Hilda and the Mountain King - 'Toon Reviews Shorty

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Hello and welcome to the first review of 2022.  As we enter a new year full of new chances to grow, MC Toon Reviews has something extra special to look into as a way to really kick things off.  At the tail-end of 2020, a brand new season of the acclaimed Netflix animated series, Hilda, was released.  In addition to even more creative and charming adventures from an endearing perspective, that season also came with a total shock to the audience.  It ended with a big extended episode serving as a culmination of the heightened danger to Hilda’s adventures apparent through the whole season.  However, the most striking part of the adventure was the ending with the title character separated from her home and family, turning into a completely new species, a troll.  It was always unclear how the series would move forward from this shock, though there were several hints of it continuing with a full-on movie.  After months of silence on the subject, news of such a movie would be made clear as 2021 neared its end.  Not only would it help that year go out strong, but it would also really allow the Hilda series to go bigger than ever before.  So, this new year of reviews begins with a special MC Toon Reviews Shorty on this film:

Hilda and the Mountain King

(December 30, 2021)

SPOILER WARNING IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FILM YET!

With the end of Season 2 leaving such a shock, it would be most fitting to get a resolution to all those events with whatever the next installment would be.  As it turns out, this film serves as a very worthy companion to the last few moments of that season.  It starts immediately where it off and everything that unfolds fits in very well.

However, in following up on the events of the Season 2 finale so closely, there is a slight issue with the presentation.  While this film is part of the Hilda series, at the same time, it stands as a feature film in a class broader than the show.  In addition to continuing what the show started, it should also set itself up to welcome newcomers should they choose to watch the film instead of the series.  In that regard, the film can throw some people off.  It immediately starts with Hilda as a troll frightened by her new surroundings and expects the audience to play along with it.  While people who have seen the show should be fine with this, those who have never seen it before might not be able to take everything in properly.  There’s no reminder of how this happened, nor is there a look at where Hilda came from before transforming.  It’s also true for how the film introduces Hilda’s family and friends or more appropriately barely introduces them.  The film just expects everyone to know who they all are, which simply can’t be done if some people haven’t seen what happened beforehand.

This is technically a setback, but doesn’t take away any intrigue and wonder that comes from the overall story that unfolds.  The tone is even made clear that the whole situation is very uneasy and unsettling as it would be for anyone from Hilda’s perspective.  Suddenly being transported to a strange world and waking up as a troll is sure to be frightening on all levels.  Then there is the matter of Hilda being called upon by one particular troll, which is stranger since for all this time, trolls were only thought to be able to communicate through roars.  Being one of them allows Hilda to understand, but she’s still not willing to listen knowing the gravity of what she’s in, and being desperate to get back to her old life.  This is the first instance of a major theme for this film on conflicting feelings on different species, and it’s felt even more from different characters followed all throughout.

Unsurprisingly, the one most affected by what’s happened to Hilda is her mother, Johanna.  With the knowledge of the Season 2 finale, it’s very warranted that she’s horrified to find her daughter gone and replaced with a total stranger of a child.  Through getting further insight from the fantasy creatures who live with her and Hilda, Twig the deerfox, Alfur the elf, and Tontu the nisse, she does get some explanation.  The child in Hilda’s place is actually a troll with a changeling spell cast on her to take the form of a human while Hilda is in the troll's place taking its original form.  This in turn is a smart way for Johanna to get a gist of what’s going on without immediately seeing Hilda as she currently stands.  From there, since it was where the troll child came from, Johanna spends most of the film searching for Hilda in the area in front of a mountain outside the city of Trolberg.  It’s a really desperate search with no clear answers, and that’s emotionally taxing enough to wreck Johanna as she’s left unsure if she’ll ever see her daughter again.

At the same time, Johanna is left with conflicting views of trolls throughout this whole ordeal.  Since she was with Hilda in getting through the stone forest, it appears that she remembers their complex nature.  She has a degree of knowledge that they’re not all bad as shown in her moments with the troll child turned into a human in Hilda’s place.  This child, named Baba since that’s all she can say, has a lot of playful, energetic spirit to her which, like with most young children, makes her oblivious to the messes she causes.  Dealing with her is more stressful than ever for Johanna who’s separated from her own daughter, but she is able to see the overall innocence of this strange new figure.

