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A Troll in Central Park (1994)

Dom DeLuise voices Stanley the troll in the 1994 Don Bluth film, “A Troll in Central Park.”

Stanley is different from the other trolls – where they are mean and ornery, he is happy and joyful. He literally has a green thumb and can use his magic to make plants grow wherever he is. This causes a problem for him in the Troll Kingdom, however – Queen Gnorga has decreed that no flowers shall grow in her land. When Stanley gets a little too ambitious and causes a rosy posy to grow in the middle of his hidden garden, it grows way too high and is spotted by the guards, who haul Stanley off to meet the queen for his punishment.

She wants to turn him to stone, but the king suggests that instead, they send him off to a place made of concrete and metal where nothing can grow. It would be the perfect punishment for someone who loves vegetation as much as Stanley does. The queen agrees and they send him flying through the air to land in Central Park. It was all a mistake – the king meant to send him to a part of New York that was comprised of skyscrapers and other buildings.

Stanley loves his new home until he discovers the traffic, which terrifies him. When a little girl named Rosie and her brother Gus stumble across him, he’s happy again – now he has friends. He uses his magic to help Rosie and Gus with some of their problems, and they all live happily ever after.

I for one did not like this film. Gus is the brattiest, whiniest, most ungrateful child ever drawn by animators, and I wanted to reach in the screen and throttle him. But then, you already know that I have strong feelings about things, right? The scales were really tipped for me, though, when the queen decided to come to Central Park and haul Stanley off for a real punishment. That part was scary, and she menaced Rosie, which I just couldn’t go for. I think you’d be best off leaving this rated G film at the video store, and instead, renting:

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Flubber

or

The Lion King 1 1/2