins, and they serve as quite savage, if not particularly skilled, villains.
Target Audience and Final Thoughts
There aren’t very many animated films aimed at the kind of audience that is beginning to have early romances, but are not mature enough for the content teenagers are watching in lieu of Twilight. If your child is in the right age bracket, it probably won’t to be their next all-time fave, but you could do worse.
The Tooth Fairy Story releases in Scottish cinemas from 10 October and the rest of the UK beginning October 24.
