THE TRAVELER & THE TROLL Perfectly Captures ’80s Fantasy Nostalgia in Hilarious Short; Here’s Where You Can Watch

The conceit for The Traveler & The Troll immediately pulls you in. It shares:

A Traveler stops to rest in a clearing of a long haunted forest. They soon learn they are not alone and have stumbled upon the lair of a terrifying troll who demands gifts for passage.

With no coin or treasure to give, the Traveler must answer three of the Troll’s riddles to survive the night and leave the forest with their soul intact. Much to the Troll’s surprise, the Traveler is more of an adversary than the Troll ever could have expected.

It’s an excellent sounding tale, but whatever you’re envisioning, the actual short is even better than that. In nine glorious minutes, it works its practical magic on you. The Traveler & The Troll immediately casts its spell deftly, taking viewers into a fully formed realm that feels both at once real and fabulously magical, and introducing you to its mythical troll and epic traveler. But, of course, both are more than meets the eye. And this short manages to be both enthralling, humorous, and emotional all in one go. We love its quick wit and banter, and star Erika Ishii very much delivers the true gravitas we want to see in our fantasy heroes in such a short piece.

And, then, of course, there’s the puppet. THE PUPPET. The Troll puppet is truly an awe-inspiring creation. And he’s such an incredible addition, rivaling the work we see in any big-budget movie out there. We love him. And we’re going to need him to appear everywhere. Kudos to Dave Child for giving this creature an incredible and multi-faceted presence.

Most importantly, The Traveler & The Troll is steeped in life and heart. So often, movies today lack all character; they are too glossy, too polished, too mass-produced, and technology reliant. But technology can’t do what human hands can do. It cannot inject the passion and the love that a person can. And this was incredibly important to director and writer Adam Murray. He shares:

I’ve always been drawn to practical effects in film. Creatures, squibs, matte paintings, miniatures, in-camera illusions. Images and sequences that feel tangible and real. And with the rampant increase of generative AI, and how hollow and lifeless it is, I really wanted to make a film that involved real artists applying their craft to create a small but fully practical world that has verisimilitude and pays homage to the ways films were made more by hand and less by an algorithm being fed other people’s art.

I’ve loved fantasy stories forever, and one the great things about playing in fantasy is there’s no set rules on how your world needs to look, and getting to design the trees, and props, and sets, and the troll himself with other artists and craftspeople was incredibly fulfilling, and I hope the audience feels the same feeling of joy and inspiration that we did making this.

I also love puppets. Who doesn’t love puppets?

That feeling of reality, life, and the joy of coming together with other artists in service of pure creation is truly felt in The Traveler & The Troll. And it’s paid off. The short premiered at the Overlook Film Fest in New Orleans in April and won the Audience Award in the short film category. It also won Best Film at Warped Witch Festival. The Traveler & The Troll additionally screened at Chattanooga Film Festival and at Palm Springs International ShortFest, one of the largest short film festivals in North America. That feels like quite a run.

Where Can You Watch The Traveler & The Troll?

Of course, we bet all this leaves you asking: Where can I watch The Traveler & The Troll? Well, right now, The Traveler & The Troll is screening largely at festivals.

Up next, The Traveler & The Troll will screen at Fantasia Festival, one of the biggest genre film festivals in North America. You can catch the short on July 21.

Additionally, The Traveler & The Troll will be playing at the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival on August 23rd as part of the Genre Shorts Block.

If you can catch this gorgeous piece, we highly recommend that you do.

Editorial Note: Adam Murray is employed by Legendary Digital Networks, of which Nerdist is a subsidiary.