Alternate Character Interpretation: It is possible to see Stanley as a not-so-benevolent troll, considering he dreams of a land where all trolls are essentially copies of him (even if he's supposed to be "good") and, in the end, he covers New York in vegetation. Whether he is simply delusional or actively malevolent is up to the viewer.
Ass Pull: Gnorga discovering Stanley's activities in Central Park by hearing the sounds of Rosie's crying.
Gnorga being able to control Gus' own magic thumb from a distance against his will.
Audience-Alienating Era: Yet another ill-fated outing for Don Bluth, and widely considered by many to be rock bottom in the director's career. Bluth himself considers The Pebble and the Penguin to be his actual worst film, but more for reasons of studio interference than its overall quality.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The boat ride suddenly enters Stanley's dream land which he apparently created out of nowhere, we see all kinds of happy things that have no relevance to the story, and when the sequence is over, nobody mentions it again.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Llort is one of the few well-liked characters in the film, due to Charles Nelson Reilly's hilarious voice performance and being genuinely sympathetic.
Esoteric Happy Ending: Stanley comes back from being turned to stone and revitalizes the destroyed plant life in Central Park. Then he completely covers New York in flowers and plants to the point that the city starts looking likeLife After People or Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut. The film portrays this as the ultimate triumph of nature over technology, but one gets the distinct impression that many of New York's eight million residents would likely disagree. Especially in hindsight, given the shot of the Twin Towers covered in flowery vines.
Funny Moments: Say what you will about the film, but it's humerous to see Llort get attacked by Gnorga's dog at the end and then complaining about it during the credits.
Glurge: Stanley's vision of a "perfect" world, even more so than everything else in the film. Basically, it's a sickeningly-sweet world filled with trolls who all look and think exactly like him.
Heartwarming in Hindsight: While the ending - where Stanley covers New York City in vegetation - is unintentionallyhorrifying when taken at face value, it becomes much more inspiring in light of the rise of biophilic design, an architectural principle which seeks to strengthen the synergy between buildings and nature. The goal of biophilic design is not only to make buildings more environmentally friendly, but also boost the morale of their inhabitants with frequent exposure to nature. With how committed architects are to making the world absolutely green, Stanley's dream might just come true after all... and it won't entail the collapse of a major US city that also happens to be the center of the US' economy.
Inferred Holocaust: The movie ends with all of New York being engulfed in vines and flowers. It's meant to be heartwarming, but ends up looking like some sort of supervillain takeover, or a scene right out of Life After People. It's not even made clear if it's just supposed to be another dream sequence.
Nightmare Fuel: There's a scene in Gnorga's Villain Song wherein she turns a bat to stone. It's worse than it sounds; one would expect her to just touch it and have it turn to stone then fall, right? Wrong. Instead one of its wings turns to stone and it desperately tries to flap away while the rest of its body slowly starts to turn to stone as well. The poor thing perches on a skull and desperately tries to escape...and then its entire body turns to stone. And then it blinks.
Stanley seems waaay too happy when Rosie, a toddler, kisses him. Not to mention the ummm...iffy dialogue that happens between the two at times.
Stanley: I like that a lot. [Laughs] I like you a lot too. Oh, and I'm so sorry about the place being such a mess. It doesn't have to be, you know. Oh, no. It could be so beautiful. It could be cozy for Rosie.
Gnorga almost sounds orgasmic when she hears Rosie crying.
One-Scene Wonder: The guard troll near the beginning of the movie, mostly because of his memetic ♫"I'm a bad troll, a very bad troll..."♫ line, sung to the tune of the "Song of the Volga Boatmen".
Padding: Loads, prominent examples being when the flowers perform a cheesy dance to cheer up Rosie and when Stanley takes the kids to a world of his own.
Rooting for the Empire: The villains of the film, Gnorga and Llort, are far more popular and liked than the actual protagonists, Stanley in particular.
Gus on a smaller scale. He spends most of the first part of the movie as a kind of Anti-Hero. And he's the one willing to fight for his ends, unlike Stanley, the supposed hero who would rather cower. The fact that he calls Stanley out on his behavior is another reason that even people who dislike the movie like him.
Ron the Death Eater: Stanley gets this treatment from some viewers, largely due to his glurge nature, not to mention the similarities between his actions in the film's ending, and the ending to the Little Shop of Horrors Director's Cut.
Stanley dreams of a sickenly-sweet world that many viewers thought made Disney's most cutesy creations look brooding in comparison.
Pretty much any time Stanley's little flower-people creations are on screen. Their goofy open-mouthed grins, high-pitched voices and silly dancing make them difficult to tolerate for anyone over the age of three.
The film's title makes it seem like it will be a Fish out of Water story about a troll from a fantasy world trying to survive in modern-day New York. Unfortunately, after Stanley dodges some animals and cars in New York for all of two minutes, this aspect is ignored.
Llort's hand waves regarding why he would rather not just let Gnorga stone Stanleynote Because the troll populations are declining, and executions should be avoided if possible would have made for a fascinating subplot, which would give Stanley additional motivation for his goals as well as add complexity to the villains.
music is also surprisingly pretty.