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dreamsinger-rose · 6 years

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Review - Trolls

First off, if you’d like to see other stuff I’ve written, on Fanfiction.net I am Dreamsinger. On Amazon, my usually-very-comprehensive reviews are under Gemseeker.

For my first post I thought I’d start with a review I wrote about a movie I fell in love with recently - Dreamworks’ Trolls. I posted a shorter version of this review on Amazon. I couldn’t post the whole thing - apparently it was too long! LOL. Feel free to make a comment - or multiple ones, seeing as how I go through quite a few different points that may be easier to discuss separately. I’m looking forward to hearing what you all have to say :)

Funny, clever and heartwarming. Characters you care about- one has PTSD. Catchy music, gorgeous colorful animation

This is a funny, funny movie. Make no doubt about that. But there are a lot of touching, subtle messages in this movie as well. Don't get me wrong, you can look at it two ways - on the surface it's a comical, musical adventure about a pair of not-quite-friends who team up to rescue a group of trolls kidnapped by a monster called a bergen who wants to eat them. Kind of generic, right?

But as a story writer with an interest in psychology, I see a lot more going on, if you only care to notice. Without going too much into spoiler territory, here's what stood out to me and made Trolls a beloved favorite of mine.

The troll world is fantastically unique, a place where the laws of science, particularly physics and biology, are very different from our world. For example, trolls use their hair for all sorts of things; it moves and stretches at will. There are certain trolls whose bodies produce cupcakes (that are apparently edible); others produce sparkly glitter that is used in various creative and/or defensive ways. Oddly enough, I don't find this offensive; what appear to be fart jokes aren't, not quite. Also, trolls' skin and hair colors can change rather dramatically. This fact becomes hugely significant later.

Troll culture has some rather unique points – clothing is apparently optional. The glitter-trolls don't wear clothes, but there are no embarrassing bits displayed, so I’m fine with that. There is a charming custom called Hug Time, where every hour, trolls are supposed to participate in group hugs. Trolls actively teach their children that everyone deserves to be happy - that it's important to care about others and live in harmony. They also have this tragic backstory that is not gone into much in the movie; namely, that older trolls must have had friends and loved ones eaten by the bergens in the past, which makes me wonder if they have something of the mentality of oppressed people, who feel a strong need to stick together.

The animation is absolutely gorgeous, with brilliant colors that appeal to the artist in me. But even more so, what struck me the first time I saw Trolls was that none of the characters -not one- fit what we think of as traditional beauty. There are no "beautiful people" here, just regular people who work and laugh and go on dates and -successfully- fall in love. That's a powerful message. Think about it.

What I love most about Trolls is how so many of the characters learn from each other and grow into better people. The troll princess, Poppy, is cheerful, fun-loving and well-meaning at the beginning, but when disaster strikes, she takes on the responsibility of rescuing her friends, despite knowing nothing about the world outside her village. I admire her leadership and positive thinking – she is a great role model for the other characters. Her funny, upbeat song "Get Back Up Again" is one I've used myself to get through tough times...

In conflicts with other characters that could easily have ended badly, Poppy demonstrates a lot of compassion and forgiveness, as well as the ability to just "roll with it". Those are valuable people skills, and really impressed me. She isn't perfect, though - she can be pushy, manipulative and irritating. Poppy is the personification of hope, which is all the more heartbreaking when she finally breaks down and ends up being the one who needs help herself. She also demonstrates resiliency, and is able to bounce back and make good decisions despite all that happens to her.

The character Bridget (her name means "strength", by the way) is a simple, caring bergen who could easily have been the star of a Cinderella-type story all by herself. A scullery maid hopelessly in love and despairing of ever having the courage to tell him, she begins to change when she meets the trolls. By the end of the film you feel so proud of her for stepping up and doing what she feels is the right, no matter what it costs her. From her, we learn self-confidence, self-sacrifice and courage. A truly admirable, and likable, character. Her voice actress' singing is phenomenal. She can do everything from tremulous love songs to disco funk.

