Trolls is a 2016 American animated musical comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation, based on the Good Luck Trolls doll line. The film was directed by Mike Mitchell, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and stars the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Christine Baranski, Russell Brand, James Corden, Jeffrey Tambor, Ron Funches, Icona Pop, Kunal Nayyar, Quvenzhané Wallis, John Cleese, and Gwen Stefani. The film follows two trolls, Poppy (Kendrick) and Branch (Timberlake), who go on a quest to save their village from destruction by the Bergens, giant creatures who eat Trolls.
Trolls premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 8, 2016, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 4, by 20th Century Fox. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $347 million against a $125 million budget. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Can't Stop the Feeling!".
The film launched a franchise, which included two television specials, Trolls Holiday (2017) and Trolls: Holiday in Harmony (2021), two television series, Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (2018–2019) and Trolls: TrollsTopia (2020–2022), two sequels, Trolls World Tour (2020) and Trolls Band Together (2023), and six short films.
Plot
Trolls are small, colorful, perpetually happy creatures who like to sing, dance and hug all day. They are discovered by the large, hideous and miserable Bergens, who believe they can only feel happy by consuming a Troll. The Bergens imprison the Trolls in a caged tree, and eat them once a year on a special occasion called "Trollstice".
On the year that Bergen Prince Gristle Jr., son of King Gristle Sr., is due to eat his first Troll, the chef in charge of the ceremony discovers that the Trolls, under the leadership of King Peppy, have managed to escape. The King banishes Chef from Bergen Town, and she vows to find the Trolls, secretly plotting to overthrow the monarchy as revenge.
Twenty years later, Peppy's daughter Princess Poppy organizes a gigantic party to celebrate the anniversary of their escape. A serious, gray Troll named Branch warns that this could expose their home, but everyone ignores him. However, his forebodings are justified when Chef, who as only Bergen, has spent the last twenty years searching for the Trolls, notices the party fireworks from her hideout, follows them to Troll Village and kidnaps Poppy's friends, including her crush, a "zen" Troll named Creek. While the rest of the Trolls take refuge in Branch's survival bunker uninvited, Poppy sets off alone to rescue her friends. She gets herself into several potentially deadly situations, and is finally rescued by Branch, who thinks her quest is hopeless and only followed her to escape his bunker, in which the Trolls barely fit anyway.
After encountering further challenges, Poppy and Branch meet a mischievous Cloud Guy, who leads them into Bergen Town. The pair sneak into the castle of Gristle Jr, who is now the King. They witness Chef apparently feeding Creek to Gristle, but Poppy still holds out hope that Creek survived. They find the other captives being guarded by a young scullery maid named Bridget, who is secretly in love with Gristle. Upon learning this, the Trolls agree to help her get a date in exchange for her help in ascertaining whether or not Creek is still alive. However, Branch refuses to sing along with the others in the ensuing musical number, revealing that when he was a child, his loud singing inadvertently led Chef to his home, and his grandmother Rosiepuff was captured. Branch's guilt caused his colors to fade into gray, and he swore never to sing again.
The Trolls use their powers to disguise Bridget as "Lady Glittersparkles", and she and Gristle go on a date at a roller rink/arcade restaurant. During the date, Poppy spots Creek being held captive inside a jewel on Gristle's mantle. Afterwards, the Trolls leave Bridget and go to rescue Creek, but are all captured by Chef when Creek sells them out in exchange for his own life being spared. Creek steals a horrified Poppy's cowbell and uses it to lure the rest of the Trolls out of hiding. They are rounded up by the Bergens, and imprisoned in a large cooking pot. Blaming herself for the situation, Poppy becomes embittered, and her colors turn to gray. Saddened, the other Trolls lose their colors as well.
However, Branch, the only Troll who has not given up, begins singing "True Colors" in an attempt to comfort the despairing Trolls; both his and Poppy's colors return, followed by those of the other Trolls. Bridget, grateful to the Trolls for helping her, secretly releases them from the pot while Chef is not looking. Poppy refuses to let Bridget be punished for their escape, so she and the Trolls return to Bergen Town, reveal Bridget's true identity to the Bergens, and explain that she and Gristle are happily in love with each other. This shows the rest of the Bergens that they can find happiness within themselves without having to eat a Troll, and the two sides celebrate together in song, ending their feud, while Chef, who refuses to accept the peace, is banished from Bergen Town with Creek on flaming cart, and King Peppy crowns his daughter the queen of the Trolls.
