Warner Bros, 1994
Starring Dom DeLouise, Cloris Leachman, Phillip Glasser, and Charles Nelson Reilly
Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Music and Lyrics by various
This was to have been the next Don Bluth film after Rock-a-Doodle, but production delays caused it to be shelved for two years. It was pushed even further back when Warner Bros opted to release Thumbelina earlier in the year instead. After all that, it wound up being one of the biggest failures of the year. Did it deserve the trouble, or is there a sweet-smelling rose under all that stone? Let's head to the Kingdom of the Trolls and find out...
The Story: Stanley (DeLouise) is cast out of the Kingdom of the Trolls by the evil Queen Gnorga (Leachman) for having a green thumb that gives him the power to make plants grow and come to life. Trolls are supposed to enjoy misery and ugliness, but Stanley is kind gentle. Her henpecked husband Liort (Reilly) sends him to New York, a place of "concrete and stone, where nothing grows"...but doesn't realize there's a huge green place in the middle of Manhattan, Central Park.
Meanwhile, in an apartment on the Lower East Side, a little boy named Gus (Glasser) is crushed that his lawyer father is too busy to take him to the park like he promised. He ends up taking his little sister Rosie (Tawny Sunshine Glover) instead. While he's working with his boat, Rosie wanders off and discovers Stanley and his magical singing flowers hiding in a cave. She thinks he's her stuffed troll doll at first, but he eventually befriends her. He doesn't have as much luck with Gus, especially after he breaks the kid's boat. Gnorma sees Gus' anger and uses it to try to drown them, but Stanley uses his own dream magic to save them.
Fed up, Gnorma finally drags Liort with her to New York via tornado. They chase the kids and do manage to capture Rosie, but Gus flees to Stanley. Gus tries to get Stanley to go up against her, to no avail...until he reminds Stanley just how important his dreams of "having a green space of his own" are to him.
Animation: Really the film's sole saving grace, along with a decent score and songs. The hand-painted visuals are lush and colorful, especially the backgrounds of a Technicolor Central Park in the fall and Stanley's dream worlds. The sequence with Stanley taking the kids for a ride in his "dream boat" and the finale (no matter how creepy it seems) is especially well-done.
The Song and Dance: Along with the lush visuals, there's also some mildly amusing performances. Reilly and Leachman aren't half-bad as the mismatched royal troll couple, and Glasser is fine as the spoiled child who learns to believe in his dreams and stand up for what he loves. Robert Folk turns in a surprisingly lovely score, especially with the gorgeous music over the end credits.
Favorite Number: Gnorma tells everyone in the Troll Kingdom how she's the "Queen of Mean," and everyone better get out of her path. Stanley introduces Rosie to his world and his dancing flower friends in "Absolutely Green." "Welcome to My World" takes us into a colorful land of Stanley's own imagination, where everything is blooming and everyone is like him.
What I Don't Like: Where do I even begin? Bluth really should have thrown as much care into the writing as he and his crew did into the music and animation. None of this makes even a glimmer of sense. Not to mention, a lot of it is more disturbing than cute, like Stanley's overly enthusiastic reaction to toddler Rosie kissing him or what he does to New York in the big "Absolutely Green" finale. Stanley is sickeningly sweet and overwhelmingly dull, to the point where you start caring more about the villains than the so-called "good guy." Gus is a spoiled brat who needs to be sent to his room more than he needs a lesson in green thumbs from a cutesy critter.
The big action climax is a silly, drawn-out let-down, and some of the details are downright idiotic. (Gnorma and Llort chase the kids on tricycles?) There are so, so many plot points that are never explained or elaborated on, from barely visiting Troll World and seeing how gloomy it is to how New Yorkers reacted to the total destruction of one of the largest city parks in the word.
The Big Finale: I will add that the film does have a small cult following of people who grew up in the 90's and enjoyed how gentle and sweet it was...but this is another one I just couldn't get into. The lovely score and visuals and good voice-acting can't make up for an unfocused, weird plot and an overly sweet and cutesy lead character. For major Don Bluth fans or those with very small children who can handle the trolls and overlook the weird script only. Everyone else would be better off looking up Anastasia or The Secret of Nimh (my personal favorite Don Bluth films).
Home Media: Out of print on DVD. Streaming is by far your best bet.
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