Trolls Holiday | Trolls: The Beat Goes On! | Trolls World Tour | Trolls: TrollsTopia | Trolls: Holiday in Harmony | Trolls Band Together
- Alternative Character Interpretation: When Hickory is talking with Branch about how Poppy and Branch's relationship isn't working because Branch is the only one doing the listening, is he legitimately trying to give Branch advice, or is he trying to split them apart so he can kidnap Poppy and take her to Barb more easily? More specifically, when did Hickory decide he wasn't going to kidnap Poppy and/or take the string?
- And You Thought It Would Fail: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing theaters to shut down world wide, World Tour was one of the first films to be released on video-on-demand rather than be postponed to a later date. Many initially viewed this as Universal giving up on the movie and just trying to recoup their losses, especially after the massive flops of Cats and Dolittle. Within three weeks, World Tour made over $100 million dollars in rentals, breaking digital records across the board and making more money for Universal than the first film made for 20th Century Fox within five months. By mid-May, it has made over $200 million in rentals.
- Dancing Bear: The film got a pretty mixed reception, but many people showed interest in it just because of its release strategy: to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was one of the first animated features to be released for streaming services on the same day as its theatrical release, setting a precedent for other movies struggling to find an audience with theaters closed around the world.
- Draco in Leather Pants: Even before the movie was released, fans were quick to paint Barb in a sympathetic and likable light. The entire fandom basically can't be mad at Barb for all her antagonistic actions since she's so cool and relatable.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- The Techno trolls (especially Trollex) have become a subject of interest to the fanbase due to their unique, neon-esque design.
- A not-quite-literal example with Hickory, whose good looks, charm, and remorse for his role in Poppy's capture have endeared him to a great number of fans.
- Of course, the minor characters that were played by the McElroy brothers all got some love courtesy of their own fanbase, as well as the huge lead-up to them even showing up on a meta level (see Memetic Mutation).
- Evil Is Cool: Barb is destroying homes and cultures and is a hell of a daredevil performer.
- Even Better Sequel: Many fans of the first film consider this movie to be superior to the original, due to focusing more on world building, more genres of music aside from modern pop, a more well-written story and villain, and having a comparatively less cutesy feel.
- Fanfic Fuel:
- What kinds of other sub-genres of trolls are out there?
- The aftermath/epilogue of the movie in general, especially since TrollsTopia didn't tackle plenty of its points. How did the six tribes decide to live together afterwards? How Barb will handle her new, genuine friendship with Poppy? How much will Poppy and Branch's relationship further progress? How will Barb's girl group do together?
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Anthony Ramos and Sam Rockwell worked with each other again in The Bad Guys (2022), another DreamWorks film, with the two playing characters similar to the ones they play in this film; the former voicing as another character with aquatic features and the latter voicing another criminal with a charming, confident and sleek attitude along with a sort of moral code.
- Just Here for Godzilla:
- Many were only interested in seeing the film because the McElroy Brothers are in it. And yes, many expressed disappointment over the limited screentime they received.
- Others expressed interest just because Rachel Bloom voices Barb.
- Still, others saw the film because Mary J. Blige was voicing Queen Essence.
- The members of Red Velvet providing the voices for the K-Pop Trolls has piqued interest for fans of the group.
- LGBT Fanbase: Barb quickly became popular with LGBT members of the fandom, which is perhaps unsurprising given the similar following that her actress has gained over the years. The character's tough, tomboyish personality and her lack of a canon love interest have led to many fan works interpreting her as a Butch Lesbian, and she's almost exclusively shipped with Poppy. And by observing her body language and facial expressions around Poppy and both of them getting rainbow colored outfits in the end, it's almost indistinguishable from a coming-out story. Not to mention some minor 2021 Valentines' Day merchandise with Poppy and Barb very close to each other.
- Memetic Mutation:
- The McElroys will be in Trolls 2Explanation
- "Ranting About Trolls For Eight Minutes" Explanation
- Trolls: Infinity War Explanation
- King Trollex says "No way." Explanation
- Haim's contribution to the film's soundtrack, "Rock N Roll Rules", got a fair amount of attention for name-dropping genres not usually referenced in most kids'/family media, most notably shoegaze.
- "You've destroyed music. Give it up for fuck face everybody!" Explanation
- Older Than They Think:
- Red Velvet appears in this film as the K-Pop gang, but this isn't the first time they've been associated with the Trolls franchise. In 2018, the group covered
"Hair in the Air", the theme song of Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, for the show's Korean dub, featuring vocals from Red Velvet's Yeri and NCT's Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun. - This wasn't the first time DreamWorks used Heart's "Barracuda" and Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" in their movies either, as they were already featured in Shrek the Third and Megamind, respectively. Coincidentally, the former movie had Justin Timberlake and Walt Dohrn in their voice cast.
- Red Velvet appears in this film as the K-Pop gang, but this isn't the first time they've been associated with the Trolls franchise. In 2018, the group covered
- Replacement Scrappy: Legsly's reception is hindered by her conspicuous introduction coupled with DJ Suki's conspicuous absence.
- Rooting for the Empire: Once Barb's plan was revealed in the trailers, a lot of people were wondering if uniting the trolls under Hard Rock was really that bad of a thing. It helps that people at this point are tired of media portraying Rock as a villainous archetype.
- Salvaged Story: While generally well-received, the first film's soundtrack was criticized by some for its predominant focus on pop music, with many of its songs being considered an unusual if not poor fit for a pop cover. World Tour introduces other troll tribes that follow different genres of music, giving the soundtrack a more diverse and ambitious range of styles and tones.
- Signature Scene:
- The "Perfect For Me" sequence, especially among the "Broppy" shippers.
- The "Just Sing" sequence.
- Squick:
- Both Hickory and Poppy eat gumdrops they just had in their ears.
- In the credits the bird creatures eat the cake Cooper "made" for them.
- Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Detractors consider this film to be a major step-up from the first, due to focusing more on world building and having a comparatively less cutesy feel.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- Some feel that the Classical Trolls should've had more of a presence, given that all their scenes were already shown in the trailer along with most of the other Trolls race.
- The Bergens, despite being the Big Bad of the first movie, were very much Demoted to Extra in this one. It's never mentioned if they ever found other races of Trolls before, and the movie also never clarifies what effect they would have on them.
- Just the other music in general, hardly any of the other Trolls got a full song.
- Some feel that Poppy should've grown from what happened in the last movie and understood the differences of other Trolls judging from her experiences with Branch, becoming a good queen who listens to her friends.
- Some feel that Barb should've had some flashbacks to her life before the World Tour to better explain her motives and how Thrash came up with the idea of using the Strings in the first place.
- Some feel that DJ Suki should've been in the movie and feature her reaction to the existence of other Trolls with one genre specializing in the music that she plays. If Gwen Stefani was unable to voice her, then maybe Fryda Wolff could've done so as she did in the Beat Goes On.
- What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?:
- Many have noticed the similarities between the division of the different music groups and contemporary issues such as racism and xenophobia. In particular, the ancestral Pop Trolls' attempt to destroy the other tribes' music and cultures could easily be read as an allegory for colonialism and other forms of historical oppression, with Barb and Poppy showing how history can repeat itself when future generations don't learn from it.
- On a much lesser note, the movie as a whole is a parallel of the "Rockism vs Poptimism" debates in musical politics.
- Many
- Win Back the Crowd: Trolls World Tour may serve as one for not simply Dreamworks but Universal, given the poor failures of Cats and Dolittle. While Universal probably planned for the film to make back its budget thanks the massive continuing popularity of the Trolls franchise, almost nobody expected what was to come out of it. The COVID-19 pandemic had reached critical mass, with orders across the globe making sure everyone should be indoors no matter what the cost. As a result of just about every local business shutting down indefinitely, Universal decided to release the film on digital platforms as a rental rather than pushing back it's release like it's rival studios were doing. While it did wind up in some controversy for these measures, the gamble paid off, with the rentals managing to completely out gross the first movie's entire box office run within its first weekend. On top of that, many parents and fans admitted to liking the film's positive messages and incredibly enjoyable soundtrack.