Chef and Creek roll to a stop on their serving cart on wilderness, where they to falls victim to one of the hill-like predators.
Voice cast
Anna Kendrick as Poppy, the princess the Trolls Justin Timberlake as Branch, a survivalist Troll Zooey Deschanel as Bridget, a scullery maid to Chef Christopher Mintz-Plasse as King Gristle, son of King Gristle Sr., and the second King of the Bergens Christine Baranski as Chef, the chef of the Bergens Russell Brand as Creek, a "zen" troll Gwen Stefani as DJ Suki, a Troll who uses DJ equipment made of insects John Cleese as King Gristle Sr., Prince Gristle's father and the first King of the Bergens James Corden as Biggie, owner of Mr. Dinkles Jeffrey Tambor as King Peppy, the king of the Trolls and Poppy's father Ron Funches as Cooper, a Troll who can walk on all fours Icona Pop as Satin and Chenille, twin Trolls with a flair for fashion design who are conjoined by their hair Kunal Nayyar as Guy Diamond, a glittery Troll Quvenzhané Wallis as Harper, a Troll artist Walt Dohrn as: Smidge, a small and strong female Troll Fuzzbert, a Troll whose legs are the only thing visible besides his hair Cloud Guy, an anthropomorphic cloud Mr. Dinkles, Biggie's pet stuffed worm Rhys Darby as Bibbly, a Bergen shopkeeper of the Bib Store Meg DeAngelis as Moxie Dewdrop, a dancing Troll Connie Glynn voices the character in the UK version GloZell as Grandma Rosiepuff, Branch's late grandmother Dami Im voices the character in the Australian version Susanna Reid voices the character in the UK version Kandee Johnson as Mandy Sparkledust, a Troll who designs and repairs treasures Abbey Clancy voices the character in the UK version Grace Helbig as Cookie Sugarloaf, one of the Trolls Carrie Hope Fletcher voices the character in the UK version. Mike Mitchell and Curtis Stone as Chad and Todd, two royal guards that work for the Bergen Royal Family
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 Melanie Wilson LaBracio. 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 had been hired as a director and screenplay writer to "reimagine" the film as a musical comedy, which would present the origin of the Trolls' colorful hair.
Story artist Joel Crawford, who previously worked with Mitchell on Shrek Forever After (2010), brought on animator Januel Mercado to the production team of Trolls to work on storyboards due to Mercado's enthusiasm for the project, with the two having previously become best friends during production on Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).
Casting On June 16, 2014, Anna Kendrick joined the cast to voice Poppy, a princess. On September 15, 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that Justin Timberlake would 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.
Music
Justin Timberlake served as an executive producer for the film's music and released the original song "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in conjunction with "Hello Darkness" on May 6, 2016. The song reached No. 1 in the official charts of 17 countries, including the United States and Canada. In addition to Timberlake, the rest of the cast contributed to the film's soundtrack, which also features guest appearances from Earth, Wind & Fire and Ariana Grande. The soundtrack album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Australian Recording Industry Association.
Release Premiere The film's opening premiere opened at the BFI London Film Festival Opening Celebration 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, and in the United Kingdom at an earlier date of October 15, 2016.
Marketing The first teaser trailer for Trolls was officially unveiled online on January 28, 2016. The following day, it would make its theatrical debut with the opening of Kung Fu Panda 3. On June 29, 2016, a second trailer was then released online.
DreamWorks spent an estimated $105 million promoting the film.
Home media Trolls was released on Digital HD on January 24, 2017, and on DVD and Blu-ray by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on February 7, 2017. The film topped the home video sales chart for two consecutive weeks.‘Trolls’ Tops Disc Sales Charts Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2017‘Trolls’ Trumps ‘Arrival’ to Remain No. 1 on Disc Sales Charts Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2017 The film was also released in a three-movie pack alongside its sequels Trolls World Tour and Trolls Band Together on DVD and Blu-ray by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Studio Distribution Services on January 16, 2024.
Reception Box office Trolls grossed $153.9 million in the US and Canada and $193.2 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $347 million, against a budget of $125 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film made a net profit of $19 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.
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