How Trolls Kept Getting Better

if you had told me that a kid's movie franchise composed entirely of jukebox musicals expressly made to sell toys and pop soundtracks would one day be all I think about well I probably wouldn't have believed you yet here we are and what's so cool about trolls is that it's only been getting better today I wanted to talk about the way in which each new movie learns from the last and the evolution of how they handle their characters the first trolls movie is an enjoyable albeit run-of-the-mill rump that sees unlikely Duo puppy and Branch saving troll Village from the Bergens who believe consuming trolls is the only way to achieve happiness a fun fact not the first time trolls would be an allegory for drugs the plot is admittedly rather Bland and doesn't really go anywhere unexpected so what's enjoyable about it well it has some funny jokes the world especially the thoughtful production design is pretty appealing but mostly it has likable lead characters Poppy and Branch are the bread and butter of the entire trolls franchise and their characterization even this early on is pretty solid branch is your grumpy guy who secretly has a heart of gold and Poppy is just so unapologetically sweet that you can't help but have a soft spot for her though it's definitely their Optimist pessimist Dynamic that makes them work so well as a duo with that being said I will say that Poppy is noticeably a far weaker character than Branch here she's one note not really having anything more to her than what you see at a glance she's written as this practically Flawless person and doesn't change at all over the course of the movie branch on the other hand is a pretty multifaceted character in comparison with his entire Arc being about learning to show his true colors inherently giving him more under his surface this makes Poppy's shortcomings as protagonist even more apparent I mean in my opinion she's out shwn even by Bridget who has this uplifting surprisingly compelling self-confidence Arc as well as a well executed romantic subplot with gristle the most interesting thing about poppy is her relationship with branch and because the conflict isn't treated like her fault the low point of the movie where she loses her true colors and feels like a failure ain't hitting like they wanted and unfortunately not every character is that likable the villain is about as generic as villains can get and the side casts are underutilized existing only as tools for gags they could easily be written out and the movie wouldn't suffer for it in fact getting rid of James cordon and Russell Brand might actively make the movie more enjoyable what lets the movie down most though isn't that the plot is weak or that some of the characters leave something to be desired it's that everything is in service of the film's feis statement be happy or else it's like inside out didn't just happen a year before this released throughout the movie branch is straight up ostracized by the other trolls for not being happy like they are even poppy who is meant to be nothing but kind and compassionate relentlessly punishes him for not conforming by disrespecting his boundaries it's bizarre and honestly feels a little gross okay first of all mate thanks for sharing your unique perspective on things again the narrative very much justifies this as well framing the other trolls as as being in the rights and rewarding Branch when he eventually does conform bizarre still is that his feelings are completely validated Not only was he right to be cautious about partying within airshot of the Bergens he's revealed to be suffering from grief over the loss of his grandma like sure the scene where she's killed might be lowkey hilarious but why is he portrayed as being irrational for feeling the way he does they could have so easily pivoted the moral of the story to be about not letting grief consume you or something along those lines anyway and hey if you choose to read it that way it's probably kind of empowering sadly the rhetoric of sadness being something you should just quit and easily can is ingrained into the movie's FY fabric the main conflict of the movie is that the Bergens believe they're unable to feel happiness unless they eat trolls how exactly is that conflict resolved they're simply told to try being happy and no kidding that actually works someone clearly needs to teach the trolls about toxic positivity and trivializing mental health the message sours what would otherwise be a fun and harmless movie and makes it it well harmful thankfully the second movie would more than compensate for this by making the message the best part of itself trolls well tour right off the bat has a far more unique premise than the previous movie It Takes what was established about trolls in the first namely their obsession with pop and goes oh these are just the pop trolls there are actually tribes for other drummers of music too it sees Rock troll Queen Barb on a well T to steal each tribe's string and turn every troll into a rock troll so the idea with the tribes is that they reflect different cultures in real life it very much has this anti-discrimination message which is an Uncharted Territory for kids media yet there's quite a bit more Nuance here than usual instead of saying that everyone's the same and that's why we should respect them it says that differences exist and we should respect them anyway and hey it's honestly pretty challenging for a kids movie too what if I told you that Poppy had to come to terms with pop trolls in the past of being colonized so yeah the issue of harmful messaging is well and truly dusted in this movie but of course we still need to discuss the characters remember when I said that Poppy was a Flawless character with nothing going on in the first movie well she's flawed as here and she's a far better character for it namely she has two refusing to listen to others which drives the plot and believing that differences don't matter driving the message but it's so different oh they must not know that music's supposed to make you happy that's awful her not listening to others is very consistent with the way she acts in the previous movie even if her actions ultimately ended up working out in the end and it was a smart flaw to give her here it doesn't feel like they pulled it out of nowhere the way her selfish action snowball is a well executed progression the tension built between her and branch makes the big argument they have feel impactful and necessary rather than falling flat like the low point of the last movie as for her other floor I think it was really cool to show that a well-intentioned person can still like self- awareness about their ignorance it's great that her character actually has a point to make here you know one that isn't harmful Branch interestingly is desaturated again for some reason and is still that same grumpy paranoid do the other trolls