The Tooth Fairy Story Film Analysis: Animated Adventure with a Sprinkling of Kid-Appropriate Preteen Romance
Throughout this animated adventure aimed at tweens, the world of fairies is dedicated to collecting baby teeth of slumbering youngsters and placing gold beneath where they sleep. Skateboarding youthful nonconformist 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 interested in the financial workings behind it all: the fairies deliver the teeth to unseen goblins, who supply gold as payment. But Van’s curiosity grows when he spots a goblin (voiced by Larkin Bell), who proves to be not at all the hideous gnome he had imagined.
An Unlikely Bond and Common Enemy
Everything is prepared for an adventure with a gentle touch of young love (though it’s perfectly appropriate for children). The goblin and fairy groups are estranged from one another, and nothing fuels the excitement of secrecy to bring people as one. The two species portrayed in the film are remarkably alike, yet each holds biased views about the opposite side. The fairies are said to be self-centered types, given to taking anything they want, while the goblins are allegedly dim-witted, smelly, and backward, but are in fact bright and technologically advanced.
Naturally, such a setup needs a common enemy to unite against, and that need is met in the form of a group of vicious spiders, voiced by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. They make no secret with these guys: they want to eat the fairies and goblins, and they make for fairly bloodthirsty, though not particularly skilled, villains.
Target Audience and Overall Impression
You won’t find very many animated films aimed at the viewer group that is starting to experience early romances, but are not mature enough for the content teenagers view these days in lieu of popular teen sagas. Should your youngster is in the right age bracket, this is unlikely 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.