However, an even broader sense of compassion for trolls happens during her many searches for Hilda.  Aware of the nature of trolls and details of their behavior, Johanna tries to be considerate and trusting of them while trying to point out which one is Hilda.  Making it difficult is how they all turn inert and motionless when out in daylight.  While the search may seem hopeless, the least Johanna can do is remove the bells from the trolls already out in the open.  It’s well established that bells are harmful to the sensitive trolls and their sound causes them considerable pain.  Johanna removing them is a way of showing that even if certain beings are different, they still deserve consideration for their feelings.

Still, there is a reasonable cause for fear because while many trolls are civil, there are legitimately bad ones too.  At one point in the searches, some them attack Johanna and her crew which is a problem considering they lack the stamina needed to defend themselves.  Basically, trolls are largely either misunderstood victims or as threatening as they’re said to be, and this show of complexity is shown in many other character journeys.

Much of the negative troll propaganda comes from the pompous head of safety patrol, Erik Ahlberg.  Season 2 presented him as very egotistical and pompous which unsurprisingly means he would act like he knows everything about trolls.  This trend even continues through this film where he basically fear mongers the populace of Trolberg into thinking the worst of trolls.  Of course, this only exacerbates the prejudices surrounding the creatures, and ultimately builds sympathy for them.

More than that, things become foreboding to them as well as Hilda while she’s in her current state.  Erik has a gun that can harm trolls by stunning them inert at any time, including at night when they’re largely active.  An even larger version is revealed later on, and that has the power to turn trolls to rubble.  Such stakes are necessary for a larger feature length story, and these play their role in enhancing the film and tying well to the themes and ideas presented.

Such extremist views surrounding trolls are further reflected by the public, mostly by Hilda’s closest friends, Frida and David.  At first it seems like a simplistic scenario where everyone just goes along with what Erik says.  However, the film wisely remembers and acknowledges how much these two kids have grown throughout the series.  There’s a notable sequence near the start where safety patrol comes to enforce the notion that trolls are dangerous, and Frida steps in with a passionate speech on the truth.  She points out how it isn’t fair to be judging these creatures the kids have probably never seen, and her words are thankfully understood.  

Other kids are influenced by Frida advocating for the trolls and join her in a sympathetic protest on their behalf, letting it be clear that views on them are not so black and white.  

To further complicate the matter, David, despite agreeing that trolls deserve better, is unable to go all out in showing it.  He has a personal arc in the film where his mother takes a position in safety patrol putting her on the side against the trolls.  David is bothered by this, but can’t bring himself to admit it to his mother, and is uncomfortable to join the protest when he sees her passing by in the safety patrol uniform.  It’s an arc not as prominent as others in the film, but it also does its part to enhance the theme and atmosphere of the story.

As many of Hilda’s closest companions are face with complicated feelings on trolls, Hilda ends up with the biggest insight on them considering she’s roped into living as one.

In addition to turning dormant when stepping out into daylight near the start of the film, when she’s mobile again at night, she witnesses exactly how painful bells are to trolls.  The combination of the sound, the visuals of intense blue sound waves, and poses of Hilda in agony are enough to present such a simple sound as genuine torture.  It also makes the later scene of Johanna removing the bells all the more endearing.

Elements like this make Hilda understandably desperate to return to her old life as well as even more frightened by things than she already is.  These feelings lead her to a troll who stands out from all the rest.  Within a cave of crystals and lines of bells blocking the entrance like prison bars is a giant troll named Trundle.  Further marked by appearing to have something like a mask in place of eyes, yet can see fine, Trundle can be looked at as a troll of great wisdom based on his conversations with Hilda.  However, what Hilda takes from this troll the most is that he can turn her back to a human if she completes certain tasks for him.  Now, this is technically a point of concern since Hilda is getting advice from a figure she knows nothing about, and could potentially lead to danger.  At the same time, it hardly matters because nothing seems explicitly suspicious about Trundle.  When watching his interactions with Hilda, while ulterior motives are likely, it’s just as convincing that he wants to help her.  Not to mention, it isn’t exactly obvious who Hilda should be trusting while she’s living amongst these trolls.

That said, like everyone else, Hilda is faced with complicated feelings on both the nature of trolls, and her situation.  In her pursuit to fulfill Trundle’s wishes, she bonds a lot with the mother troll who caused her to transform in the first place, Trylla.  In addition to being one of the more warm and caring trolls, Trylla is very knowledgeable on what trolls have to go through.  This is welcome since trolls are the most prominent creatures of the entire series.  One of the more obvious ones is the prejudice that comes from being walled out of the city, making it difficult to truly bond with humans.

