A Tooth Fairy Tale Review: Cartoon Adventure with a Touch of Family-Friendly Preteen Romance
In this cartoon journey for preteens, the world of fairies focuses on gathering baby teeth of slumbering youngsters and leaving treasure beneath where they sleep. Skateboarding youthful nonconformist fairy Van (brought to life by Booboo Stewart) is less than thrilled about devoting his life to gathering baby teeth—a feeling that’s entirely reasonable. He’s only a bit more curious about the underlying economics behind it all: the fairies hand over the molars to mysterious goblins, who supply gold as payment. But Van’s curiosity is piqued when he catches sight of a goblin (played by Larkin Bell), who turns out to be far from the ugly gnome he had imagined.
A Forbidden Bond and Shared Threat
Everything is prepared for an adventure with a gentle touch of teen romance (even though it remains perfectly appropriate for children). The goblin and fairy groups are separated from each other, and there’s nothing like the excitement of secrecy to unite beings as one. The two species as seen here are incredibly similar, yet both maintain biased views about the other. The fairies are said to be entitled sorts, prone to stealing anything they want, while goblins are reportedly dim-witted, foul-smelling, and primitive, but are actually intelligent and advanced in technology.
Of course, this scenario requires a shared foe to unite 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 with these guys: they aim to devour the goblins and fairies, and they make for quite savage, if not especially competent, villains.
Ideal Viewers and Final Thoughts
You won’t find very many animated films aimed at the kind of audience that is starting to experience first crushes, but aren’t yet mature enough for whatever 14-year-olds are watching in lieu of Twilight. If your child falls into this age group, it probably won’t to become their new favorite movie, but it’s a decent choice.
The Tooth Fairy Story releases in Scottish cinemas from 10 October and the rest of the UK from 24 October.
