The Tooth Fairy Story Film Analysis: Cartoon Adventure with a Sprinkling of Family-Friendly Tween Romance
Throughout this animated journey for preteens, the world of fairies focuses on collecting teeth from slumbering children and leaving gold under their pillows. Skateboarding teenage rebel fairy Van (brought to life by Booboo Stewart) shows little enthusiasm about devoting his life to gathering baby teeth—a sentiment that’s entirely reasonable. He is just a bit more curious about the underlying economics of the situation: the fairies deliver the teeth to mysterious goblins, who supply gold as payment. However, Van’s interest grows when he catches sight of a goblin (voiced by Larkin Bell), who proves to be far from the hideous gnome he had imagined.
An Unlikely Bond and Common Enemy
The stage is set for an adventure with a gentle touch of teen romance (though it’s very much suitable for children). The fairy and goblin communities are estranged from one another, and nothing fuels the thrill of the forbidden to bring people together. The two species portrayed in the film are remarkably alike, yet each holds prejudiced beliefs about the other. Fairies are supposed to be entitled sorts, prone to taking whatever they fancy, while goblins are allegedly dim-witted, foul-smelling, and primitive, but are actually intelligent and technologically advanced.
Naturally, such a setup needs a common enemy to unite against, and this is duly provided by 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 make for fairly bloodthirsty, if not particularly skilled, villains.
Target Audience and Overall Impression
You won’t find all that many animated films targeting the viewer group that is beginning to have early romances, but are not old enough for whatever 14-year-olds view these days instead of Twilight. Should your youngster is in the right age bracket, it probably won’t to become their new favorite movie, but you could do worse.
A Tooth Fairy Tale releases in Scottish cinemas starting October 10 and the rest of the UK from 24 October.