Though Trylla and other trolls are civil about this despite the bad implications, others take a more out of line aggressive approach.  As one approach involves throwing a rock over the wall causing significant damage on the other side, they don’t exactly make themselves look sympathetic.  Because one group goes too far in getting respect and acceptance, all the trolls have to suffer, though this in turn does allow the film to delve into their daily lives.

The civil trolls act as a single community gathering together around fires to share food, which people tend to mistake for suspicious activity.  Unclear meanings and the actions of the aggressive trolls make it clear that this group only have each other to look out for.

It does, however, start to make sense why different trolls have different perspectives on the way life works for them.  Trylla explains to Hilda some insightful history on how trolls are as they appear.  When Hilda suggests there should be a troll in charge to keep things in order, Trylla says that there was a time when trolls had a king to follow, the titular mountain king.  This king actually wanted to invade Trolberg to take revenge on the wall, and some agreed with him and others didn’t.  The result was a very aggressive war between trolls that ended with the king being overthrown and different trolls going their separate ways.  Other than the king, the only other being trolls had to follow was a singular troll serving as everyone’s mother, and any children other trolls have just come to bigger ones.  Basically that would mean Baba was adopted by Trylla while this one troll Trylla speaks of serves as both their grandmother and mother.  This is very interesting background for these notable creatures of the series, and invokes compelling mysteries of who the mountain king and troll mother are.  Both of these get huge payoffs later on.

Despite the historic tensions and humans denying them acceptance, the trolls still clearly make the best of the lives they have to live.  They have their own activities to bring much needed levity like throwing each other across the cave, which Hilda greatly enjoys, and even have all their essential goods.  Taking things from trash piles left by humans, the trolls hoard them into their own living spaces in the mountain and keep them as their own personal collections.  These collections provide everything necessary to get by, and make a hospitable living space for everyone.

One significant thing to keep all of this interesting is how Hilda perceives the way the trolls live.  Even with the weight of her suddenly becoming one of them against her wishes, Hilda is very impressed with these facts about the trolls.  When she tries them out, she even enjoys them.

A notable instance suggesting that what Hilda learns could complicate her motives comes from a brief glimpse at Frida and David’s role in the film.  When trying to track Hilda and have her and Baba switch back to their original places, they use Frida’s established witch magic to point out where they are.

In doing so, they get a vision of Hilda enjoying the daily activities of trolls. Based on their reactions, it would make sense to believe that they feel that Hilda may prefer the life of a troll to that of a human and looking for her would waste their time.  However, they are not brash enough to think too hardly of this conclusion, and the story prevents itself from going in that direction.

Hilda’s intrigue of the trolls’ way of life actually helps her see how good those like Trylla made it for child trolls like Baba.  It basically further proves her point that while Trylla may have done what she did to give Baba a better life in Trolberg, it was still wrong on so many levels.  She just gave her own child up and kidnapped another, taking her away from her own life, family, friends, and home.  What’s more, she apparently can’t simply change them back and reverse her changeling spell, only leaving Hilda disgusted.  The point is even though Hilda sees the good in the life of a troll, she knows where she and Trylla’s troll child really belong which is very mature for her adventurous ways.

As Trylla starts regretting her whole plan, Hilda moves forward in fulfilling Trundle’s favors.  The two biggest ones are taking down the bells keeping him inside the cave, and the most vital favor of all involves going into the biggest of the treasure hoards.

Inside is a very distinct and specific blood red orb whose purpose is not made clear.  However, Hilda, and by extension the audience, learn all about it just through Hilda’s attempts to bring it back to Trundle.  While carrying it, she inadvertently ends up through it, making for one of the most bizarre, yet most visually stunning sequences of the film.

She lands in a red-tinted world of very vibrant lighting, and even becomes human again, though this is only while she’s inside the orb.  However, to Hilda, it appears she’s just a short distance away from Trolberg.  It isn’t long before abstract occurrences present a different meaning to what she’s seeing.

A wall suddenly goes up around the city, and its symbolism is not hard to point out with how it blocks trolls out from being accepted by society.  However, even weirder is Hilda suddenly being attacked by several small trolls, like a diminutive army.

Most crazy of all is the last vision within this space where Hilda’s mother Johana appears to rise from under the city.  This moment stands as the craziest because there’s next to nothing to do with anything.  However, seemingly random as these moments are, they all fall into place and make sense as the film enters its climax.

It’s got everything ready for a grand finish to the story right down to setting all the main players of the story up to come full circle with their roles.  Johanna sets out for one more search determined for it to be where she finds Hilda once and for all.  Frida and David step in to join her, but their claim is unfortunately followed by them being dropped off while Johanna sets off alone.  It begs questions of what the point of them going to Johanna was if they were just going to be rebuffed, and devalues the capability they’ve clearly shown throughout the series.

