🔗 Share this article

Throughout this animated adventure for preteens, the world of fairies focuses on gathering teeth from slumbering youngsters and placing gold under their pillows. Skateboarding youthful nonconformist fairy Van (voiced by Booboo Stewart) is less than thrilled about spending his future to gathering baby teeth—a sentiment that’s entirely reasonable. He’s only slightly more curious about the financial workings behind it all: the fairies deliver the teeth to unseen goblins, who provide metal in exchange. 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 creature he had imagined.

An Unlikely Bond and Shared Threat

Everything is prepared for an exciting quest with a gentle touch of young love (even though it remains very much suitable for children). The fairy and goblin groups are separated from each other, and there’s nothing like the thrill of the forbidden to bring people together. Both groups portrayed in the film are incredibly similar, yet each holds prejudiced beliefs about the other. Fairies are said to be self-centered sorts, prone to stealing whatever they fancy, while goblins are reportedly dim-witted, foul-smelling, and primitive, but are actually intelligent and advanced in technology.

Of course, such a setup requires a common enemy to unite against, and that need is met by a group of vicious spiders, voiced by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. They make no secret with these guys: they aim to devour the fairies and goblins, and they make for fairly bloodthirsty, if not especially competent, villains.

Target Audience and Final Thoughts

There aren’t all that many animated films targeting the kind of audience that is beginning to have first crushes, but aren’t yet mature enough for whatever 14-year-olds are watching in lieu of popular teen sagas. If your child falls into this age group, it probably won’t to become their new all-time fave, but it’s a decent choice.

A Tooth Fairy Tale arrives in Scottish cinemas from 10 October and the rest of the UK from 24 October.