And classics like "The Sound of Silence" serve as clever punch lines for jokes designed to appeal to the adults in the audience. Musical numbers are used both to move the story along (for example, Poppy's never-give-up anthem, "Get Back Up Again") and to provide hits of visual/audio sugar (Timberlake's incredibly catchy "Can't Stop the Feeling"). Good thing, since there's a lot of singing.
(And were the glitter farts really necessary?) But sometimes it's nice to just enjoy a sweet, fun kids' movie - especially one that's full of songs you can't help singing along to. Grown-ups might wish for a little more of the depth and nuance that Pixar has spoiled us into hoping for in animated movies. Trolls is cute, it's colorful, it has tons of catchy songs, and the messages are positive and easy to understand (happiness is inside everyone, if you know where/how to find it, and you shouldn't have to change who you are to get someone to like you).
Make no mistake: Kids are going to love this movie. But in the end, what you'll remember are the great songs, the strong themes of friendship and empathy, and the fun characters. Expect a few uses of "OMG"/"oh my gah" (the ending of the word is left undefined) and "stupid"/other insults. Bodily function humor includes the projectile-glitter farts of Poppy's sparkly friend, Guy Diamond, whose glittery buttocks are also visible. Two of the Bergens flirt, striking some "sexy" poses and exchanging a couple of mild innuendoes. There's also a sad moment when Branch remembers losing someone he loved. And they may well hide their eyes when Poppy and her friends flee from danger and have several narrow escapes. But little kids are still likely to be scared by the greedy, hungry Bergens. Everything has a fuzzy, felted look to it, which softens some of the danger and peril. Along the way everyone learns lessons about inner happiness, never giving up, and being proud of who you are. It centers on peppy troll Princess Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), who teams up with grumpy pessimist Branch ( Justin Timberlake) to rescue her friends from the troll-hungry Bergens. Parents need to know that Trolls is a cute, colorful adventure inspired by the tall-haired troll dolls that first became popular in the 1960s. Keeping Kids Motivated for Online Learning.
How to Tell If an App or a Website Is Good for Learning.Teachers: Find the best edtech tools for your classroom with in-depth expert reviews.Check out new Common Sense Selections for games.10 tips for getting kids hooked on books.Common Sense Selections for family entertainment.Even if these are pre-existing shots of the cast, their faces are saying one of three things: “I’m here for the paycheck” “I should have asked for final approval on my character design" and "Please, Aztec god Xiuhtecuhtli, strike me down with your cleansing fire." Using the massive Twitter followings of your stars is a wonderful way to get traction for your movie, but there’s only one place we really want to see pictures of trolls: eBay. This is actually an murderer's row of voice talent-JT is even emerging from musical semi-retirement to write songs for the movie-but everything about this makes everyone feel terrible. The only holdout was *Undateable’*s Ronald Funches, who minimized the taint by tweeting a more subdued “Remember Trolls?! They’re back!” Guys, you’re better than this. To wit, we have the likes of Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, and even Icona Pop taking to their Twitter accounts to say “Hair we go!” and posting photos of themselves with forced expressions and their “troll” on their shoulder. Tired of personality? Enraged by celebrities who look to be enjoying themselves? Well, this is the campaign for you! DreamWorks Animation is making a movie about the inexplicable ’90s toy-for why, please consult Creativity (Death Thereof) or CGI Cash Grab in your appendix-and to promote it they’ve enlisted their A-list voice cast to pose with their trollish embodiments. Back before the word “troll” meant “scourge of the Internet,” it referred to little plastic dolls that smelled weird and had crazy Kramer hair and sat on bedroom shelves or on the ends of kids' pencils.