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In this cartoon adventure for preteens, the fairy community is dedicated to collecting teeth from slumbering children and leaving gold under their pillows. Skateboarding youthful nonconformist fairy Van (voiced by Booboo Stewart) is less than thrilled about devoting his life to gathering baby teeth—a feeling that’s completely understandable. He is just a bit more interested in the underlying economics behind it all: the fairies deliver the teeth to mysterious goblins, who supply gold as payment. But Van’s curiosity is piqued 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 Connection and Common Enemy

Everything is prepared for an adventure with a light sprinkling of teen romance (though it’s very much suitable for younger kids). The fairy and goblin communities are estranged from each other, and there’s nothing like the excitement of secrecy to bring people as one. The two species portrayed in the film are remarkably alike, yet both maintain prejudiced beliefs about the opposite side. The fairies are said to be entitled sorts, given to taking anything they want, while the goblins are reportedly stupid, foul-smelling, and primitive, but are in fact bright and technologically advanced.

Naturally, such a setup requires a common enemy to join forces against, and that need is met by a group of vicious spiders, voiced by Jon Lovitz and Fran Drescher. There’s no beating about the bush with these guys: they want to eat the fairies and goblins, and they serve as fairly bloodthirsty, if not especially competent, villains.

Ideal Viewers and Final Thoughts

You won’t find all that many children’s animations targeting the kind of audience that is starting to experience early romances, but are not old enough for whatever 14-year-olds are watching in lieu of Twilight. If your child falls into this age group, it probably won’t to become their new all-time fave, but you could do worse.

A Tooth Fairy Tale arrives in movie theaters in Scotland starting October 10 and across the United Kingdom from 24 October.