What is so bad about A Troll in Central Park?

Fawfulthegreat64

Fawfulthegreat64

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Other than the fact that it's a children's movie that I still love at 19. I mean, that part may be a bit weird, but is it really that bad for a children's movie? I legitimately can't understand this. The animation doesn't look too bad, compared to other stuff I've seen criticized (like the Hotel Mario cutscenes) the soundtrack is beautiful, the voice acting isn't bad. So why do people hate this movie? Even my dad and stepmother (who normally criticize the things I like) said the movie, while not age appropriate, was "cute."

But everywhere I go on the internet, I see people calling it "so bad it's good" which they said about Hotel Mario. A Troll in Central Park doesn't have any moments where I laughed at how pathetic it was, I found myself crying as a kid when
Stanley was turned to stone, and happy when he was revived.
Of course I don't do that anymore, but it's still very nostalgic for me. Even TV Tropes said both Don Bluth and his fans wished he hadn't made the movie.

So can someone enlighten me on why this movie gets so much hate? I hope people don't start hating me over this, because I legitimately can't comprehend that this movie is "bad." And this is coming from someone who generally doesn't take interest in much stuff outside Mario and Spongebob. (I also don't mind new Spongebob, but I can see why some people don't like it, same for Super Paper Mario)
 
I think it might have just been that it looked bad compared to Bluth's other films like American Tail, Land Before Time, Secret of NIMH, Anastasia, etc
 
King Antasma said:
So why do people hate this movie?
Click to expand...

It's called "writing". The movie, according to what I've heard, fails from a narrative standpoint, not necessarily a presentation one.
 
Bluth's movies are usually enjoyable for both kids and adults, this on the other hand is basically just for toddlers, and also his worst movie. This movie has a bunch of padding, and it doesn't make sense at all, Dom Deluise's character's punishment for having flowers in his troll kingdom is to be banished to a place where there's no flowers, which is Central Park where there's a shitload of flowers, so Chloris Leachman's plan basically backfires. And what kind of message is that? If you dream something, it will automatically happen? If that were to happen, why isn't my PS4 in my room yet? I'm tired of pre ordering 8 games for that console.
 
The movie is very saccharine and has virtually no substance in it.
 
To be fair Llort was kind of an idiot, and I read somewhere that he wasn't as evil as the other trolls, and he was the one who suggested to banish Stanley rather than stone him. He probably kinda felt sorry for him, weird as that sounds. He did celebrate when his wife was turned into a rosebush at the end after all.
 
The Nostalgia Critic has a really good review of it.


I suggest you watch it. It explains pretty clearly the problems.
 
I had watched that video ages ago when I was younger, I was pretty shocked at the strong language and felt like the problems addressed were minor and didn't affect me when I watched it. I was more surprised that the stuff he mentioned was actually negative. I had seen it all my life and enjoyed every bit of it, maybe I'm just a retard.
 
GalacticPetey said:
The Nostalgia Critic has a really good review of it.


I suggest you watch it. It explains pretty clearly the problems.
Click to expand...
So I watched this again recently. I can see the flaws now, but I do think he overreacted to them far too much. Yes it does have lots of padding but he complained about literally everything, including the toddler talking like a toddler (What, would you rather make her a science professor?)

The padding didn't bother me too much, maybe because I'm a child at heart and the movie did have a positive atmosphere. Or maybe it's just nostalgia as this was also one of my favorite films when I was young. The only problem I really see with the movie is the ending. I will concede that was completely unnecessary and uncalled for.

I also recently realized 2014 was this film's 20th anniversary. So before the year was over I decided to pay tribute, since no one else likely would.

My current theme
 
Snawfulthemerry25 said:
So I watched this again recently. I can see the flaws now, but I do think he overreacted to them far too much. Yes it does have lots of padding but he complained about literally everything, including the toddler talking like a toddler (What, would you rather make her a science professor?)
Click to expand...
overreacting to stuff in movies is nostalgia critic's gimmick
 
Well still, I thought it was being blown way out of proportion. Gimmick or not, most of the problems addressed were really not that bad.

Also the reason I might like it so much is that it was released on VHS on January 10, 1995 which happens to be the day I was born, lol
 
Double post, but I think this belongs here. I made a Deviantart group for the movie, if anyone wants to join it: http://atrollincentralpark.deviantart.com
 
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