Highly Amused

"Highly Amused" is the second segment of the 10th episode of the first season of Trolls: TrollsTopia, and the 19th overall episode in the series. It premiered on November 19, 2020.
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When Dante comes down with a case of composer's block, he is unable to write any new music. That is, until he finds inspiration in the most unlikely place... Branch! Dante starts to shadow Branch's every move. As the invasion of privacy starts to wear on Branch, it becomes unclear what will reach its end first: Dante's symphony or Branch's patience.
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Poppy is holding a funeral for "Ms. Gluise", a good friend and glue stick. It turns out it dried out when Smidge left the cap off, an act she will never forgive herself for. DJ Suki asks Poppy if they shouldn't move things on as they have 7 markers and a felt-tip pen to get through.
The funeral is interrupted by Branch, who realizes he has interrupted a funeral and quickly shows respect. It turns out he needs help with Dante Crescendo. Branch growls and Dante gets excited over it. Branch says that Dante thinks he is his muse. Dante explains a fortnight as he was struggling to compose a new piece. However, he couldn't even write the first note, having a composer's block. He then saw Branch working and was inspired by his raw emotions as he fixed a water slide. He explains that Branch is indeed his muse and he must observe his every move until his master piece is complete. Branch is annoyed, as Poppy says Branch would love to be his muse. Poppy is happy that two TrollsTopians are being brought together; Smidge corrects her and says they are being glued together.
At his bunker, Branch tells Dante that he needs to be quiet while he works and Dante says he will be like a ghost. Every time Branch shows intensive focus or emotion, Dante interrupts him, causing him to fail at every task. After several tasks, he is finished with the first of twenty-seven movements. Branch comes up with a new plan.
He begins counting rations piece by piece. Dante doesn't find it inspiring, but sticks around until he falls asleep at 12,803 rations. Branch steals the manuscript and puts a blanket around Dante. Branch goes to Minuet Sonata, whom he knows is a talented Classical Troll, to ask her to help him finish a piece for a friend. Minuet says that as 1st chair of the Troll orchestra, she has to constantly practice her violin and bass violin, and can't stop to help him. Branch begins to write it himself, but he shows ignorance on how to write music by calling the Treble Clef a "crazy straw thing", asking how many keytar solos go in it and pondering how to put a non-musical sound into the script. Minuet can't stand his ignorance on music writing and stops what she is doing to help.
At his bunker, he gives the sleeping Dante the script and wakes him up. Dante looks at the completed sympathy and comes to the conclusion he completed it in his sleep. This just proves to Dante that Branch is his muse is a miracle worker. Dante soon shows off the completed script to the rest of TrollsTopia.
Branch is back maintaining the slide. Smidge suddenly appears and Branch is thrown off concentration, resulting in him destroying the slide. Smidge is experimenting with a brownie recipe and looking at Branch for inspiration after what happened with Dante. Satin and Chenille appear also struggling with a new look for Mr. Dinkles and are looking for Branch for inspiration. He runs away but Trolls are now stalking him until something clicks.
He goes inside his bunker but is ambushed by Guy Diamond. On a lower level of the Bunker, he finds a group of Trolls waiting for him all with pen and paper. Seeing this is too much to handle, Branch confesses Dante didn't write his script in his sleep. Minuet confirms Branch's confession that she helped him write the piece. Dante is upset that he didn't overcome his composer's block, and Branch feels guilty about what he did. Poppy confirms that when asked Branch messed up, but it is not too late to make it right.
Branch finds Dante flying-shoveling into the ground and confesses he knew Dante needed help but all he could think about was how it inconvenienced him. He apologizes and says that while he is not a muse, he could help Dante find something to inspired him, things he overlooked because Dante was too focused on Branch. They peer through a bush as Branch shows Dante flowers blossoming on someone's wedding day. Dante finds the moment remarkable and is feeling a bit inspired. Branch sings as they continue to look for things that could inspire Dante such as a beautiful part of the forest, friends sharing and Classical babies making their first flight as Branch shows Dante the world itself is his muse. Dante finishes his piece and the Classical Trolls play it in a concert.
Poppy comments on Branch resolving his little adventure and Smidge, mourning for her gluestick again, says all the loose ends were glued together.
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;Pop Trolls
*Skylar Astin as Branch
*Amanda Leighton as Poppy
*Kevin Michael Richardson as Smidge
*Fryda Wolff as DJ Suki, Satin & Chenille
*Sean T. Krishnan as Guy Diamond
*David Fynn as Biggie (non-speaking)
*Kyla Carter as CJ Suki (non-speaking) 
;Classical Trolls
*JP Karliak as Dante Crescendo
*Jeanine Mason as Minuet Sonata
;Funk Trolls
*Kat Graham as Rhythm & Blues (non-speaking)
*Ron Funches as Cooper (non-speaking)
;Rock Trolls
*Lauren Mayhew as Val Thundershock (non-speaking)
;Techno Trolls
*Anita Kalathara as Laguna Tidepool (non-speaking)
*Vladimir Caamaño as Synth (non-speaking)
*David Fynn as Mr. Dinkles
*Gary
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*"The World As Your Muse"
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*The title is a reference to "one is not amused", a joke based on the term often associated with Queen Victoria and "a muse". In ancient Greek mythology, a muse was a goddess of inspiration; the term "muse" has come to mean anything that gives an artist a source of inspiration. The overall title is a reference to Dante being a Classical Troll who as such tends to speak with a particular mannerism normally associated with the British Aristocracy, having clear speech and use of uncommon words, and much of their Tribe is drawn from European sources.
*Branch calls Gary by his name. Gary's been seen throughout Season 1, but not referenced by name in any other episode.
*Branch's raw emotion being inspirational was also previously referenced in "Model Behavior", when Nova Swift told Satin & Chenille they should use him as a model for their fashion line.
*Minuet's role in the episode was added after the storyboard itself was written. In the original storyboards, a group of random Classical Trolls held her role instead. A storyboard animatic version of the song sequence is uploaded to the site.https://www.michellethompkins.com/copy-of-portfolio?pgid=kn7wbikj-d3b71642-4a13-40ed-b1b1-99364fa06284
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Category:Episodes
Category:Trolls: TrollsTopia episodes
Category:Classical Trolls Story Arc Episodes
Category:TT Season 1 episodes
Category:2D animation