To some point in the storytelling, Johanna turning down reliable help does reflect a heavy desperate atmosphere mainly from who she does go to for help, Erik Ahlberg.  It’s a team-up between someone fairly reasonable with trolls and a pompous authority figure serving as a danger to trolls.  Such a clash between views on trolls brings potential for intense dynamics to further complicate Johanna’s attempts to reunite with her daughter.

As they set off on their search late that night, Hilda is faced with a big mighty looking troll not happy that she’s taken that red orb.  Because of his appearance, it’s easy to assume that he’s the mountain king.  However, this turns out to be an instance where things are not always as they appear.

While running from this troll, Hilda finds Johanna and the rest of her family.  There is a contradiction of this world’s own logic in how they can all understand Hilda.  It’s made clear that trolls can talk, but other beings like humans can’t understand them.  Yet, while Hilda is a troll, she can communicate with them just fine as they hear her say words and not roars like other trolls.  Still, it’s hard to fault the heart of Hilda reunited with her loved ones at last.

The story picks up a lot too here when Trylla suddenly appears and notices what Hilda has done in taking down the bells in Trundle’s cave, and bringing him the orb.  She’s very disturbed by this but is also touched and relieved to see her own child, Baba, again.

The heart of the reunions is soon faced with real intensity when the bigoted Erik initiates an attack on the giant troll present at the time.  He intends to use his gun on Trylla, the mother troll to the innocent child troll, making it clear how high the stakes are.  Johanna, thankfully, sees the aggression and closed-mindedness of Erik, and his actions and refuses to let him cause any harm.

There’s even a point where she takes Erik’s gun and pulls it on him, further raising the tensions.  

Out of the encounter is some sort of resolution where Hilda and Baba revert back to their old forms at last, though a prior inconsistency stands as Hilda can still understand the trolls as they talk.  It’s very relieving and makes a theme of the film even clearer.  It is said that it was both children being reunited with their mothers that undid the changeling spell.  A mother’s love is said to be just that powerful, particularly in an earlier scene with Trundle.  Along with some implications from that vision of the red orb, it gives a further idea of a huge takeaway for the film that makes itself known later on.

Speaking of Trundle, he turns out to be the reason Trylla was so disturbed by what Hilda had done.  Given how both Hilda and Baba changed back to their appropriate species, all the things Trundle had Hilda do were completely unnecessary.  That’s enough to show that he had other plans relating to those requests.  The bells were up to keep him in the cave as a prisoner, and that red orb is actually his eye granting him absolute power over the trolls.  The thing is that Trundle is the mountain king, and therefore the one who planted the idea of attacking Trolberg.  By the way, that regal-looking troll is actually his brother, so earlier assumptions aren't too far off. Anyhow, this is clearly an instance of everything happening because of Hilda trusting someone she shouldn’t have, but at the same time, it’s hard to fault her.  The whole situation she was thrown into was incredibly desperate, and it always felt like Trundle could be trusted.  He was just as convincing to the audience as he was to her.

Nevertheless, his true nature is out in the open now, and as this means that since the mountain king has risen again, Trundle has the power and influence to erect a troll army.  Together, they march towards Trolberg to bring down the wall and overthrow the city, a violent approach that all trolls, including the good ones, will have to pay for.

During the rise of this army, a few short scenes give some insight to how all this will be resolved and make sense of the creative imagery seen earlier.  David, who along with Frida went out to try and help with the Hilda search alone, confronts his mother and is vocal about his disdain of her being on safety patrol.  They have an endearing conversation about the importance of good communication between each other to offer the best support for problems.

At the same time, Frida notices the troll army, and gets caught in the thick of it, ultimately using her witch powers to fight them.

She somehow ends up through Trundle’s eye and witnesses a vision similar to what Hilda saw, except it’s her own mother who rises out from under Trolberg, destroying the city.  From here, the conclusive connection starts to become clearer.

However, this perception is not seen by the truly closed-minded head of safety patrol himself.  When the troll army takes things too far and brings down the Trolberg wall, Erik instructs safety patrol to be ready to fight.

At his arsenal is a larger version of his troll gun set to destroy the mountain king for good in attempts at quelling all the trolls.  Hilda is opposed to these extreme measures, not just for moral reasons, but also because she starts to understand the meaning behind her visions from Trundle’s eye.  What she saw as well as the statement about a mother’s love and one bit of troll lore she learned convinces her that there’s a huge mother troll under Trolberg.  If the trolls are attacked, she’ll stand up to defend them, destroying everything.

