A Tooth Fairy Tale Film Analysis: Cartoon Journey with a Touch of Kid-Appropriate Tween Romance
Throughout this animated journey for preteens, the fairy community focuses on collecting teeth from sleeping youngsters and placing gold under their pillows. Board-riding youthful nonconformist 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 slightly more curious about the underlying economics of the situation: the fairies deliver the teeth to mysterious goblins, who provide metal as payment. However, Van’s interest is piqued when he spots a goblin (played by Larkin Bell), who proves to be not at all the hideous creature he had imagined.
A Forbidden Bond and Common Enemy
Everything is prepared for an adventure with a gentle touch of teen romance (though it’s perfectly appropriate for younger kids). The fairy and goblin groups are separated from one another, and nothing fuels the excitement of secrecy to unite beings together. The two species portrayed in the film are remarkably alike, yet each holds prejudiced beliefs about the opposite side. Fairies are said to be self-centered types, prone to taking anything they want, while the goblins are allegedly stupid, foul-smelling, and primitive, but are in fact bright and advanced in technology.
Of course, such a setup needs a shared foe to unite against, and that need is met by a group of vicious spiders, with voices by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. They make no secret with these guys: they want to eat the fairies and goblins, and they serve as fairly bloodthirsty, though not especially competent, villains.
Target Audience and Overall Impression
There aren’t all that many animated films aimed at the kind of audience that is starting to experience first crushes, but aren’t yet mature enough for the content 14-year-olds are watching in lieu of Twilight. Should your youngster is in the right age bracket, this is unlikely to be their next favorite movie, but you could do worse.
The Tooth Fairy Story releases in Scottish cinemas starting October 10 and the rest of the UK from 24 October.
