The Tooth Fairy Story Film Analysis: Animated Journey with a Touch of Family-Friendly Tween Romance
In this cartoon journey aimed at tweens, the world of fairies is dedicated to gathering teeth from slumbering children and placing treasure under their pillows. Skateboarding teenage rebel fairy Van (brought to life by Booboo Stewart) shows little enthusiasm about devoting his life to collecting baby teeth—a feeling that’s entirely reasonable. He is just a bit more interested in the underlying economics behind it all: the fairies hand over the molars to unseen goblins, who supply gold as payment. But Van’s curiosity grows when he catches sight of a goblin (voiced by Larkin Bell), who proves to be far from the hideous creature he had imagined.
A Forbidden Connection and Shared Threat
The stage is set for an adventure with a gentle touch of young love (even though it remains perfectly appropriate for younger kids). The fairy and goblin communities are estranged from one another, and nothing fuels the excitement of secrecy to bring people together. The two species portrayed in the film are incredibly similar, yet each holds prejudiced beliefs about the other. The fairies are said to be entitled types, prone to stealing anything they want, while goblins are reportedly stupid, smelly, and backward, but are in fact intelligent and technologically advanced.
Naturally, such a setup needs a common enemy to join forces against, and this is duly provided in the form of a group of vicious spiders, voiced by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. They make no secret about their intentions: they want to eat the goblins and fairies, and they make for quite savage, though not particularly skilled, villains.
Target Audience and Overall Impression
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 whatever 14-year-olds view these days instead of Twilight. If your child falls into this age group, it probably won’t to be their next favorite movie, but you could do worse.
A Tooth Fairy Tale releases in Scottish cinemas from 10 October and the rest of the UK from 24 October.
