Trolls (2016)
Some film properties feel like they have no business working as feature-length cinema. The Trolls, those wide-eyed, neon-haired plastic dolls originally designed by Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam in 1959, spent decades as a toy-shelf curiosity and occasional cultural shorthand for gaudy kitsch. By the time DreamWorks Animation acquired the rights and put a feature into development, the brand had already been through several animated television incarnations of varying quality. The pitch, then, was not an adaptation of any pre-existing story but rather a fresh adventure built around the aesthetic: vivid colours, relentless optimism, and a world constructed to look as though it had been assembled from craft supplies. It is a modest ambition, honestly stated, and there is something almost refreshing about that in an era when every animated feature arrives carrying the weight of franchise expectations.
Mike Mitchell, who directs here alongside co-director Walt Dohrn, is not a filmmaker whose name tends to appear on critics' lists of animation auteurs. His previous credits include Shrek Forever After and the live-action Sky High, work that is polished but unremarkable, competent studio product rather than anything with a pronounced personal stamp. That is not necessarily a disadvantage on a project like this, where the material demands energy and colour over stylistic signature, and where DreamWorks' production infrastructure does a great deal of the heavy lifting. The studio was in an interesting period commercially, releasing Trolls the same year as the well-received Kung Fu Panda 3 and finding its footing in a market increasingly dominated by Pixar and the Disney revival. The film's budget was not publicly disclosed in full, though it sat comfortably within standard DreamWorks mid-tier territory, and it went on to perform solidly enough at the box office to greenlight a sequel. The soundtrack, executive produced with Justin Timberlake's heavy involvement, was arguably as significant a commercial product as the film itself.
The voice cast is well chosen for a film that lives or dies on warmth and musical timing. Anna Kendrick brings a kind of bright, slightly breathless energy to Princess Poppy that suits the character's unshakeable positivity without tipping into irritation, and Timberlake, as the grey and guarded Branch, is genuinely game in a way that some pop stars-turned-voice actors simply are not. (His musical credibility also lends the soundtrack sequences a legitimacy they might otherwise have lacked.) Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Christine Baranski fill out the supporting cast with the sort of committed, slightly heightened performances that animated ensemble work tends to require, each carving out a distinct enough presence in a fairly busy field of characters. It is the kind of cast that suggests the project attracted genuine enthusiasm rather than just a decent cheque, which tends to show in the finished work. For other films where music and performance intertwine in interesting ways, Macca's review of Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) is well worth a read, and his thoughts on Surf's Up (2007) offer another angle on how animation handles tone and charm.
Trolls (2016), directed by Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn is a kids movie but I did quite enjoy it. It's one of those kids' films that doesn't try to be too clever, and that's exactly why it works. The animation is bright, bouncy, and full of colour (proper eye candy for the little ones) and the humour actually lands more often than not. There are proper laughs in here, not just the forced, winky stuff that feels like it's written by committee. And the songs are Brilliant. My kids must have played "I'm OK" about a million times, and honestly, I didn't mind. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake have great chemistry as Poppy and Branch, and they carry the musical moments with real energy.
The ensemble cast is really strong too. You've got Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the delightfully awkward King Gristle, and even Russell Brand chipping in. Everyone seems to be having a proper go, and it shows. The story is simple (optimism versus pessimism, basically) but it's told with enough heart and pace to keep both kids and adults engaged. It never overstays its welcome, and it knows exactly what it is: a fun, colourful, musical adventure with a decent message about happiness not being about ignoring problems, but facing them together.
It's not groundbreaking cinema, obviously. The plot is predictable, and some of the jokes are a bit broad. But that's not really the point, is it? For a kids' film, it hits the marks it needs to: funny, catchy, visually engaging, and genuinely warm-hearted.
Trolls is just a good kids' film, no more, no less. If you've got little ones, or you just fancy something cheerful and uncomplicated, it's well worth a watch. The songs stick, the cast deliver, and it leaves you feeling a bit brighter than when you started. Sometimes, that's enough.
A three-out-of-five verdict feels about right for a film that sets its stall out clearly and then largely delivers on it, without ever quite suggesting it has ambitions beyond the immediate task at hand. Trolls sits comfortably in that category of family animation that will not linger long in critical memory but will be worn to a digital frazzle on the family television for a year or two after release, which is probably its own kind of success. DreamWorks has made more ambitious films that stumbled, and less ambitious ones that charmed, and this falls somewhere in the reasonable middle: enjoyable, well-crafted, occasionally genuinely funny, and carrying a message about collective resilience that is, in its modest way, worth passing on to small people. It knows what it is, it does what it says on the tin, and the songs really do stick. You have been warned.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2016 | Watched: 2026-06-08
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Trolls (2016) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Amazon Prime Video · Sky Go · Netflix Kids
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