Trolls Holiday

It was okay. Short and simple. Good voice casts. Despite being a family friendly kids eccentric movie, i did get a lot of adult jokes. Its fine, recommended.

The Trolls celebrate almost everyday and everything. In Bergen Town, the Bergens celebrate nothing after they stop eating the Trolls. Poppy (Anna Kendrick) is presently the queen of the Trolls. When she discovers that the Bergens don't have a holiday, she intends to introduce the Holiday with Branch (Justin Timberlake)'s help to the Bergens. Bridget is unwilling to accept it.

Trolls is a surprisingly acceptable animated movie. The super poppy songs fit the colorful Trolls and the poptastic voices. Anna Kendrick's hyper-Try-Hard fits really well. This follows that formula to a tee. It would be better if the Holiday is given a name. It might not be a future classic but it's an acceptable extension of the movie. It's poppy and acceptable.

I'll admit, when I saw Trolls on Netflix last year, I thought it would end up being a disappointment, but it turned out to be much better than the trailers. Sure, it didn't do anything new with it's story and the villain was pretty forgettable, but the main leads were likeable enough, the animation was cute, and the songs were good too.

So, when I heard that DreamWorks was going to make a holiday short, I was interested and hoped that it would be as good as the other holiday shorts like Gift of the Night Fury and the Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special. From what I got, it was decent enough and it's cute and charming in places. However, it's not exactly memorable as there are some problems that held Trolls Holiday back.

The story did feel predictable and at times a bit repetitive at parts, although I do admire it's attempt to stick to the holiday theme. Then, there's the pacing, which felt a bit rushed there wasn't enough time to breath and there's one song number that felt quite unnecessary (I'm not going to spoil to those who haven't seen it yet).

That being said, everything else is good. The animation is even more cute, the most of the song numbers are fine, the characters are charming like they were in the movie, and the voice work is spot on with Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake continuing to shine with their chemistry. Oh, and there are some funny moments which gave me a chuckle or two.

So, overall, not exactly as strong as Gift of the Night Fury and the Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, but still cute and charming for kids to see. :)

The Trolls movie was enjoyable to watch even as an adult sitting in with the kids it had some amusing parts and worked for the whole family.

Trolls Holiday is a short piece of cash in marketing riding on the back of its predecessor. There is 1 scene that is expanded into 20 odd minutes of song after song, and annoying repetition.

Massively disappointing

Love animation, always have and always will do. Not just because of giving me pleasure and comfort but also it has been a significant part of my life. Disney, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Hanna Barbera, Tex Avery, Studio Ghibli, Pixar, Soyuzmultfilm and the list goes on and on.

Found myself surprisingly enjoying 2016's 'Trolls'. Not a masterpiece and far from DreamWorks' best ('The Prince of Egypt' and 'How to Train Your Dragon'), but there was a lot to like and it was so much better than its poor advertising/marketing indicated it would be. Its Christmas special the following year 'Trolls Holiday' is not as good but is close, it is not going to be for all tastebuds and there are better DreamWorks festive specials around. The strengths of the film still remain although the flaws are bigger and there are more.

There isn't really anything new as such conceptually and not a lot done in bringing freshness to it, not to mention that the story is very thin. Do agree that the pace could have slowed down in spots, some of the special is on the too hyper-active side, and that things could have quietened down in some places. Loved the energy, but there were instances where 'Trolls Holiday' did feel too noisy.

Can understand the reservations of it being too sugary and anyone expecting a little tension may want to look elsewhere because the conflict did feel bland here.

On the other hand, the animation in 'Trolls Holiday' is great and true in style to the film. There is so much imaginative detail, the characters are well modelled, the backgrounds meticulous and best of all the colours are gorgeously vibrant and leap out at you from the screen. The soundtrack is again like a musical extravaganza, and an upbeat and infectious one that has a huge presence without being overkill. The final number especially. The script is enough fun and wit to counter-balance the cuteness and sugar.

Again, the energy is exuberant, and personally just couldn't fail to be captivated by the energy, feel-good nature and charm, even if narratively it's not that strong the atmosphere certainly was. The characters were pretty adorable, none of them were annoying and none on the wrong side of sickly sweet. The voice acting all round is fine, never disturbing or too cute, and the singing showing the vocalists attacking the music with gusto and love of music. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake suit their characters perfectly.

Summarising, nice and colourful but didn't have me jumping out of my chair. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox