Trolls World Tour

Name: Trolls World Tour
Item: Trolls World Tour
Rating: 3
Author: Sandie Angulo Chen

Movie review by

Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media

Common Sense says

age 6+

(i)

Amusing, upbeat musical sequel promotes joys of diversity.

PG
2020
94 minutes

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Parents say

age 5+

Based on 31 reviews

Kids say

age 6+

Based on 61 reviews

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We think this movie stands out for:

Character Strengths

A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Educational Value

Kids will learn lessons about the importance of empathy, communication, and teamwork, as well as the value of diversity and tolerance/acceptance of different backgrounds, cultures, and interests.

Positive Messages

Main message is to learn how to listen to others instead of always trying to speak/push your own agenda. Promotes teamwork, communication, empathy, friendship, loyalty. Strong message to value others' differences, to listen to voices other than your own, to recognize how different opinions, backgrounds, and beliefs make all of us stronger.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Poppy is a strong leader. She's brave, loyal, positive, a good friend. She aspires to be a good queen. Branch is intelligent, resourceful, well-prepared. He wants to save the Pop Trolls from imminent danger. Queen Essence, King Quincy, and their son Prince D. teach Poppy and other Trolls why their differences matter. Despite misguided beliefs about what's best for all Trolls, Barb eventually sees the error of her ways. Trolls are diverse and come in all shapes, colors, sizes.

Violence & Scariness

Barb and her Hard Rock Trolls terrorize other territories, destroying lands and kidnapping leaders to pursue domination of Trolls and turn them all into Rock lovers. Five non-Rock lands need to be rebuilt and restored. In the country music land, the leaders imprison the Pop Trolls. Musical bounty hunters are sent out to round up Poppy and Branch. Barb uses a magical guitar to blast out chords that change Trolls into "Rock Trolls." A character on verge of drowning glimpses his "heaven" but quickly comes back to life. It's played for laughs and happens quickly.

Sexy Stuff

Flirting/romantic tension between Poppy and Branch, who make declarations of love at end of movie. Glitter-covered trolls have bare, sparkly bottoms. One "gives birth" to a tiny troll (who comes out of his hair).

Language

Mild insults and rude phrases like "you suck," "we're screwed," "dang," and "balls" (but after a beat, it's clear that the reference is to food balls).

Consumerism

Nothing on camera, but tons of merchandising tie-ins, including toys, apparel, games, and collectibles. The soundtrack, featuring Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, and Anderson .Paak, is a prominent part of the movie.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Trolls World Tour is the sequel to the popular 2016 animated musical. This time around, Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), Branch (Justin Timberlake), and their friends aren't up against the Bergens, but rather other groups of Trolls, each representing a different genre of music. The Hard Rock Trolls want to turn everyone else into Rock Trolls, too, so the heroes must try to save the others' musical styles -- which helps drive home the movie's messages about the importance of diversity in thought, musical taste, and cultural preferences. The story also promotes teamwork, communication, empathy, friendship, and loyalty. Expect a bit of insult/rude language ("screwed," "dang," "you suck"). There's also peril as the Rock Trolls wreak havoc and destruction and kidnap and terrorize other Troll groups. A character on the verge of drowning glimpses his "heaven" but quickly comes back to life. Poppy and Branch flirt and have romantic tension.The all-star cast performs a combination of original and cover songs, and notable additions to the voice roster include Rachel Bloom, Kelly Clarkson, and Ozzy Osbourne.

User Reviews

Parents say
Kids say

Adult Written byJsalazar079 April 15, 2020

age 8+

Very weird

I don’t know who wrote the review for this movie, but there are moments in it that make this movie not right. Men and women having babies, my 6 year old now con... Continue reading

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Adult Written byPink1283 April 10, 2020

age 3+

So Disappointed

Honestly it was awful. It bounced around a lot. No good songs and they didn’t even have Bridget come back. We were lookin forward to this. The first Trolls was... Continue reading

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Kid, 8 years old May 15, 2020

age 11+

Only my parents laughed

It’s only fine. I liked the first one better. It’s amusing.....to my parents,I only laughed once. ONLY ADULT jokes. It’s really boring too. It’s good just borin... Continue reading

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Teen, 17 years old Written byKai Villarin April 12, 2020

age 17+

We are all unique!

I love it! The movie is for all! It's very inspiring. We need to accept our differences! Although we already know that but its great to have movies like th... Continue reading

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What's the story?

Like its predecessor -- the hit 2016 animated adventure Trolls -- TROLLS WORLD TOUR stars the voices of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake as Queen Poppy and her best friend/love interest, Branch. Their happy existence is threatened when Poppy gets an invitation to bring her "pop" string to a party with Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom) of Hard Rock. Ever the optimist, Poppy thinks the invite is in good faith. But then her father reveals that there are actually six Troll territories, each of which represents a different style of music: pop, funk, techno, classical, country, and rock. Each group has a magical string that's the essence of their musical genre. Poppy, Branch, and friends set out to visit the various territories. They quickly discover that Barb and her father, King Thrash (Ozzy Osbourne), aren't trying to unite the once divided Trolls but rather to destroy any kind of music that's not Rock.

Is it any good?

This sweet sequel encourages inclusion and diversity -- both in terms of musical genre and cultural background -- while making audiences of all ages smile. It's not as exciting as the original (few sequels are), but the Trolls deliver on providing a much-needed diversion for families. Bloom is a great addition to the cast. As Crazy Ex-Girlfriend proved, she can sing any style of music. Here she does a fine job channeling a hard/heavy metal rocker as she performs "Barracuda," "Crazy Train," and "Rock You Like a Hurricane." Other stand-out additions to Trolls World Tour include the Funk Troll royal family -- George Clinton as King Quincy, Mary J. Blige as Queen Essence, and Anderson .Paak as Prince D. -- as well as Kelly Clarkson as country's Delta Dawn and Sam Rockwell as Hickory, a mysterious cowboy who helps Poppy and Branch.

Movies don't come out in a vacuum, so it's important to acknowledge the context of this sequel's release. Trolls World Tour is being released straight to streaming and video-on-demand during an unprecedented time of global quarantine, when parents of little kids through teens are particularly grateful for any reason to come together and laugh. Happily, it offers enough laughs and colorful visuals -- not to mention an adorably teeny troll called Tiny Diamond (voiced by Kenan Thompson) and a medley of familiar covers and catchy original songs -- to charm even older kids and adults. It also has surprisingly positive messages, serving both as a reminder that history can be perceived more than one way and as a call for togetherness.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about Trolls World Tour's messages about the importance of diversity and of listening to others' voices. Do you think it's specifically about musical taste or does it apply to other differences, too?
Which characters do you consider role models? What do they do that makes them stand out? Why are communication and teamwork important character strengths?
What do the Funk King and Queen mean about how history is written by those in power? What do you think they're trying to say about musical styles that "steal" from other genres?
How do the songs contribute to the movie? Which one was your favorite, and why? Would you have liked the movie as much without all the music?