Unsurprisingly, Erik finds these claims ridiculous, but the extent of his pompousness is met with some opposition.  The biggest one comes from his own deputy, Gerda.  Such a moment like this was a long time coming since much of her prior roles always featured Gerda as far more reasonable and considerate than her commanding officer.  She firmly stands her ground and refuses to fire the big troll gun, advocating for what’s right like a real leader should be.

Though the efforts are noble, Erik manages to fire the gun anyway, and it fulfills its purpose of destroying Trundle the mountain king.

However, because Trundle doesn’t fight back and goes down with a vigorous grin, it feels like he wanted all of this.  For all his convincing ways, it’s very disturbing that taking his life was key to his master plan.  One might say he’s a very multi-layered and formidable antagonist.

It’s at this moment where Hilda’s claim proves correct as the ground starts quaking upon Trundle’s demise, like something really is under the city.  To fully get Erik to call off his attack, Hilda has him witness the vision inside Trundle’s eye.  Just like Frida and herself, Erik gets a vision of his own mother rising from underneath Trolberg.  It’s here where the connection becomes clear as destruction and general mistreatment to her children always provokes a mother to fight for them.  Upon realizing this, Erik actually humbles and shows a humane side by finally realizing that fighting the trolls like this is not the way.  He orders safety patrol to call off their attacks and declares peace.  After being majorly arrogant for much of the series, it’s refreshing to see that even the likes of Erik can come to this rational of a conclusion.

As a result, with all means of attack subsided, there’s a very moving sequence of all the trolls walking in a procession through Trolberg along with the citizens.  The many shots, music, and thematic context bring a very emotional and captivating response.  It’s just about the perfect way to follow up on all the drama and conflict throughout the film, and a fine way of putting the animation medium to good use.

Then there’s a shift to a more stylized visual look that not only enhances this sequence further, but also explains a lot about the trolls.  The section of Trolberg they stop at is very relevant to their nature and background.  Together, Hilda’s knowledge of what she saw in the red eye and Frida’s witch powers reveal very interesting and telling information.  This particular spot is the location of the mother of all trolls.  Through the simple use of shame and color, it’s revealed that she was a giant troll all others looked up to.

She eventually laid down in a dormant state while all the other trolls would gather around her from above.  This is an effective example of a mother’s love the film has been pushing, which leaves sympathy when difficulties became apparent.  It became harder for the trolls to be with their mother when the city of Trolberg was built, and then near impossible when the wall was built to keep the trolls out entirely.  With this in mind, it’s no wonder the trolls put into mortal danger would provoke her to stand up and destroy everything, something she never did despite all the other potential inciting actions.

Then as a true measure of a mother’s love now that peace has been realized between everyone, at this spot, the troll mother works a magical gift for all her children.  They grow decorative leaves, flowers, and shrubbery, giving these simply designed creatures their best appearance possible.  This gift and everyone around to listen to and sympathize with the troll’s story helps to bring everything full circle for the featured creatures, this world, and its characters.

However, to really bring things full circle, the last minute or so of the film serves as an epilogue to just about everything told by a slightly older looking Hilda writing in a journal.  As Erik steps down as head of safety patrol and appoints Deputy Gerda in his place, trolls are practically fully welcomed into society.  The wall is opened, trolls are given a special night to walk amongst the populace in a parade, and they’re treated as equals.  Granted, it’s also made believable by not showing everyone open to their inclusion, but it’s still better progress than ever before.

As for Hilda herself, her experience among the trolls have allowed her family to grow even more as Baba often visits her, and she visits all the trolls in the mountains some nights.  It’s a very fitting development for the young adventurous girl living the best of both worlds among both humans and these strange creatures.  This ending brings very strong finality to this film as well as the entire series. It could end here, but there’s still knowledge of a third and final season of Hilda on the horizon.  It’s hard to figure out exactly what stories would be substantial enough to follow up this film with, but that doesn’t diminish the high quality of this film.

With engaging themes, interesting character journeys, and beautiful visual sequences, Hilda and the Mountain King is a worthy addition to the Hilda franchise.  It is held back by feeling too sudden for newcomers and not always being consistent with its lore, but those faults don’t overpower the many things it gets right.  The audience may need some knowledge of the series to really get and appreciate this film, but other than that, it’s a real unique experience of an animated film.

Highly Recommended

Stay Animated Folks!