The Tooth Fairy Story Review: Animated Adventure with a Touch of Family-Friendly Preteen Love Story
In this animated journey aimed at tweens, the world of fairies is dedicated to collecting 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 spending his future to gathering baby teeth—a feeling that’s completely understandable. He’s only slightly more curious about the underlying economics behind it all: the fairies deliver the teeth to mysterious goblins, who supply gold in exchange. However, Van’s interest grows when he catches sight of a goblin (voiced by Larkin Bell), who proves to be not at all the hideous creature he had imagined.
An Unlikely Connection and Shared Threat
The stage is set for an adventure with a light sprinkling of teen romance (even though it remains perfectly appropriate for younger kids). The fairy and goblin communities are separated from each other, and nothing fuels the thrill of the forbidden to bring people together. The two species as seen here are remarkably alike, yet each holds biased views about the opposite side. Fairies are said to be self-centered sorts, prone to stealing whatever they fancy, while the goblins are allegedly stupid, foul-smelling, and backward, but are actually intelligent and advanced in technology.
Of course, this scenario requires a shared foe to unite against, and that need is met in the form of some nasty spiders, voiced 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, though not particularly skilled, villains.
Target Audience and Final Thoughts
You won’t find very many children’s animations targeting the viewer group that is starting to experience early romances, 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, this is unlikely to be their next all-time fave, but you could do worse.
A Tooth Fairy Tale releases in movie theaters in Scotland from 10 October and the rest of the UK from 24 October.
