A Troll in Central Park (also known in the UK as Stanley's Magic Garden) is a 1994 American animated musical fantasy comedy film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, creators of films such as Thumbelina, The Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go to Heaven. It is Don Bluth's seventh feature film by release order. It was released on October 7, 1994, by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment.
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast of characters
- 3 Production
- 4 Songs
- 5 Reception
- 6 Distribution rights owner history
- 7 References in other Media
- 8 Trivia
- 9 Gallery
Plot[]
The story begins in an area known as the "Kingdom of Trolls", where a troll named Stanley resides. Stanley has a magical green thumb that can make precious, beautiful flowers appear with a mere touch. Unfortunately, flowers are not allowed in the Kingdom of Trolls, forcing Stanley to hide any flowers he creates. In his house, Stanley speaks to his sentient flowers of his desire to complete his flower collection with a rose bush. That day, the other trolls become suspect of Stanley and take him to Gnorga, the Queen of the Trolls. Upon analyzing Stanley, Gnorga concludes that Stanley gives a bad name to trolls everywhere and demands that he be turned to stone. However, her husband consort, Llort, suggests that they instead banish Stanley to "a place of rock and steel where nothing grows". Gnorga immediately complies and sends Stanley off to Central Park. After many mishaps in New York, Stanley hides under a bridge.
Meanwhile, in a Manhattan apartment, two children named Gus and Rosie get ready to have some fun with their father at Central Park, but he tells his son that he has a trial he's preparing for in a court, much to Gus's anger. Gus then asks his mother to take him, but she tells him that she's going to an open house on Park Avenue today. Both Alan and Hilary said goodbye and leave Gus and his baby sister Rosie with their nanny, Maria. Eventually, Gus quietly leaves the apartment, taking Rosie on his wagon with him to Central Park. While playing with Gus's toy boat, the kids accidentally find Stanley hidden in the cave under the bridge in Central Park, and he befriends them. When Gus tries to force Rosie to come home with him, Rosie begins to cry, which attracts the attention of Queen Gnorga. When she discovers that Stanley isn't miserable, she puts a spell on Gus that causes him to cry a raging sea to drown them all. Stanley saves the kids and himself by using his green thumb to turn Gus's toy motorboat into a larger boat for the trio and the talking flowers to ride in.
Queen Gnorga decides to destroy Stanley's happiness once and for all by obliterating Central Park with a rampant tornado. As Rosie and Gus decide to go home upon discovering the destruction, Gnorga arrives to kidnap Rosie. Gus goes to Stanley and begs him for help, but Stanley claims that he is no match for Gnorga's magic. Gus angrily accuses Stanley of being too scared to fight Gnorga and tells him that he will never have a dream come true if he's too scared to fight for what he believes in. Gus leaves to face Gnorga, along with several talking flowers and animals who have turned their backs on Stanley for his cowardice. Gus finds and frees Rosie from a kennel. Gnorga discovers Gus and transforms him into a troll while Rosie runs away and accidentally falls into a gorge, much to Gus's dismay. However, Stanley returns and uses the flying boat to save Rosie. Stanley steps forward and faces off with Gnorga in a thumb-wrestling match, which ends with Stanley getting the upper hand and causing roses to sprout on Gnorga's body. As Stanley, Gus and Rosie escape, Gnorga makes a last-ditch effort and takes control of Gus's thumb, using it to turn Stanley into stone.
Gus and Rosie are thrown back into their apartment as the petrified Stanley is jettisoned into a garbage can. Gnorga declares her victory before it doesn't last long as she fully transforms into a rose bush, much to her discomfort. Gnorga, Llort, and her dog are sent away from New York by the same tornado, and by this undoing, it turns Gus back into a human. The next day, Gus, Rosie, and their parents go to the obliterated Central Park, where Gus and Rosie place the Stanley statue on a makeshift pedestal. Gus briefly uses the green thumb he earned from his time as a troll and presses it against Stanley to seemingly no effect. As they leave, they turn around to find the troll revived and jolly as ever. Restored to life, the troll revives Central Park and turns New York into a beautiful green city, singing about his vision of the earth if everyone were to care for it.
Meanwhile, Llort has been made the new Troll King after Gnorga's transformation into a rose bush, the Troll Kingdom is finally made happy again, and the dog is freer to bite Llort than ever.
Cast of characters[]
- Dom DeLuise as Stanley: a good-natured troll and the main protagonist of the film. Gifted with the ability to create flowers, thanks to a literal "green thumb", he is exiled to Central Park for this. There, he befriends Gus and Rosie, and protects them from Gnorga, though he fears her.
- Phillip Glasser as Gus: a seven year old human and the deuteragonist of the film. Angry that his parents are too busy to play with him, he and his sister Rosie go to Central Park. There they meet and befriend Stanley, and battle Gnorga, who briefly turns Gus into a troll. It's this experience that (apparently) gains Gus the same powers as Stanley.
