The Little Troll Prince (onscreen title: The Little Troll Prince: A Christmas Parable) is a 1987 animated Christmas television special produced by Hanna-Barbera. Backed by the International Lutheran Laymen's League, it has strong Christian themes of unconditional love, self-sacrifice, and redemption, with a substantial Protestant influence. The story was a written parable script for the Christmas special with a lesson about the feeling of joy and love in one's heart, that can lead one from a cruel world to a light-hearted world. The special aired in syndication on US broadcast TV.
Synopsis
In a Norwegian mountain village, children play under the shadow of a sinister mountain of the trolls. In one small cottage, a gnome named Bu (voiced by Danny Cooksey) is happily decorating his own home with Christmas decorations, aided by mice and birds. He explains to the viewers that the Christmas season doesn't really start for him until the arrival of the Christmas tree, at which point two girls and their father return to the cottage dragging a tree on a sleigh. When the humans set the tree up in their home below, the uppermost branches are pushed through a hole in the attic to form a miniature tree for the gnome. He quickly decorates the tree, topping it with a minuscule Bible.
Bu explains that while humans and gnomes love Christmas, trolls do not. He explains that trolls live high in the mountains because they fear our world — to them, all that is good is bad, all that is right is wrong and that Christmas is scarier than Halloween. They have no word for "love", and do not believe in God. He adds that he knows all this because the previous year he not only lived among the trolls, but was their crown prince. The film turns to the previous December. Bu narrates how his father, the two-headed King Ulvik (voiced by Vincent Price and Jonathan Winters), could grow so angry that storms would sweep across Norway.
Ulvik is shouting at his wife Queen Sirena (voiced by Cloris Leachman) for having given him the insulting news that Bu is failing his lessons at Sinister School. Sirena waives his anger displaying an obvious favoritism for her younger sons the two-headed Borch (voiced by Rob Paulsen and Laurie Faso) and the two-headed Prag (voiced by Neil Ross and Frank Welker). Ulvik accuses the queen of having passed on bad genes to Bu (noting that the prince, like his mother, has only one head). Sirena rebuffs this by pointing out Bu's lack of grotesque features, like his father. It was also mentioned that Bu is the oldest of Borch and Prag but doesn't look like he's older than them. She claims that his innocent looks and unassuming personality will lead to a revolt if he remains crown prince. Ulvik decides that he will have to teach his son to be a brat, blaming the modern school system for lack of discipline.
In Sinister School, Professor Nidaros (voiced by Don Knotts) teaches his class to cause disorder, inflict pain, and follow the Troll Golden Rule: "Do unto others before they do unto you" ("Sinister School"). His lesson is interrupted by Ulvik, who arrives to test his sons' educations. While Prag demonstrates his understanding of humans (that they kill trolls for sport), and Borch demonstrates a knowledge of troll conduct (that those who are different should be avoided at all costs), the king only cares about Bu's learning. The crown prince timidly answers his father's questions, taken from the Troll Bible, correctly (reciting the Troll Golden Rule, his belief in growing more "evil and disgusting day after day", and that he is heartless and selfish), but finishes by politely asking to return to his seat. Upon hearing Bu utter the words "thank you", Ulvik begins shouting at his son accusing him of profanity and disgrace at which Bu begins to cry. Infuriated with Bu showing tears, Ulvik sends the class fleeing at his rage.