Trolls: Not All Smiles and Sunshine

By Ellie Drabnis on December 6, 2016

Don’t let the rainbow of colors and the upbeat music fool you. Trolls was not all ‘sunshine and smiles’ as the trailers may have implied.

I had no intention of willingly seeing Trolls. My mother found a love for them, being reminded of the Troll dolls I once played with as a child. So, somehow she convinced me to go with her and there we were: at the movie theater.

Less than excited best describes how I felt when I sat down in my seat. Once the movie was all said and done, I loved it. Perhaps for all the wrong reasons but, still.

**WARNING: SPOILERS (while minimal) AHEAD**

(https://pixabay.com)

Very quickly, the movie took a shot at the Troll dolls that 80s babies, as well as some of us 90s babies, played with. While the joke did annoy me initially, it was a pretty clever inclusion and nice little shoutout.

I figured, okay so, that was good … this movie can’t possibly get any better …

I didn’t realize that the Bergens, the giants who are the enemies of the trolls, actually ate them. I figured okay, we’re just going to have that mentioned and never see such a thing …

But, look at that: I was wrong.

Plus, the movie very openly explored morbid themes of death. For example, Branch, the rather pessimistic Troll (voiced by Justin Timberlake), explains that he doesn’t sing because the last time he sang, his grandmother died because she saved him from a Bergen and was taken in his place. I figured “Okay, he’s going to tell this story and that’ll be it, they aren’t going to possibly show this …”

Again, I was wrong and the movie showed a beautifully animated (and very sad) flashback.

Not to mention, there was plenty of adult humor that went right over the heads of the little kids in the theater. For example, two of the Bergens, King Gristle (voiced by Christopher Mintz-Plase, aka McLovin from Superbad) and Bridget (voiced by Zooey Deschanel) go out on a date. The pair get to dancing and well, they were doing what us ‘older kids’ (who are 18+) would call bumping and grinding, at one point. No harm done but, that certainly held my attention. Even so, it’s cool, adult humor snuck in like that makes kid’s movies all that much more fun for the whole family.

My mother even went so far as to get me a Trolls Happy Meal Toy as means to convince me to go with her. This is Smidge and the head is meant to go on top of the little pencil that I lost.
(photo by me)

Trolls may have been billed as a ‘children’s movie,’ but it’s not one of those movies for children that talks down to them and acts as if they can’t understand a deep concept. I won’t go into much detail, but this movie explains that all too often, those who are closest to us will betray us for selfish reasons. And, that can happen at any time and place. It’s unfortunate and there isn’t much explaining why those things happen other than someone making a personal choice. But, showing that betrayal from friends is a very real thing was an intelligent concept to stick in and was by no means ‘dumbed down.’ Such a theme really resonated with me on a personal level.

Going off that, Branch and Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) are polar opposites and, while they do eventually fall in love, it was by no means forced. In other children’s movies, the princess/damsel figure is pushed  into the arms of the prince/hero as quickly as possible.

Music is a very big part of this movie which was clear from the first trailer. I may be biased since I’ve loved Anna Kendrick’s voice since hearing her sing in the first Pitch Perfect movie but even more so: she sang beautifully on every song she was given in the movie. I can’t say I’m a Justin Timberlake fan the way I used to be when I was a 5-year old listening to N’SYNC but I cannot deny that Timberlake still has a beautiful voice.

The combined vocal power and prowess of Timberlake and Kendrick ensured that the music stayed the star of the film. That’s why I appreciated this movie so much. Never once did it try to rely on the pretty colors or cute images on the screen. The story, music and voice acting helped to move the story along and make everything come full-circle; the vibrant colors and animation were an added bonus. My only real gripe is that some of the minor characters didn’t get very many lines but, I can let that slide. Trolls is now in theaters and is definitely worth checking out.

I loved the music so much, I ended up purchasing my favorite tracks from the movie via iTunes.
(Screenshot of my iTunes Library)

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