{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{For|other usages|Toothless (disambiguation){{!}}Toothless}}{{Infobox television | image = Disneys Toothless DVD cover art.jpg | image_size = 220 | image_alt = | caption = DVD cover | genre = [[Fantasy comedy]] | writer = Mark S. Kaufman | director = [[Melanie Mayron]] | starring = {{plainlist| * [[Kirstie Alley]] * [[Dale Midkiff]] * [[Ross Malinger]] * [[Daryl Mitchell (actor)|Daryl "Chill" Mitchell]] * [[Kathryn Zaremba]] * [[Marcus Toji]] * Melanie Mayron * [[Lynn Redgrave]] }} | music = [[David Michael Frank]] | country = United States | language = English | executive_producer = [[David Hoberman]] | producer = Joan Van Horn | editor = Henk van Eeghen | cinematography = [[Sandi Sissel]] | runtime = 92 minutes | company = {{plainlist| * [[Mandeville Films]] * [[Disney Telefilms|Walt Disney Telefilms]] }} | budget = | network = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] | released = {{Start date|1997|10|05}} }}
'''''Toothless''''' is a 1997 American [[fantasy comedy]] [[television film]] that first aired as part of ''[[The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] on October 5, 1997, and produced by [[Disney Telefilms]] and [[Mandeville Films]].<ref name=vty1>{{cite news|title=Alley's 'Toothless' tops Disney's Alphabet slate|url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/alley-s-toothless-tops-disney-s-alphabet-slate-1117436256/|access-date=December 30, 2015|work=Variety|date=February 17, 1997|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305050224/http://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/alley-s-toothless-tops-disney-s-alphabet-slate-1117436256/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was directed by [[Melanie Mayron]], written by Mark S. Kaufman, and stars [[Kirstie Alley]], with [[Dale Midkiff]], [[Ross Malinger]], [[Daryl Mitchell (actor)|Daryl "Chill" Mitchell]], [[Kathryn Zaremba]], [[Marcus Toji]], Mayron, and [[Lynn Redgrave]] in supporting roles.
==Plot== Katherine Lewis, having been a dentist since her late father and grandfather had each been one, is killed after being struck by a bike messenger. She awakens to find herself in [[Limbo]], a place between [[Heaven]] and [[Hell]]. In Limbo, Katherine is told that she must perform community service as a [[mythological]] being before going to Heaven. Katherine signs a contract to be the [[tooth fairy|Tooth Fairy]] and is trained by a worker named Raul on how to perform her service.
On her first night on the job, Katherine visits a lonely 12-year-old boy named Bobby Jameson and is accidentally discovered by him. As it turns out, children who have baby teeth can see her, while those who have lost all of theirs cannot, as the loss of baby teeth represents the loss of innocence required to see magical beings and creatures. The next day at school, a bully named Jeff and his gang ambush Bobby, and one of them punches him and knocks out another one of his teeth. Katherine comes to visit Bobby again that night and discovers that his mother had died of cancer and his father, Thomas is always busy at work. Katherine decides to help Bobby and his friends at his school with their problems, which lands her in trouble with the higher-ups in Limbo, as revealing herself to living humans is a grievous infraction. However, she has an all-time high approval rating as Tooth Fairy and is let off with a warning. Katherine feels that the children's needs are greater than hers and asks for Raul's help in making her visible to the parents and the school principal so she can prove that she is real and Bobby is not insane. Raul is touched that Katherine is willing to sacrifice her chance to go to Heaven to help Bobby and his friends and agrees to help her.
Katherine succeeds in becoming visible to the adults by "letting her guard down" and showing Bobby that she cares for him. She proceeds to tell off the parents and principal but is sent back to Limbo once again for revealing herself to humans. Once there, Rogers, the supervisor of Limbo, sends Katherine to the Hellavator to be sent to Hell. After saying goodbye to Raul, she begins her descent but suddenly finds herself alive and back on Earth. She learns from Raul that not only was she dreaming, but she has been given a second chance at life, as well. She later notices Rogers as a traffic cop who mouths to her that she is watching her. This suggests that Katherine wasn't dreaming after all.
