A Tooth Fairy Tale Review: Animated Journey with a Sprinkling of Family-Friendly Preteen Romance

In this cartoon adventure aimed at tweens, the world of fairies is dedicated to collecting teeth from slumbering children and placing treasure beneath where they sleep. Board-riding teenage rebel fairy Van (brought to life by Booboo Stewart) is less than thrilled 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 mysterious goblins, who provide metal as payment. But Van’s curiosity grows when he catches sight of a goblin (voiced by Larkin Bell), who turns out to be far from the hideous gnome he expected.

A Forbidden Bond and Common Enemy

Everything is prepared for an adventure with a gentle touch of teen romance (even though it remains perfectly appropriate for children). The goblin and fairy communities are separated from each other, and there’s nothing like the thrill of the forbidden to bring people together. The two species as seen here are incredibly similar, yet each holds biased views about the other. 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 intelligent and technologically advanced.

Of course, such a setup requires a common enemy to unite against, and that need is met in the form of a group of vicious spiders, with voices by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. They make no secret about their intentions: they want to eat the fairies and goblins, and they serve as quite savage, if not especially competent, villains.

Target Audience and Final Thoughts

There aren’t very many children’s animations aimed at the kind of audience that is starting to experience first crushes, but are not mature enough for the content 14-year-olds are watching in lieu of Twilight. If your child is in the right age bracket, this is unlikely to become their new all-time fave, but you could do worse.

The Tooth Fairy Story releases in movie theaters in Scotland starting October 10 and the rest of the UK beginning October 24.