When it comes to delightful animated features, the formula seems to be as follows: assemble a cast of loveable celebrities (along with one misfit), get an anthemic song to drive parents crazy, and make everyone adorable before tossing all of said pieces into a blender and hope that the staff at the studio can come up with something that will make money. Mad Max impresario George Miller found success with this formula in the Happy Feet films, but they were really following the formula that found success in the Shrek movies.
DreamWorks now looks to recreate that Shrek magic again, this time with Trolls. Trolls has all of the key components that make for a successful animated feature on paper: Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake as the leads, with a series Justin Timberlake-led songs featuring Ariana Grande and Anna Kendrick, and a supporting cast that will absolutely turn heads including names like Russel Brand, Gwen Stefani and James Corden. Thanks to Variety we get a first look at the trailer for the upcoming film and indeed, all of the pieces are there, it’s just not clear what they are actually making.
Trolls is based upon the toys of the same name, which had their heyday between the ’70s and ’90s before falling by the wayside in the ’00s. Why this seemed like the right climate to revive small, nude, fluffy-haired troll dolls will remain a mystery, but all of the ingredients are still there in this movie for reluctant parents to take their kids to the theater in hopes of them crashing after a sugar high for a few brief, sweet moments of silence afterwards.
Look out for Trolls on November 4th.
(Via Variety)