Katherine returns to her job as a dentist with a newfound love of life. She finds Bobby Jameson, a new patient, waiting for his appointment with her. She explains what happened and goes on to live her life to its fullest. After she removes his last baby tooth, though, all of his memories of her as the Tooth Fairy are lost, and she is saddened that he no longer remembers her. However, Bobby's father recognizes her from when she turned visible. Katherine asks Thomas and Bobby to go to a baseball game with her, and they accept, which implies the blooming of a romance between Thomas and Katherine which could result in her becoming Bobby's [[stepmother]].
==Cast== {{cast listing| * [[Kirstie Alley]] as Dr. Katherine Lewis ** [[Jamie Renée Smith]] as Young Katherine * [[Dale Midkiff]] as Thomas Jameson * [[Ross Malinger]] as Bobby Jameson * [[Daryl Mitchell (actor)|Daryl "Chill" Mitchell]] as Raul * [[Kathryn Zaremba]] as Carrie * [[Marcus Toji]] as Trevor * [[Melanie Mayron]] as Mindy * [[Lynn Redgrave]] as Rogers * [[Kimberly Scott]] as Gwen * John P. Connolly as Dr. Green * [[Catlin Adams]] as Carrie's Mother * [[Patrick Kerr]] as Mr. Wood * [[Jake Richardson]] as Jeff * [[Arjay Smith]] as Phil * [[Eileen Brennan]] as Joe #1 * [[Joel Swetow]] as Joe #2 * [[Kaley Cuoco]] as Lori * [[Lindze Letherman]] as Molly * [[Helen Slater]] as Mrs. Lewis * [[Lewis Smith (actor)|Lewis Smith]] as Young Hot Guy * [[Yeardley Smith]] as Gatekeeper * [[Joel Brooks]] as Principal Norris }}
==Production== The script by Mark S. Kaufman was originally intended as a theatrical release but was retooled as a [[television film]] for ''[[Disney anthology television series|The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' due in part to the downward trends in box office returns experienced by family films.<ref name="FamilyFilmsNYT">{{cite news|first=James|last=Sterngold|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/17/business/media-entertainment-children-s-movies-facing-tough-market-find-home-revived.html|title=MEDIA: ENTERTAINMENT; Children's movies, facing a tough market, find a home on a revived Disney series.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|location=New York City|date= November 17, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527064529/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/17/business/media-entertainment-children-s-movies-facing-tough-market-find-home-revived.html|archive-date=May 27, 2015 }}</ref>
==Reception== During its initial broadcast, ''Toothless'' scored an 8.4 in the [[Nielsen Media Research|Nielsen ratings]] translating to viewership of roughly 8.2 million households.<ref name="FamilyFilmsNYT" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title|id=0127322|title=Toothless}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=toothless|title=Toothless}}
{{Melanie Mayron}}
[[Category:1997 television films]] [[Category:1997 films]] [[Category:1997 children's films]] [[Category:1997 comedy films]] [[Category:1997 fantasy films]] [[Category:1997 in American television]] [[Category:1997 American films]] [[Category:1990s children's comedy films]] [[Category:1990s children's fantasy films]] [[Category:1990s fantasy comedy films]] [[Category:American Broadcasting Company original films]] [[Category:American children's comedy films]] [[Category:American children's fantasy films]] [[Category:American comedy television films]] [[Category:American fantasy comedy films]] [[Category:American fantasy television films]] [[Category:Disney television films]] [[Category:English-language fantasy comedy films]] [[Category:Films about the afterlife]] [[Category:Films about dentistry]] [[Category:Films about tooth fairies]] [[Category:Films directed by Melanie Mayron]] [[Category:Films scored by David Michael Frank]] [[Category:Mandeville Films films]] [[Category:Walt Disney anthology television series episodes]]