Over the last few weeks, you may have noticed I haven’t come out with any feature posts, and the reason is simple. I’ve been spending all of my time trying to understand the purpose of The Fairly Oddparents, aside from it being a funny show back in its heyday.
During my research, if that’s what you want to call it, I realized that the show taught me way more about life than I ever gave it credit for. While it’s no “Boy Meets World,” this show was far more relevant than I ever realized.
So I wrote an article, which came out today, about just that. You can read “20 Lessons We Didn’t Know We Learned From ‘The Fairly Oddparents'” on Moviepilot, where I cover some funny teaching moments from the show. But the fun doesn’t stop there.
See, I came across something pretty subtle while combing through the TFO narrative, and it’s this: You don’t really grow up until you figure out how to properly deal with your problems.
One thing that bothers me about TFO (and it probably bothers you, too) is that Timmy Turner learns the same lesson every single week. This lesson is that you can’t just wish your problems away. Every time you do, you end up creating more problems. And even in a world where you get everything you want, there are still rules, terms and conditions that will hold you back.
Which brings me to the true purpose of The Fairly Oddparents. It’s not simply to give us a show where we can laugh at the misfortunes of a ten-year-old boy who has the world at his fingertips. It’s to show us that the fairy godparents aren’t really there to just give Timmy whatever he wants.
Instead, the whole point of giving Timmy fairy godparents is to teach him that he doesn’t need them. In fact, the very first episode of the main show is about Timmy wishing that he was grown up, instead of just…well growing up the normal way.
In the pilot, Cosmo and Wanda say they want to help Timmy by granting him wishes, and I still think it’s true. But the point is clearly to help Timmy understand that he doesn’t really need magic to solve his problems. After all, in that same pilot episode, Timmy uses his wishes to abuse and torture Vicky, making him just as bad as her.
As the series progresses, we watch Timmy consistently use magic to make his life better, but it never turns out quite as he expected. And the show won’t end (for real) until Timmy decides to figure life out on his own, rather than rely on magical godparents to preserve his childhood.
To some of you, this may seem obvious. Of course, that’s the point of the show, right? The fairies are just temporary companions meant to help Timmy with frankly temporary problems. It’s no wonder, then, that the show doesn’t occur when Timmy is going through puberty. It really has to take place during the last years of true childhood, because after that, Timmy won’t need them anymore.
We even see this play out to some extent during “Channel Chasers,” when Timmy starts to age quickly at the very end. We see him as a teenager for the first time, and as the years progress, he forgets all about Cosmo and Wanda. By default, we think that’s just because adults can’t fathom fairy godparents, but it’s the opposite. The fairies are there to make sure Timmy stops needing them, so he can get to a place where he’s ready to face life’s challenges on his own.
For these reasons, I’ll always look back fondly on the 2001-2006 run of the show, which is certainly when it was at its prime. These days, there’s a baby and a dog, or something. I’m not really sure and don’t care to find out.
Before I go, here’s one thing about the show you may not know. The truth of Dinkleberg’s name and why Timmy’s dad hates him so much.
The Dinkleberg family name is a reference to D.I.N.K., which is an acronym for “Dual Income No Kids.” Hence, the Dinklebergs have an enormous amount of wealth that makes Timmy’s dad so envious.
cries uncontrollably
blames dinkleberg
Fairly Odd Parents used to be good, now, it’s weird at best and needs to end.
Although Poof’s entrance can be debated, people HATE Sparky (the talking fairy dog). MrEnter reviewed Fairly Odd Pet. I recommend watching MrEnter’s review of it if you are interested.
It also been rumored that the show went downhill ever since Sparky’s entrance (some say it was earlier than that) Do you think it went downhill at that time? That is the random question today.
I think Timmy does not always have to make a wish because if he makes more there could be a big problem.
Personally, I can’t stand that talking dog at all. I stopped watching at that point. I quite liked the idea of the fairy baby, though. Not because he was cute and yet another fairy for Timmy to hang out with and play with.
I like Poof because he represents one wish that Timmy did not wish for himself, and Poof is literally consequences incarnate of that wish. Sure, he made the wish for a little brother or sister to play with, which gave Cosmo and Wanda something they wanted for a very long time. A baby of their own that they could raise and have a complete family. A child they didn’t have to leave when that child didn’t need them anymore. Despite the good, Poof is still a representative of consequences. Because Cosmo and Wanda now have Poof, who is a baby that needs constant attention and care, they do not have as much time for Timmy. Timmy, being an only child, also did not have to deal with sibling rivalry (in it’s positive and negative forms) until this point. Without Cosmo and Wanda’s 100% attention, it’s forcing Timmy to have to rely on himself more and more. It’s pushing him closer towards the end of childhood.
The introduction of Sparky, in all honesty, I think is Nickelodeon trying to pull a Hail Mary to keep a dying show going. And I feel kind of insulted by it as a viewer. Let me see that beautiful moment where Timmy finally accepts that growing up isn’t so bad, that he can solve his problems. Don’t just throw in some ridiculous and poorly written plot device to try and get a few more seasons out of a show that’s been put on hiatus almost as many times as Spongebob Squarepants.
