The Princess and the Goblin

Director - Jozsef Gemes (Tiny Heroes)
Starring - Sally Ann Marsh (Hilltop Hospital), Peter Murray, and Rik Mayall (An American Werewolf in London)
Release Date - 1991
Genre - Children's/Adventure/Fantasy
Tagline - "An enchanting princess, an outrageous goblin, a magical adventure for the whole family"
Format - VHS (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     I am a very nostalgic person and love watching movies I watched when I was little.  It brings back so many memories of a more simpler time in my life.  When I was really young I remember watching this movie numerous times.  I absolutely loved it and would often force everyone in the house to watch this back to back with Fern Gully.  A few weeks back me and my wife moved and while I was unpacking I ran across my old VHS copy of this and had to watch it when time allowed.  I finally was able to make time to walk down memory lane.

     The film follows a young princess who lives with her father, the king, her nanny, pet cat, and the loyal servants and guards of the king in a walled in castle.  They are all oblivious to the horrors outside the castle walls.  The local miners have to deal with goblins and their pets while down in the mines.  The goblins are foul creatures that have hard bodies and unbreakable skulls.  However, they do have a weakness.  They can not tolerate any pain in their feet and singing.  The princess leaves the castle with her nanny and cat one day and crosses paths with the goblins and their pets.  She panics and tries to run but they surround her.  At the last moment a miner's son saves her with his singing.  She returns to the castle where she randomly meets her great great grandmother's ghost.  She gives her granddaughter some supernatural tools to help her on an upcoming quest.  The miner and his son are in the mines one day working when his son falls threw a hole and lands in a cart full of rocks being driven by two goblins.  The goblins are damming an underwater river in an attempt to flood the mines so they can attack the humans.  The attacks are orchestrated by prince of the goblins, Froglips, who wants to kidnap the princess and force her to live underground until she transforms into a goblin.  The goblins attack the castle and try to flood the mines but the miner's son is able to warn everyone and the miners take precautions.  It is now up to the miner's son to stop the goblin prince from getting the princess.
      This movie was watched daily by me up until the point horror took over.  This movie brings back so many memories of a time when my family was so much closer and they would all sit around and watch this movie with me no matter how many times I wanted to watch it.  The movie has decent voice acting but not like other animated films I have seen from this time.  I do believe that this one does have a lower budget in comparison but that should not render talent.  The story is nothing special but for a children's flick it is very effective.  No matter how many times I watched this movie growing up I would still fret and panic when the princess would get nabbed.  Finally, the animation did not stand up to the test of time.  I can remember watching this, The Brave Little Toaster, and We're Back: A Dinosaur Story around the same time and this one does not look as good as the other two films do now.  Overall, this is an amazing children's movie that I highly recommend to you and your little ones.