- Tawny Sunshine Glover as Rosie: the tritagonist of the film. Gus' two year old toddler sister, she discovers Stanley first and befriends him. When Gus tries to take her away, her crying gets Gnorga's attention. Rosie is eventually kidnapped by Gnorga, but is saved by Gus and Stanley.
- Cloris Leachman as Gnorga: the main antagonist of the film. The incredibly cruel, flower hating queen of the trolls, she has the ability, among others, to turn people to stone. She exiles Stanley for creating flowers, figuring he'll suffer. She later learns that this isn't the case, and sets out to destroy him, kidnapping Rosie and Gus in the process. Stanley eventually defeats her by turning her into a rose bush.
- Charles Nelson Reilly as Llort: the secondary antagonist of the film. Gnorga's bumbling husband, he'll do anything to keep his hot-tempered wife from getting angry. He is the one that suggests that Stanley be banished instead of turned to stone. When they later learn that Stanley's enjoying himself, he is forced along in her plan to defeat him. They kidnap Gus and Rosie, but Stanley defeats Gnorga, leaving Llort to run the kingdom. A running gag in the film involves Llort being attacked by Gnorga's dog.
- Jonathan Pryce and Hayley Mills as Alan and Hilary: Gus and Rosie's parents. When we first meet Gus and Rosie, the former is getting ready to go to Central Park. Sadly, Alan, a lawyer, has to go to a case, and Hillary, a businesswoman, is also busy, leading to the kids' involvement in the story. The parents, completely unaware of the adventure, return and take the two to the destroyed Central Park the next day. Gus revives Stanley (who was turned to stone during the final battle with Gnorga) who brings the park back to life. Whether or not the parents see Stanley is unknown.
- Neil Ross as Generic Pansy, a talking pansy.
- Will Ryan as:
- Plant Boss, a talking plant that is in charge of the other talking plants.
- A troll guard.
- Pat Musick as Snuffy, a talking flower.
- Frank Welker as Flowers and Gnorga's Dog
- Jack Angel as Trolls
- Kath Soucie and Scott Menville as Flowers
Production[]
Production on the film began in 1990, following the near completion of Rock-a-Doodle. Buddy Hackett and Robert Morley were originally considered for the roles of Stanley and King Llort respectively, but were eventually replaced by Dom DeLuise and Charles Nelson Reilly. Even though the film was completed in 1992, it was not released in theaters until 1994. At that time, the film was originally slated for a March 1994 release, but due to production difficulties and Merlin Films and Media Assets, co-financers of the film, deciding to release Thumbelina first, the film's release date was changed to October 7, 1994.
Songs[]
- Queen of Mean - Gnorga
- Absolutely Green - Stanley & Flower Chorus
- Welcome to my World - Stanley & Flower Chorus
- Absolutely Green (ending) - Stanley & Flower Chorus
Reception[]
The film met with an extremely poor performance at the box-office, only grossing $71,368 domestically, which is about the population of Dominica (with a budget of $23 million it grossed less than 0.33% of its budget), making it Don Bluth's lowest-grossing film to date (though not his film to lose the most money overall). Gary Goldman has said the reason for this was because the film was released without any sign of promotion and release was limited. He also stated that its distributor Warner Bros.did not have any confidence in the film. It currently has a score of 14% at Rotten Tomatoes based on seven reviews, ranked behind 6% of Rock-a-Doodle (also one of Bluth's least received projects, as holding 20% audience score). The film's score among the website community is higher, at 46%.
Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic) hated on the film. He says that just hearing the title pisses him off. He has dubbed the movie "Don Bluth's worst film".
Bluth has distanced himself from the film, stating in the July 2001 issue of his magazine ToonTalk that "the development of a story is like the development of a child in a womb; it takes time and it must be done right, and building A Troll in Central Park taught us this lesson, the hard way".
Distribution rights owner history[]
- Warner Bros. (1994-2002)
- 20th Century Fox (2002-2019)
- Disney (2019-present)
References in other Media[]
In a comedy sketch in a 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live, Alec Baldwin played Charles Nelson Reilly in a parody of the show Inside the Actor's Studio. During the course of the sketch, host James Lipton (as played by Will Ferrell) comments on how he loved A Troll in Central Park — he says watching it "is like looking into the face of God and seeing him smiling back, saying: 'You are my most wondrous creation'" — and asks if he can "speak to King Llort". Reilly accommodates by holding index cards to his ears and saying: "Well, hello, James Lipton! I'm King Llort! There's a troll in Central Park! I'm King Llort!".
Trivia[]
- This is the only Don Bluth film in which Dom DeLuise voiced the main character; in previous Don Bluth films that starred him, he voiced a supporting character, and he did not voice anyone in The Land Before Time, Rock-a-Doodle, or even Thumbelina.
- Thus, it was also the last Don Bluth film to even star the voice of the late Dom DeLuise.
