The Trolls and the Christmas Express (1981) Plot Summary Explained

The trolls, led by Troglo, infiltrated Santa's village by disguising themselves as elves to sabotage Christmas preparations without being detected. This deception allowed them to cause mischief throughout the workshop while remaining unseen by Santa and the other elves.

Foreshadowing: The disguise is established early in the week before Christmas, setting up the entire conflict.

• trolls
• elves
• disguise
• sabotage
• santa's village

On the day before Christmas Eve, the trolls hatched a devious scheme to make the reindeer dance and sing all night long. By morning, the exhausted reindeer would be too tired to pull Santa's sleigh, effectively grounding the Christmas delivery mission.

Foreshadowing: The plan was mentioned as a escalation after a week of escalating mischief.

• reindeer
• dance
• sing
• exhaust
• stop christmas

The Christmas Express is a global train system that the elves created as a contingency plan when the reindeer were too exhausted to pull the sleigh. They connected Santa's village train to tracks spanning the entire world, allowing gifts to be delivered globally via rail instead of the traditional sleigh route.

Foreshadowing: The elves propose this plan after realizing the reindeer cannot work on Christmas Eve.

• christmas express
• train
• global delivery
• elves plan

The trolls deliberately kept the reindeer dancing and singing throughout the entire night before Christmas Eve. This exhaustive revelry left the animals completely depleted of energy by morning, making them physically incapable of pulling the sleigh for the gift-giving journey.

Foreshadowing: This was the trolls' specific plan executed on the day before Christmas Eve.

• reindeer
• tired
• exhausted
• dancing
• singing

Santa had the elves sing "Deck the Halls" with special emphasis on the word "troll." They explained that the verb "to troll" means to sing or play in a jovial, joyful manner. This linguistic revelation showed the trolls that their name is actually connected to celebration and merriment, not exclusion from Christmas.

Foreshadowing: This moment occurs during the confrontation when Santa asks what troubles the trolls.

• deck the halls
• troll meaning
• song
• linguistic reveal

The trolls were moved by the revelation that "to troll" means to sing joyfully, which meant they actually had a rightful place in Christmas celebrations. Realizing their name was connected to holiday merriment rather than exclusion, they felt welcomed for the first time and chose to make amends by helping the Christmas Express.

Foreshadowing: The trolls previously admitted they felt shut out by Christmas jolliness.

• trolls redemption
• acceptance
• inclusion
• help christmas express

When the reindeer were too exhausted to pull the sleigh, the elves quickly devised a backup plan by creating the Christmas Express. They linked Santa's village train to worldwide railway tracks, transforming a potential Christmas failure into a global delivery system that could reach every corner of the world.

Foreshadowing: This contingency plan was created in response to the reindeer fatigue crisis.

• elves solution
• christmas saved
• global delivery
• contingency plan

When Santa confronted the trolls and asked what troubled them most, they admitted they could not stand the constant jolliness that seemed to shut them out. They felt excluded from the joy and celebration of Christmas, which is why they initially chose to sabotage it.

Foreshadowing: This admission comes during the pivotal confrontation scene.

• trolls grievance
• exclusion
• feelings
• jolliness