Thread by @alamodrafthouse

Trolls.

What are they?

Why are they here?

What do they want?

We can’t answer some of those questions, but after an intense and thorough investigation, we can help you know your Troll. [Thread]

How did Troll dolls come about? If your guess was “probably a poor Danish fisherman and woodworker carved one for his kids and the whole village wanted one”, you’d be right.

In the early 1950s, a bankrupt former baker named Thomas Dam carved the first Troll in the small village of Gjol, then began selling them door-to-door.

By 1957, he’d begun producing them with rubber bodies filled with woodshavings, and hair made from Icelandic sheep’s wool.

Demand shot up, and in 1959 a company called Dam Things was created.

Dam’s original Trolls were called “Good Luck Trolls” - and these weren't just wrinkly old troll persons, there were... Troll Lions.

Troll Cows.

Troll Donkeys. NOT HORSES.

Troll Elephants.

Troll Giraffes.

Even the Turtle Troll.

In 1964, at the height of the craze, Dam Things was purchasing Iceland’s entire supply of sheep’s wool for the Troll’s hair.

In the United States, Dam Things licensed Trolls to a company called Uneeda, which sold them as “Wish-Niks”, which sold tiny trolls, big trolls, and medium sized trolls. The first American fad hit between 1963 and 1965, and even saw a Troll meet American royalty.

In 1963 pilot Betty Miller became the first woman to cross the Pacific Ocean solo, and she and her copilot troll doll got an invite to the White House to meet John F. Kennedy.

Troll-a-mania eventually died down in the US, but Trolls never went away – they stayed popular in Scandinavia, lurking… gathering strength… until the next invasion.

For more info on Dam Trolls, visit dagoriginaldesigns.com/index_files/Pa…

In the early 1980s American toy marketing executives visiting Denmark noticed the persistence of trolls, and a company called EFS Manufacturing licensed the creations under the Norfin trolls trademark.

Norfin trolls shouldn’t be confused with Russ Trolls, produced by a gifts and novelties company, Russ Berrie and Co, which picked up on the growing resurgence of Trolldom with their own line that exploded in the early 1990s.

Troll merchandising exploded during the Second Troll-issance. There were troll backpacks.

Troll pencils.

Troll lunchboxes.

Troll keychains.

Troll earrings.

But eventually, you’ve got to pay the Troll toll.

The fad died in 1993 – Russ Berrie and Co’s revenues dropped 37 percent – $165 million! – in just one year. entrepreneur.com/article/14542

And with that, the roiling boil of the Troll craze was set to a simmer – but they didn’t vanish.

Let’s talk Trolls in pop culture.

During the 1990s fad you saw all sorts of wild troll action. The first animated Trolls were seen in a 1991 cartoon special The Magic Trolls And The Troll Warriors, based on the no doubt deep mythology of the Magic Trolls toyline.

That was followed by 1992’s Magical Super Trolls special.

There was also a Trollies Radio Show, a direct-to-video musical with trolls renditions of "Kokomo", "Woolly Bully", and "Do Wah Diddy."

Meanwhile, a Trolls computer game was released in 1993, followed by Trolls on Treasure Island and The Trolls in Crazyland for NES, and Super Troll Islands for SNES.

Trolls have shown up or been referenced in lots of TV shows and films – Living Single, Guardians of the Galaxy, King of the Hill, and naturally, Toy Story.

But it all came to a head in 2013, when Dreamworks Animation acquired the Trolls franchise from the Dams, basically controlling all things Troll outside of Scandinavia.

That led to the Trolls big-screen debut, 2016’s TROLLS, bringing together the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, and, of course, James Corden.

So here we are, 2020.

Right now you can get Troll crayons, Troll guitars, Troll lip balm, Troll bubble bath, tickets to Trolls Live – nearly sixty years since the first Troll invasion, we bow to our Troll overlords.

[End Thread]