Trolls

***Trolls*** is a 2016 American computer-animated musical comedy film based on true controversial events between 1847 and 1872 of the Troll dolls created by Thomas Dam. The film was directed by Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Walt Dohrn, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger and based on a story by Erica Rivinoja. The film features the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, James Corden and Gwen Stefani. The film follows two trolls who go on a quest to save their village from destruction by the Bergens, creatures who eat trolls.

The 33rd animated feature film produced by DreamWorks Animation, the film premiered on October 8, 2016, at the BFI London Film Festival and was theatrically released in the United States on November 4, 2016, by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed $346 million worldwide against its $125 million budget and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Can't Stop the Feeling!". A sequel, *Trolls World Tour*, is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2020.

## Plot

The Trolls are small creatures who live in an almost perpetual state of happiness, singing, dancing and hugging all day. However, they are discovered by the Bergens, large miserable creatures, who can feel happy only after eating a Troll. The Bergens imprison the trolls and eat them every year on a special occasion, called Trollstice. The Trolls, led by their king, King Peppy, with his baby daughter, Princess Poppy, escape through underground tunnels on the day of Trollstice, when Prince Gristle Jr. was going to eat his first Troll. Enraged, Gristle Jr.’s father King Gristle Sr. banishes his Chef who was in charge of the Trollstice preparation.

20 years later, (at the age of 20) Poppy throws a big party to celebrate the Trolls' escape, despite the fears and warnings of the gray troll, Branch, that loud parties will attract the Bergens. A Zen troll named Creek arrives and tells Branch to start being happy instead of being grumpy; Branch refuses. At the party, Branch's fears come true, when Chef sees the fireworks and kidnaps Guy Diamond, Biggie with Mr. Dinkles, Fuzzbert, Smidge, Satin with Chenille, D.J. Suki, Cooper, and Creek (which Poppy tried to rescue). Chef, then takes the kidnapped Trolls back to Bergen Town, while secretly plotting to overthrow its monarchy in revenge for her banishment.

Alone inside the bunker, Branch looks at a bunch of homemade party invitations, indicating that he appreciates Poppy’s offers of friendship and internally would like to have fun with the rest of the trolls. Meanwhile, Poppy goes on a rescue mission alone, as no other troll is willing to venture to Bergen Town, including Branch. But later on, when Poppy gets into trouble, she is saved by Branch, who thinks she will not make it if she goes alone.

Once inside the Bergen king's castle, Poppy and Branch witness Creek apparently get eaten by Gristle Jr. (who is now king), but Poppy remains hopeful that Creek survived. Poppy and Branch find the rest of the captured Trolls being guarded by a scullery maid named Bridget. Poppy discovers that Bridget is secretly in love with King Gristle Jr. and offers to help her get a date with the king while trying to confirm if Creek is alive.

While setting Bridget up for the date, Branch refuses to sing and triggers an argument with Poppy, revealing that, as a child, his grandmother was captured and got killed while trying to save him, because his singing compromised his location to Chef. Branch's guilt and shame over his grandmother's death caused his color to turn from blue to gray.

After Poppy comforts him with a hug, Branch decides to help Bridget and the trolls, though he still refuses to sing. Bridget, disguised under the name of 'Lady Glitter Sparkles' gets her date with Gristle Jr. at a roller rink and arcade restaurant and Gristle Jr. asks her to be his "plus one" at Trollstice. Poppy notices Creek being held captive inside the jewel adorning the king's mantle.

Having helped Bridget, the Trolls attempt to rescue Creek from Gristle's room and steal his jewel but discover that it is empty. The Trolls are then captured by Chef and are shocked to discover that Creek sold them out to the Bergens to spare himself from being eaten. Creek lures out every troll from Troll village and they are captured by Chef and the other Bergen cooks. With all the Trolls captured and soon to be eaten, a heartbroken Poppy becomes sad after she had been betrayed by her friend, loses hope as she and all the other Trolls turn gray.

Branch sings “True Colors” for the princess to cheer her up, and also confesses his affection for her. Poppy, after regaining her colors, returns Branch's feelings, and they both end up restoring all the trolls' colors including Branch's. Bridget saves the trolls, willing to sacrifice herself. Poppy wishes to return the favor, and with Branch and her friends, shows the Bergens that Bridget was Lady Glitter Sparkles and that they too, can find happiness within themselves.

Chef refuses to accept the peace and tries to kill the Trolls, but is knocked into a serving cart that is sent rolling out of Bergen Town. Chef is set on fire with Creek, who was still in her pouch. Both species celebrate, bringing new life to the town and renewing the life of the troll tree. Poppy is then declared queen of the Trolls, and Poppy and Branch share a hug.

In a mid-credits scene, Chef and Creek's cart stops rolling. Chef prepares to eat Creek herself, but they soon find out they are on top of a monster, who opens his mouth and eats them.

