The follow-up to 2016 animation film Trolls arrives as something of a saviour. Originally set for a global cinema roll-out, until the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc around the globe, Trolls World Tour is instead headed directly to video on demand. And with so much bleak news around currently, the timing could not be better for a luminously coloured fairy tale stacked full of pop tunes. It's a welcome distraction from the real world.
The story reacquaints us with Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake), the two troll heroes from the original who live in a day-glo world of glitter and never-ending pop recitals. While Poppy is now queen, she learns from her father that theirs is not the only tribe of trolls; in other parts of the kingdom, other groups live – trolls who listen to classical, funk, rock, techno or country.
These trolls were separated after becoming intolerant of the other tribes’s musical tastes, but worse is to come, thanks to Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), leader of the rock-loving trolls. When she is not turning it up to 11, she is plotting to steal the magical music string that each troll tribe possesses; when she has all six, she will be able to play an unimaginable power chord on her guitar and rock will rule them all.
Poppy, Branch and their friend Biggie (James Corden), who carries a yellow worm called Mr Dinkles, take flight in a pink hot-air balloon, visiting these far-off musical lands in the hope of stopping Queen Barb. Each region has been imaginatively designed; Symphonyville, for example, where the classical-playing trolls live, has sheep with black musical notes for legs.
The jostling of the different musical styles makes for an amusing theme that runs throughout. When Poppy arrives at the country music area, and hears a particularly mournful ballad, she muses: “They must not know that music is supposed to make you happy.”
She then meets Hickory (Sam Rockwell), a cowboy who helps her out, much to the annoyance of the churlish Branch, who clearly harbours feelings for her.
That comes to a head with the song Perfect For Me, a tune co-written by Timberlake and a high point in the film, which expresses Branch's attraction to Poppy, despite their evident differences. This turns out to be a big theme in the film. "Denying our differences is denying the truth of who we are," we are told, and celebrating alternate cultural tastes wins approval here.
Walt Dohrn, who was behind the 2016 original, returns to the director's chair, joined by David Smith, who receives a co-director credit. Together, they keep Trolls World Tour rolling along nicely, with a roster of catchy tunes.
Right from the start, with a Troll-inspired take on Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, the film blasts you with its beats, from the Spice Girls's Wannabe to Deee-Lite's Groove Is In The Heart. A K-pop versus reggaeton dance-off is also a highlight.
While Kendrick and Timberlake slip back into their old chemistry naturally, there are also plenty of secondary vocal performances to enjoy. Funk maestro George Clinton and singer Mary J Blige play the King and Queen of Funk (who live in Vibe City, obviously). The inimitable Ozzy Osbourne voices Barb's father, with a few well-chosen groans and grunts. The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar can also be heard.
Children will certainly get a kick out of the film's wacky visuals. One sequence involving Mr Dinkles hovering between this life and the next is particularly off-kilter. But Trolls World Tour never lets anything destabilise its perennially upbeat nature.
From the colours to the characters to the music, this film is determined to make even the grumpiest of trolls smile.
Trolls World Tour is available through video-on-demand services from Friday, April 10. More information on where it will be streaming, is available at www.universalpictures.com
