Trolls was
produced by DreamWorks Animation and voiced by an all-star cast. The Trolls are
small creatures who love hugging, dancing, and having a good time. They lived
safely hidden from the Bergens for 20 years until their village is discovered. Some
of the Trolls are captured and taken to Bergentown as a meal for the miserable
Bergens, who believe their happiness comes from eating a Troll. The main
character, Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), the positive and upbeat princess of
the Trolls, who sets off to rescue her friends. She is joined by Branch (voiced
by Justin Timberlake), a paranoid survivalist Troll. They meet Bridget (voiced
by Zooey Deschanel), a kind hearted Bergen and scullery maid in King Gristle’s
castle. They form a friendship which will change their lives forever. Poppy and
the Trolls are able to teach the Bergens that true happiness comes from within.
I loved the message of the film is that happiness comes from
within. It is not something you put inside your body as the Bergens thought. It
is deep inside you. You only need to turn it on. It’s been engrained in our
culture that you must search for happiness. It’s stated in the Declaration of
Independence: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” However, happiness
isn’t a destination, it’s a part of the journey. I think it’s a great message
that we can find happiness in the here and now instead of in a future event or
achievement.
I also loved the music. There were a lot of covers of popular rock
and folk songs. From True Colors
(1986) to The Sounds of Silence
(1964) to Clint Eastwood (2001), the
cover songs are fun additions to the humor and action of the story. As well as
do the two original songs Can’t Stop the
Feeling (written by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Shellback, performed
by the cast) and Get Back Up Again
(written by Beri Pasek and Justin Paul, performed by Anna Kendrick).
My one complaint is the gross humor that filmmakers seem to
think must be in a children’s movie. One character, Guy Diamond (voiced by The
Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar) farts glitter. Another character, Cooper
(voiced by Ron Funches) poops cupcakes when he’s scared. When I saw it for the
first time, I thought seriously?!? Was that necessary? Even my daughter, who
loves Poppy and the movie, says eww, gross!
I must admit when the movie was first released in theaters,
I resisted taking my daughter to see it because I wasn’t really sure it was
going to be appropriate. I didn’t read any of the reviews but I was certain
that someone just took a toy and made another unnecessary movie. So we waited for
the DVD. After the first viewing, myself, my daughter and my husband loved it.
I decided to write a review for it and search online for what other viewers
thought of Trolls. Many of the
reviews I read either loved it or hated it. Those who hated it, I think, went
into the movie determined to hate it. One reviewer says it promotes
cannibalism. Cannibalism? Really? If it was cannibalism, it would be Troll
eating Troll or Bergen eating Bergen. And by the way, no actual eating is in
the movie, it’s just talked about. Other reviews didn’t like the cover songs.
One reviewer that the use of The Sounds
of Silence was inappropriate. However, when you see the movie, the song
fits the scene.
While no movie is perfect and will not appeal to everyone’s
tastes, I recommend Trolls. It is a
fun adventure movie with great music and a great message. The music will have
you dancing and singing along. As for the criticisms of the movie, while
DreamWorks often doesn’t compare to Pixar, the studio still puts our great
movies. How to Train Your Dragon movies,
Despicable Me, and the first two Shrek movies. Trolls 2 was recently announced. It is set to release in 2020. If you are concerned about
the appropriateness of the movie for children, I recommend viewing it for
yourself first and then decide.
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