The upcoming series The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder breaks one of the original series' most important rules: Timmy Turner still has his fairies. The original animated series has a surprisingly complicated rule system, with the fairies constantly citing Da Rules when the main character Timmy Turner tries to wish for something he shouldn't. Although Timmy being an adult and having his fairies in Fairly Odder may seem like a contradiction, it actually is something that has already been addressed.

The Fairly OddParents follows Timmy Turner, a kid down on his luck, and his two wish-granting fairies, Cosmo and Wanda. Each episode typically consists of one of Timmy's wishes getting out of hand, and him subsequently having to clean up his mess. The series has been a massive success for Nickelodeon, consisting of the long-running original show, several specials, and three movies. A reboot is being added to the massive TV catalog of Paramount+, this time as a live-action series subtitled Fairly Odder. The show picks up where the original left off, with a grown-up Timmy Turner handing off Cosmo and Wanda to his younger cousin and her new stepbrother. While this seems like a clever premise, upon closer inspection it actually raises a few questions regarding the rules of The Fairly OddParents.

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In the original series, a very clear rule was that kids lose their fairies and their memories of fairies when they become adults. This adulthood rule was the most consistent and strict one throughout the show, and the inevitable loss of Cosmo and Wanda constantly lingered over Timmy's head. This is even the main conflict in A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up Timmy Turner!, where an older Timmy struggles with the upcoming loss of his fairies. However, as with most lore-heavy series, such as Harry Potter, rules being broken are a part of the world, and this older Timmy issue can be explained by digging into some of the show's retcons. The seeming loophole that Timmy has found most likely has to do with the fairies' definition of adulthood.

Caleb Pierce as Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents Fairly Odder

Rather than using biological age as the measuring stick, the Fairy Council actually determines if a child is ready to lose their fairies based on maturity. This is why in several episodes of The Fairly OddParents, Timmy still has his fairies after doing things like wishing to be older. It is possible that the older Timmy seen in Fairly Odder is still a child at heart, meaning that he isn't ready to lose his fairies yet. Fairly OddParents creator Butch Hartman has written himself out of traps before, so pulling from this explanation would be the easiest way to put the issue to rest.

Another explanation is a far deeper cut and has to do with the aforementioned live-action movies. At the end of the first film, something called "The Timmy Turner Clause" is revealed. This oddly specific clause explains that if a boy named Timmy Turner were to ever get fairies, he may keep them only if he promises to use his wishes to help others. Timmy giving his cousin his fairies could fall under this clause, allowing him to retain his memories of Cosmo and Wanda. Both of these explanations give valid reasoning as to why Timmy still has his fairies in The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder.

Fairly Odder has already changed a few things, such as getting rid of Fairly OddParents' Poof, so it wouldn't be surprising if they simply retconned these rules. After all, even with these explanations, there are still rules that are broken which would make Timmy lose his fairies. For one, children cannot purposefully reveal their fairies to other humans, something Timmy blatantly does when giving them to his cousin. Beyond that, there are probably plenty of other clauses in Da Rules that could either fix or make this problem worse, so the writers could easily just create a new rule that allows the show to work canonically. How they will fix this rule break is uncertain, though, and viewers can find out when The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder releases.

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The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder premieres March 31 on Paramount+.