Story
When Branch (voice of Justin Timberlake) was a baby, he and his brothers formed a bandcalled BroZone. The band fell apart when the brothers couldn’t reach the perfect family harmony. Frustrated by the perfectionism of eldest brother John Dory (voice of Eric Andre), the siblings – ‘Heartthrob’ Spruce (voice of Daveed Diggs), ‘Fun One’ Clay (voice of Kid Cudi) and Branch’s favourite brother Floyd (voice of Troy Sivan) – all went their own way.
Left behind with the important task of caring for their elderly grandmother, Branch waited for his brothers to return. When his grandmother was killed, he was left on his own and his heart slowly froze until he began to believe that his brothers had forgotten him and that he had no brothers at all.
In the present, Branch and Poppy (voice of Anna Kendrick) are in a relationship and Poppy’s best friend Bridget (Zooey Deschanel) is finally getting married to King Gristle (voice of Christopher Mintz-Plasse). John Dory crashes the wedding ceremony with the news that Floyd has been kidnapped and is being held prisoner by singing sensations Velvet (voice of Amy Schumer) and Veneer (voice of Andrew Rannells). This brother and sister are impersonating pop stars and stealing Floyd’s vocal talents while they slowly suck his life away.
Branch and Poppy set off with John Dory to find Clay and Spruce in the hope of creating the elusive family harmony that will shatter that diamond prison holding Floyd and set their brother free.
Themes
Perfectionism; family breakdown; entitlement; greed; fear; self-preservation
Violence
Trolls Band Together has some violence. For example:
- The BroZone brothers trip during a performance, get tangled above the stage, and crash down to the ground.
- A character slams a bottle.
- Floyd repeatedly begs for his life as Velvet and Veneer suck his talent and steal his voice.
- Branch tells the brothers that their grandmother was killed by the Bergen.
- There are flashbacks to the time when the Bergen were killing the trolls, and some characters were presumed dead.
- Bridget and King Gristle are attacked and tied up by trolls who don’t trust them. They’re put on a conveyor belt that’s moving toward a huge clown mouth with chomping teeth. The mouth is meant to kill them, but the conveyor belt stops just in time.
- A car crashes into a sign as Velvet and Veneer try to outrace Branch, who’s trying to free his brothers, all of whom have been captured. The pair continue to dance and sing despite what they’re doing to the trolls.
- Characters are punched and kicked as they try to free each other or escape capture.
- The brothers sing the perfect harmony and set themselves free, but it looks like they’re too late to save Floyd, whose lifeless and nearly invisible form falls to the stage. Shortly thereafter, the music seems to bring him back to life.
Sexual references
Trolls Band Together has some sexual references. For example:
- Bridget says that she didn’t think they would ‘both find themselves tied up on this honeymoon’.
- A character says, ‘Let’s go autograph some butts’.
- Bridget tells King Gristle that they’re going to have the most romantic honeymoon.
- Bridget and King Gristle are about to be killed. While they’re slowly sliding towards their death, she asks him if it would be weird if they made out. They kiss passionately, oblivious to everything else, including their impending deaths.
- Poppy and Branch kiss.
- Spruce and his gigantic wife joke about not knowing how ‘it’ works between them, despite the fact that they have so many kids.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Trolls Band Together shows some use of substances. For example:
- Poppy drinks something that looks like a fruit cocktail.
- Characters occasionally travel in ‘hustle’ mode, which seems to have hallucinogenic effects on some of them.
Nudity and sexual activity
Trolls Band Together has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- One of the brothers is encouraged to work on and show off his chiselled abs. He flashes his bare, oiled chest while on stage, causing some of the female audience members to pass out.
- One of the brothers is forced to wear tight, lightning bolt underpants for a performance. There’s a quick close-up of his crotch. After this, he throws the underpants into another brother’s face.
- One character slaps another character’s bottom.
- Bridget and King Gristle kiss passionately, rolling around on the ground.
- A bare backside is quickly shown as it squeezes into a nappy.
- A character describes how a waterslide ripped off his swimmers.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Trolls Band Together.
Coarse language
There’s some mild coarse language and insults in Trolls Band Together, including ‘hell’, ‘heck’, ‘idiot’, ‘junk in the trunk’ and ‘phonies’. Also, a swear word is bleeped out when a child is shown with pink eye.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Trolls Band Together is an animated musical and the third instalment in the Trolls movie franchise. The movie has bright characters, musical numbers and a sparkly, fast-paced although predictable plot.
At first glance, Trolls Band Together seems to be a movie for younger children, but it has a surprising amount of sexual innuendo that seems out of place in a children’s movie. Although the movie is likely to appeal to young children, the sexual content is more suited to slightly older audiences who probably won’t be interested in the movie overall.
These are the main messages from Trolls Band Together:
- Things don’t need to be perfect to be worthwhile.
- We shouldn’t give in to stereotypes or allow ourselves to be governed by fear.
- Family is always worth it.
Values in Trolls Band Together that you could reinforce with your children include empathy, courage, communication, teamwork and loyalty.
Trolls Band Together could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:
- using or harming others to get what you want
- taking what you want rather than working hard to build talent and character
- failing to communicate and abandoning your family
- being greedy and vain.
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