I 100% agree with everything you said.
Reblogged this on Janine Marie.
Reblogged this on You got it dude and commented:
Growing up, ‘The Fairly Oddparents’ was one of my favorite shows. This is an interesting read look at the psychology behind the show, something we probably didn’t observe as kids.
Oh, geez, I cried when I read this. And I NEVER cry. :’)
You nailed it, Negroni.
This is why TV sucks these days to be honest because of the times when they throw in something that makes no sense just to keep it going when they can just move on and make a better show.
Welp, my mind was blown. It’s a show about solving your own problems. Fair enough and really it’s a precious lesson.
But then you had to explain Dinkleberg…
Dang I hate them too now XD
I’m surprised mango hasn’t commented on a page I found LOL
I just found it.
Actually, I haven’t seen a lot of this T.V. show, but I think Jon’s right. The fairy godparents are there to show Timmy that wishing won’t get rid of a problem, and he has to figure out a solution himself.
Actually, I suppose it WAS obvious in hindsight…
Honestly, I like they are trying to continue with these old shows why because of the nostalgia feel to them, i was a kid of the 90’s and my maturity age is not that all-grown up per se, why because i find the news boring, which puts me to sleep for i don’t know how long and have you watched the kids networks recently, the shows are just loosing their old funnybones, and starting to be more serious like the MTV cartoons like beavis and butthead and other MTV Cartoons(note: they weren’t censored) and once i’m willing to bet MTV doesn’t show cartoons anymore if they do no one watches them. any more and if they do watch them then it’s done in secret. because I grew up watching nickelodeon and Kids WB, never even watched disney shows, never did see disney on my channel lineup except for one time it was on the network of ABC, noted as ABC Kids’ which were only on Saturday Mornings but I was busy watching Kid’s WB from 8 am to 12pm(the last show being from 11:30am to 12:00pm(noon)). and my cable line up was only 38 channels and i remember most of the networks but not quite sure about the 10’S or 20’s or some of the 30’s i only had 38 channels from the number 2 to the number 39. and here are the networks on each channel i had as a kid. sorry if the networks are capitalized, but people can’t read lower case letter anymore and i have 20/80 vision
2-TBS
3-WGN
4-HBO
5-FOX
6-SPANISH TALKING SHOW CHANNEL
7-ABC
8-PBS/PBS KIDS
9-WATL/WB KIDS
10-CBN(I THINK) IT WAS A NEWS CHANNEL
11-NEWS OR HOME SHOPPING NETWORK
12-TBN(Trinity Broadcasting Channel)
13-Home shopping network or news
14-AMC/TMC or some type of movie channel
15-TNT
16-Discovery/Discovery Kids Channel
17-USA
18-A&E
19-CNN
20-Noggin/Nick Jr.
21-ABC Family
22-Cinemax(free and not blocked on my old tv
23-Nickelodeon
24-Spike TV
25-History
26-music video or sports channel not sure
27-vh1/mtv1 not sure
28-music video or sport channel
29-music video channel not sure
30-Weather Channel(the blue square with the white words “The Weather Channel inside the blue square)
31-Sports or sometime
32- sports or something
33-CMT/Lifetime
34-Sports/News
35-Sports/News
36Sports/News or CMT
37-SciFi(Now Syfy) had the regular spelling in my day
38-TLC
39-HGTV
This was my channel lineup from the moment i was born until we switched to satellite which was in 2008 or so. and as you can see not much stuff to watch and yes i watched kids shows back then, but nowadays that seems to be the only thing that’s ever anything good on, because the plots of the adult shows just don’t make logical sense, and adult shows have to have plots and storylines that make logical sense while cartoons and kids shows don’t have to have plots and storylines that make logical sense. if you are an adult who watches the weather channel, and doesn’t watch any kid shows or find kid shows boring then you have become your parent and i.e. you are now a boring adult with no life or enjoyment.
The talking dog is weird and creepy because it’s got a fairy crown which means that it’s a fairy. FACT. What kind of fucking brain damaged person would crawl around on their hands and knees all day sniffing animal arses pretending to be a dog in a child’s presence? Seriously that is some fucked up shit right there… No seriously. It’s got a crown, it’s a fairy, that’s fairly odd parents science for you, it works, the dog doesn’t.
What about the episode where Timmy wakes up and there’s a fully grown adult in his bed? (That cringey Jorgen episode where he looks like a paedo.)
WHY in the name of God are all the characters voices so high pitched they make your head hurt, eyes water and brain become numb with lack of attention just listening to the vague shrill voice warbling on on screen?
And fucking Poof. Do not even get me started on that. Why the hell is there a baby even on the show?? Just.. no. It’s like the really new shit Pikachu that isnt fat, shows off and attention seeks (and fails at it too), and should have been killed off before it even began.
Dear the fairly odd parents , I am going to Texas San Antonio vacation today so much soon maybe you can think 🤔 Texas San Antonio be fun .
It’s to show us that the fairy godparents aren’t really there to just give Timmy he wants. Instead, the whole point of giving Timmy fairy godparents is to teach him that he doesn’t need them