On one hand, it presents the skepticism of Houdini and others as entirely justified. When Elsie asks Houdini about magic, and he counsels her that an illusionist never gives away the secret of how the trick is done, they're obviously talking about the fairy fakery. On the other hand, it presents physical fairies, rendered charmingly by the film's special effects team, frolicking with the girls and doing good deeds. Fairies, believers and disbelievers are all the same here, just fodder for greeting-card emotions and pretty pictures of girls in English gardens. It is a mistake to say that kids don't care whether a story like this one makes sense.
Most children have a keen sense of internal logic in even the most far-fetched story.
The more outlandish the tale, the more important that it follow its own rules. Fairy Tale looks authentic, but flunks the test of honest make-believe. The Cincinnati Enquirer , a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper.