After visiting his father in Arkham Sanitarium, young Howard Lovecraft accidentally uses the legendary Necronomicon to open a portal to a strange frozen world filled with horrifying creatures and a great adventure.
This film provides examples of:
- A Boy and His X: The film is Howard Lovecraft and Cthulhu being friends.
- Actor Allusion: Jeffrey Combs appearing in a movie based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, you say?note
- Aliens Speaking English: The Fish People of R'lyeh can communicate with others through a mental link called a "Li-Nah", not actually speaking English but communicating in a way where they don't actually speak.
- Badass Teacher: Dr. Henry Armitage, chief librarian and skilled occultist of Miskatonic University. He teaches Howard the nature of Lovecraftian magic and spell-casting, even voiced by Mark Hamill for good measure.
- Big Bad: Algid, later revealed to be King Abdul Alhazred.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Gotha, Davik, Twi'i and Innes whom Howard meets when he arrives in the Frozen kingdom, later arrive to help Howard defeat Abdul in the form of Algid.
- The Dragon: Spot / Thu Thu Hmong is transformed into Cthulhu by Algid's / Abdul's incantations; he becomes "Spot" when Howard uses the seal to change him back.
- Eldritch Location: Winfield's journal describes R'lyeh as "a dour profane kingdom… an unholy marriage of fairy tales and nightmares."
- Exposed to the Elements: Howard spend the whole movie in his tailcoat. Please don't forget that the movie is Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom.
- Fluffy Tamer: Howard changes the Cthulhu back into "Spot" when he uses the power of the seal.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Howard named the Lovecraft Lite tentacled/winged gorilla-like Eldritch Abomination "Spot."
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Uncovering the true plans behind King Adbdul's arrival after reading the Necronomicon drives Howard's father Winfield insane and gets him condemned to an insane asylum at the beginning of the first film.
- I Hate Past Me:Algid be King Abdul Alhazred is actually revealed to be a future version of Howard Lovecraft himself brought back in time and influenced by Nyarlothep. Howard manages to use his mother's love to convince his future self to have a Heel–Face Turn.
- I Owe You My Life: Spot declares Howard his master after he keeps him from falling into an icy chasm.
- Instant Runes: An ornate circle with symbols appears on Howard’s bedroom floor when he utters the magic spell to send him to R'lyeh.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: Howard's mother describes her son as someone who "puts off" his peers with a wild imagination, preferring to stay by himself and read rather than play with others.
- Lighter and Softer: About as light and soft as a cartoon film about Lovecraft lore can be
- Looks Like Cesare: Describes Howard and his father Winfield perfectly.
- Lovecraft Lite: Definitely Lighter and Softer than the original texts the film and graphic novel is based on. After all, the story involves a young H.P. Lovecraft befriending a playful, child-like Cthulhu.
- Magical Incantation: Incantations are often spoken in ancient Arno as Lovecraftian magic works by I Know Your True Name dynamics, and knowing the true name of creatures and forces gives great control over them.
- The Man Behind the Man: Nyarlathotep, who is manipulating events to release the Old Ones.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Howard is a younger version of H. P. Lovecraft.
- Noodle People: The various human characters (especially Howard) have very large heads and toothpick bodies.
- The Power of Love: Howard's undying love for his mother helps him through his journey and ends up saving reality from destruction.
- The Voiceless: Davik, until the end when he says "I'll miss you, Howard" after Algid's / Abdul's defeat.
- Unreliable Narrator: Queen Algid Bunk reveals the history of the Kingdom of R'lyeh as a once former Arcadia paradise where the people grew complacent and forgot the existence of evil as warned by the Poet Abdul Alhazred. The Ancient One Cthulhu arrived and sunk the city and flooded the Kingdom, and the citizens of R'lyeh managed to stop Cthulhu by magically freezing the Kingdom in snow and time, before sealing Cthulhu away.What Algid did not reveal is that she was really Abdul, who originally summoned Cthulhu and wanted to release Cthulhu again and destroy reality out of spite.