- One of the characters, a Squirrel closely resembles another squirrel character from Rock-a-Doodle.
- As of 2018, this is the only feature-length Don Bluth production that has still yet to be released on Blu-ray.
- Also, as of 2022, this is one of a few Fox-owned Don Bluth films that have still yet to be streaming on Disney+, alongside Bartok the Magnificent and Titan A.E., although it began streaming on Hulu on January 1, 2023.
- When the film's theatrical trailer was finalized, it showed the final battle between Stanley and Gnorga (which especially included some bits that showed Gus in troll form). That scene was cut from the trailer found on VHS releases of Black Beauty and Thumbelina likely to avoid spoilers for anyone who has not seen the film. However, the full spoiler-heavy trailer was shown on the VHS release of Little Giants.
- This is Don Bluth's second film to not be based on a book nor to become a franchise since Rock-a-Doodle.
- This is Don Bluth's lowest grossing film to date and the only Don Bluth film to gross less than a million dollars.
- This is Scott Menville and Kath Soucie’s first and only uncredited role in a Don Bluth movie.
- Co-writer and co-director Gary Goldman said during an interview that the reason the movie did so poorly at the box office was the fact that it was released without any promotion, and that release was limited. He also stated that its distributor, Warner Bros., did not have any confidence in this movie.
- Bluth and Warner Bros. made the mistake of shortening production, hoping that it would inspire more spontaneity among his crew. It wound up being his worst-reviewed film.
- According to Don Bluth, Cloris Leachman arrived in the recording studio with a canister of her homemade barley soup, and seeing the crew members eating take out hamburgers and fries, immediately began lecturing them on healthy eating. She even snatched Don Bluth's chocolate eclair and tossed it in the trash. Bluth said this helped establish Queen Gnorga's character - 'a screaming monster who'd steal your chocolate eclair.'
- Both this and Thumbelina (1994) were in production simultaneously at Don Bluth Studios in Ireland. Initially, "Troll" was to be released first, followed by "Thumbelina," but it was then decided to release the latter first as it was a pre-sold commodity given its origins as a Hans Christian Andersen fairy-tale.
- Buddy Hackett and Robert Morley were considered for the voices of Stanley and King Llort respectively.
- Buddy Hackett was initially the voice for Stanley, but Bluth ended up replacing him with DeLuise because he was easier to work with (for example, Buddy's contracts demanded a limited number of takes per line, while Dom was more than willing to do multiple takes).
- The music for "The Old Soft Petal" is the dance break from "I'll Never Be Jealous Again" from the musical "The Pajama Game".
- This movie was originally scheduled to be distributed by MGM in the United States and J&M Entertainment overseas, but both companies ended up dropping the arrangement, due to concerns about the bankruptcy of Bluth's studio. Warner Bros. subsequently bought the distribution rights in March 1993.
- Dom DeLuise and Cloris Leachman appeared in The Muppet Movie (1979).
- In the July 2001 issue of Toon Talk, Bluth admitted A Troll in Central Park was a terrible film, and apologized for how badly it turned out; "As it is never a good thing that a child is born prematurely, so it is with producing a film. Development of a script is like the development of a child in the womb, it takes time and must be done right. Building the movie, A Troll In Central Park, taught us this lesson, but indeed, the hard way. I tell you all this in the hope that you might benefit from our foolish mistakes. Scrutinizing your own work is so important, but let's face it, we all are afraid of not measuring up, so we stubbornly cling to our own opinions, shutting out all others. Stanley could have been a richer character with more levels to his personality. Maybe he could have had a dark side, a troll side that he struggled with."
- Gary Goldman stated he agrees with Bluth with not being impressed with doing this film.
- Bluth has said that, had they not rushed their production, he would have wanted Stanley to be a much darker character with more abundant flaws.
- In the July 2001 issue of Toon Talk, Bluth admitted A Troll in Central Park was a terrible film, and apologized for how badly it turned out; "As it is never a good thing that a child is born prematurely, so it is with producing a film. Development of a script is like the development of a child in the womb, it takes time and must be done right. Building the movie, A Troll In Central Park, taught us this lesson, but indeed, the hard way. I tell you all this in the hope that you might benefit from our foolish mistakes. Scrutinizing your own work is so important, but let's face it, we all are afraid of not measuring up, so we stubbornly cling to our own opinions, shutting out all others. Stanley could have been a richer character with more levels to his personality. Maybe he could have had a dark side, a troll side that he struggled with."
Gallery[]
Background Color Key Concept
Concept Painting of the Kingdom of Trolls
An original background concept painting. Featuring Gnorga, Gus, Rosie, and Stanley.
Stanley and Flowers Concept Painting
Stanley and Gus Boating Concept Painting
Stanley Production Drawing
Stanley Facial Expressions
Stanley Hand Poses
Stanley Expressions 2
Gus & Stanley Storyboard Painting