## Cast

* Anna Kendrick as Poppy, the princess and later queen of the Trolls
	+ Iris Dohrn voices a baby Poppy.
* Justin Timberlake as Branch, a paranoid, disgruntled Troll survivalist
	+ Liam Henry voices a younger Branch.
* Zooey Deschanel as Bridget, a kind-hearted Bergen who works as a scullery maid to Chef and has feelings for Gristle.
* Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Prince Gristle, the prince (later king) of the Bergens. He is Bridget's love interest.
* Christine Baranski as Chef, a mean-spirited Bergen chef who is in charge of Troll preparation.
* Russell Brand as Creek, a Troll with a positive personality and zen-like wisdom later revealed to be a coward and double-crosser willing to sell out all the Trolls just so he won't be eaten.
* Gwen Stefani as DJ Suki, the Trolls' resident disc jockey.
* James Corden as Biggie, a chubby, friendly Troll.
* Jeffrey Tambor as King Peppy, the king of the Trolls and Poppy's father.
* Ron Funches as Cooper, a giraffe-like Troll that walks on all fours.
* Icona Pop as Satin and Chenille, twin trolls who are joined by their hair and love fashion.
* Kunal Nayyar as Guy Diamond, a glittery silver Troll with a highly Auto-Tuned voice who is always naked.
* John Cleese as King Gristle Sr., Gristle's father and the ruler of the Bergens at the start of the film.
* Walt Dohrn as Mr. Dinkles, Biggie's pet worm.
	+ Dohrn also voices Smidge, Fuzzbert, Cloud Guy, Tunnel Troll and Wedgie Bergen #2.
* GloZell as Grandma Rosiepuff, an elderly Troll and Branch's late grandmother who was taken by a Bergen while saving Branch. In the UK version, newsreader Susanna Reid voices the character and in the Australian version, Dami Im voices the character.
* Meg DeAngelis as Moxie Dewdrop, a dancing Troll. Noodlerella voices the character in the UK version.
* Ricky Dillon as Aspen Heitz, a Troll skitterboarder.
* Kandee Johnson as Mandy Sparkledust, a Troll who designs and repairs all the treasures of Troll Town.
* Quvenzhané Wallis as Harper, a Troll artist who paints with her hair.
* Mike Mitchell as Darius, Vinny the Phone, Captain Starfunkle, Spider, Wedgie Bergen #1, Chad, Card
* Grace Helbig as Cookie Sugarloaf, one of the trolls. Carrie Hope Fletcher voices the character in the UK version.
* Curtis Stone as Todd, a royal guard that works for the Bergen Royal Family.
* Rhys Darby as Bibbly, a Bergen shopkeeper of the Bib Store.

### ADR Group

* Greg Berg
* Bob Bergen
* Gregg Berger
* Dave Boat
* Peter Cilella
* Cam Clarke
* David Cowgill
* Chris Cox
* Debi Derryberry
* Terri Douglass
* Eddie Frierson
* Jean Gilpin
* Jackie Gonneau
* Barbara Goodson
* Mona Marshall
* Scott Menville
* Laraine Newman
* Fred Tatasciore
* James Arnold Taylor
* Matthew Russell Wood

## Production

DreamWorks announced plans for a film based on the Troll toyline as early as 2010. This version was to be written by Adam Wilson and his wife Melanie. By 2012, Chloë Grace Moretz had already been cast in the female lead role and Jason Schwartzman was reported to have been offered the male lead. In September 2012, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation announced that the film with the working title *Trolls* would be released on June 5, 2015, with Anand Tucker set to direct the film, written by Wallace Wolodarsky and Maya Forbes.

By April 2013, DreamWorks Animation had acquired the intellectual property for the Trolls franchise from the Dam Family and Dam Things. Having "big plans for the franchise," DreamWorks Animation became the exclusive worldwide licensor of the merchandise rights, except for Scandinavia, where Dam Things remains the licensor. In May 2013, the film was pushed back for a year to November 4, 2016. The same month, DreamWorks Animation announced that Mike Mitchell and Erica Rivinoja has been hired as a director and screenplay writer to "reimagine" the film as a musical comedy, which will present the origin of the Trolls' colorful hair. On June 16, 2014, Anna Kendrick joined the cast to voice Poppy, a princess. On September 15, 2015, *Deadline Hollywood* reported that Justin Timberlake will voice a character named Branch. Timberlake previously worked with DreamWorks Animation as the voice of Arthur "Artie" Pendragon in *Shrek the Third* in 2007. The full cast announced their respective roles via announcements on Twitter on January 6, 2016.

## Release

The film's opening premiere opened at the BFI London Film Festival Event on October 8, 2016 as a special BFI presentation, and was theatrically released on November 4, 2016, in the United States by 20th Century Fox.

### Home media

*Trolls* was released on Digital HD on January 24, 2017, and on DVD and Blu-ray on February 7, 2017. The film topped the home video sales chart for two consecutive weeks.

## Reception

### Box office

*Trolls* grossed $153.7 million in the US and Canada and $193.2 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $346.8 million, against a budget of $125 million.

In the United States and Canada, *Trolls* was released alongside the releases of *Doctor Strange* and *Hacksaw Ridge*, and was projected to gross $35–40 million from 4,060 theaters in its opening weekend. On its first day, the film grossed $12.3 million (including $900,000 made from Thursday night previews). It went on to open to $46.5 million, finishing second at the box office behind *Doctor Strange*.

### Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 74% based on 148 reviews; the average rating is 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Trolls* brings its instantly recognizable characters to the big screen in a colorful adventure that, while geared toward the younger set, isn't without rewards for parents." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 56 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 80% overall positive score.

### Accolades

 Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie
 Favorite Soundtrack

## Franchise

### Animated series

*Main article: Trolls: The Beat Goes On!*
## Notes

1. ↑ In 2018, the film's distribution rights were transferred to Universal Pictures via its acquisition of DreamWorks Animation.