My favorite character, hands down, is Branch. "I don't sing, and I don't relax. This is the way I am, and I like it!" He's easily the most complicated person I've seen in an animated film in a long, long time. While he is prone to outbursts of temper and paranoia that the other trolls find tiresome, (truly, he is hilarious in these scenes!) Branch is also very caring, more than he wants to admit, even to himself. As the only gray troll in the village, his color is more significant than we realize at first. He has a dark past that is hinted at almost from the start, and a lot of emotional issues (related to guilt, of all things), to overcome. I admit it; my heart goes out to him.

I love his character design. He wears a vest that reminds me of gingerbread house trim, all rows of overlapping half-circles or semi-arches, worn with a pair of endearingly clumsily-sewn shorts. One of the other characters even comments on his vest, which makes me wonder if it was a gift from someone special… Branch is also the first young character I've ever seen with crow's-feet, premature stress-induced wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, something that gives his face a remarkable amount of character.

Despite his problems, Branch is portrayed as a strong character, who is methodical, resourceful and intelligent, good at mechanical engineering, physically capable and agile. He demonstrates a certain wry sense of humor at times. He is all the more brave for facing his fears out of love for a certain someone. A small spoiler that I think most of us would guess anyway, seeing as how he is voiced by Justin Timberlake: Branch's song True Colors is one of the sweetest, most charming songs I've ever heard. (I bought the Trolls music right afterward.)

The voice talent, as I've said above, is excellent. Every song is sung with so many fine nuances (Poppy's voice trembles, Branch has the most delicate, sensitive tone I think I've ever heard). I like how Poppy's voice goes husky when she's feeling emotional. I love how Branch's voice cracks when he's nervous or upset. I find the fact that three of the other trolls have different accents from the rest fascinating, making me speculate on whether there is more than one troll village out there.

There are very few areas of which I'm critical; one being the use of a few religious terms like "Oh, my God" and "angel", but as they are used in a non-religious way I can accept that. There is no swearing and aside from the glitter/cupcake jokes, no actual toilet humor, which is often the reason I won't buy an otherwise decent movie.

One area that I wish had been explained, even briefly, is how bergens justified eating trolls, seeing as how they can talk with them. Did they think they were just some kind of silly animal that happened to be able to speak/sing? It makes it harder to sympathize with the bergens, even after we see how miserably depressed they all are.

"Happiness isn't something you put inside you; it's already there. Sometimes you just need someone to help you find it." -A quote from Poppy with massively significant undertones, so subtle I didn't see it until I'd seen the movie several times. Bergens have what they consider a good reason to eat trolls –they believe it makes a bergen "truly happy". Sounds kind of addictive, doesn't it? Is that reason all the current bergens believe themselves to be miserable (BTW, why do they have a roller rink/pizza parlor if they're so unhappy?), even those bergens who have never eaten a troll? Because most of them were addicted and even twenty years later still long for what they perceived as “true happiness”?

Don't forget to check out the bonus content. There's a series of clips called Troll To Troll, where Poppy and Branch engage in amusing dialog that helped me understand Branch's character better. While he's often described as a grumpy loner in other reviews, the Branch in the clips seemed to be more social and less angry, with his biggest emotional problems relating to anxiety, not hostility.

Final notes: There's a reference in one of the songs called "Sunshine Day" from the Brady Bunch.

Although Poppy is portrayed as the main character, Branch and Bridget are really the true protagonists. They grow and change more than anyone else.

Overall, I believe that Dreamworks did a fantastic job on Trolls. I feel that a lot of the people who worked on it have some background in psychology, (or suffer from anxiety or depression or know people who do) since many of their films have a strong emphasis on emotions, and Trolls is one of the best movies they have ever produced. (Thank you, Dreamworks!)

Be sure to check out the Trolls holiday special, and the cartoon series based on the movie, too. There’s also a two-minute short called Trolla-Palooza Tour, where we get to see Branch play the electric guitar.

There’s lots more I could go into, especially now that the TV series is out (still not sure if it counts as canon or not) so please comment/reblog, and thanks for reading this massive post ^_^

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