Trolls (2024)

Story

Trolls is an animated movie set in a magical, colourful paradise where a community of trolls lives a fun-filled existence. The trolls spend their time hugging, dancing, singing, scrapbooking and doing glitter-farts. They’re ruled by the eternally optimistic and gorgeous Princess Poppy (voice of Anna Kendrick), who loves to keep everyone happy.

One day, Princess Poppy throws a party so spectacular and so loud that it’s spotted by a ‘Bergen’. Bergens are horrid, depressed monsters who can feel happiness only when they eat trolls. This particular Bergen, the exiled head chef (voice of Christine Baranski), knows that she can win favour with the young Bergen king, Gristle (voice of Christopher Mintz-Plasse), by bringing him some tasty trolls to eat. She gatecrashes the troll party and kidnaps a handful of the tiny creatures.

Princess Poppy is completely shocked but knows that she must rescue her captured subjects before they’re eaten. She enlists the help of Branch (voice of Justin Timberlake), who is the only grumpy and pessimistic troll in the bunch. Poppy convinces him to team up with her to travel to the Bergen town and save the kidnapped trolls. Despite facing danger along the way, Poppy and Branch learn many lessons and sing many cheerful songs.

Themes

Community; love and kindness; kidnapping; creatures being killed and eaten

Violence

Trolls has a few scenes of animated violence. For example:

• A baby Bergen yanks out handfuls of his father’s chest hair to wake him up.
• Branch chases a cloud-man with a pointy stick.
• Branch uses his long hair as a whip to protect Poppy from some spiders.
• Branch throws Poppy’s guitar onto a fire.
• Many scenes show creatures eating or swallowing smaller creatures.
• On their journey through the forest, Poppy and Branch come across many big spiders and animals that try to eat them.
• Poppy gets trapped in spider silk. Five spiders crowd around her and are about to eat her. Branch rescues her.
• King Gristle’s ugly pet alligator chases the trolls.
• The chef often threatens the trolls with knives or cleavers from the kitchen.

Sexual references

Trolls has some mild sexual and romantic references. For example:

• Bridget (voice of Zooey Deschanel), the Bergen scullery maid, is in love with King Gristle. She dreams of him and pines after him. She’s making a scrapbook collage of romantic images of her and the king.
• The trolls agree to give Bridget a makeover, so that she becomes a ‘total babe’ and is more attractive to the King.
• Bridget and the King go on a date and exchange flirtatious and suggestive comments – for example, ‘Maybe we should find another way to … ahem … work up and appetite?’.
• Bridget does some flirtatious and sexy dancing.

King Gristle exercises furiously to impress Bridget. He says, ‘I just have to lose 30 pounds in the next 8 hours’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

Trolls has some nudity and crude body function humour. For example:

• The troll King takes off his clothes and has a bare bottom.
• The glitter troll is naked and can do glitter-farts.
• One of the creatures poos cupcakes.

Product placement

There is no product placement of concern in Trolls, but plenty of associated merchandise is being marketed to children.

Coarse language

Trolls has some mild insults and mild body function jokes.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Trolls is a lively and spectacular fantasy. It’s full of funny, loveable characters and some entertaining music and dance scenes. It’s humorous, well-paced and full of good messages.

Trolls features scary creatures like the Bergens and large spiders. It also has scenes that show the trolls being chased and eaten. Therefore, it might be too scary for children aged under five years, but children over this age and their parents are likely to enjoy it.

This movie has messages about the:

• benefits of staying positive and optimistic
• power of community, friendship and teamwork
• joy of music.

You could talk with your children about whether you should feel you need to change your appearance to be attractive to someone you like.