previously hated thank God I feel lowkey Vindicated that they chose to ignore that he takes a bit of a back seat this time around mostly being there to fuel puppy's Arc and they kind of give him a love confession story line it's very negligible but it's totally fine unlike puppy last time he's still that same multifaced character has some great lines and get some important to do and speaking of being given stuff to do so do some of these Side characters that were previously neglected biggie learns to be there for his friends when they need him and Cooper has this whole self-discovery Arc where he heads out on his own in search of trolls like him oh and these Side characters aren't the only ones to get an upgrade Bobb the villain is incredibly fun likable and certainly more unique than thef was in both personality and design she acts as a foil to Poppy being equally ignorant about differences although taken to an extreme level she gets the best lines the best songs and feels like a genuine threat I'll admit though she is a tad one note not every villain needs to be super deep right but I think the movie would have benefited if she were given slightly more depth she isn't portrayed as being this ultimate Evil she's shown as being super chill with her comrades and is clearly more emotionally insecure than evil is she making fun of me no one says that friendship takes time and years of mutual care and respect you don't just become best friends not sure why they didn't do anything with this they tried to make her more sympathetic just before the final showdown but it's really too little too late and her change of heart in the end feels pretty out of nowhere oh and I'd be remiss without mentioning the secondary antagonists the bounty hunters they're great I especially loved Chaz the smooth jazz troll might be biased cuz I love jazz and cuz I think he's hot oh and Hickory was great too The Twist that he was both the oders in Disguise was expected yet it's still heartbreaking for Poppy and the reveal was so absurd that it still takes you by surprise all in all the movie is a massive upgrade however something that made me resonate with it perhaps a little less than I wanted to was its lack of a strong emotional core sure puppy gets some developments and the story in the whole is pretty heartwarming but the emotional Stakes are non-existent I forced my friend Remy at gunpoint to watch these movies with me and he actually found himself preferring the first movie to the second sure he has abysmal taste but I can see where he's coming from because for as weak as it was you have Branch with all his sympathetic emotional baggage and gristle with her relatable lack of self-confidence and it makes you care about what happens to those characters a lot more enter trolls band together which is all about the connections between its characters it's a road movie about being there for your family so already it's coming at you from a more relatable emotionally charged angle it mainly follows three families namely branch and his EST strange Brothers SL ex-boy B members puppy and her long lost sister viva and our villains twins velvet and veneer with each one having something interesting going on if I said Branch was multifaceted before he's downright complex here he still hung up about his brothers walking out on him after a big argument broke out due to pressure from eldest bro John Dory to achieve the perfect family Harmony and he misses them yet he also resents the toxic dynamic they all had and doesn't want to deal with their again however because it was the brother he had a very special and close relationship with who was taken he has no choice but to go along with Jon on the rescue mission that's the kind of emotional stake that the last movie was sorely lacking and the movie does a great job of setting up Branch's big emotional moments Branch slowly warms to the idea of letting his family back into his life again as the road trip goes on enjoying his time with his brothers and feeling as if things might have actually changed unfortunately though things haven't changed quite as much as he thought and they start arguing for the exact same reasons as they did in the past and with the meticulous way the movie had been building up Ran's hopes it makes it all the more gutting when John Dory mocks him for believing they'd all be a happy family again after they rescue Floyd you didn't think we'd all live together when this was all over did you singing songs and roasting marshmallows and oh I'm sorry is that funny to you that hurted and after the brothers had spent the movie treating Branch like he was still a baby it's a great payoff and Incredibly cathartic when Floyd actually recognizes that his brother has grown up and really sells you on their bond Branch's brothers are all fantastic I'm utterly obsessed with them they've all got their own things going on and are funny and interesting both as individuals and as a unit they just feel a lot more fleshed out than previous non leads and that even extends to their designs having looks that reflect the ironic places that they ended up Bruce wants the heartthrob with chiseled abbs now rocks a dead bot and surf retire clay the fun one now wears a sweater fitting for his boring business job oh and John Dory because he never let their band days go still dresses in the exact same fashion the only real difference is that he looks way hotter now I wouldn't call them particularly deep really but the situation going on with them has a level of complexity that I can't help but appreciate they're all upset with John Dory treating them as if they have no agency of their own yet they treat branch in the exact same way still viewing him as the baby of the group and refusing to acknowledge that he's an adult now so even being completely honest via storyline kind of has the least going on but that doesn't mean its presence doesn't enhance the movie She greatly contributes to the emotional core her storyline of overcoming the fear that prevents her from living a real life is incredibly touching and her backstory makes her extremely sympathetic which was important to nail you know considering she intended to trap poppy for a second also she gives Bridget and gristle something to do and I will take any excuse for them to get screen time they're great now for the characters that this entire video was a thinly veiled excuse to talk about velvet and veneer these guys not only succeed where BB failed but might be some of the best villains in animation in recent memory velvet is this completely self-obsessed melodramatic Diva who you just love to hate while veneer is her pathetic gay yes man with anxiety that you just can't help but feel a tiny bit sorry for no matter how much he enacts the same type of abuse he receives from velvet on the assistant crimp and their chemistry is absolutely magical every single one of their lines somehow manages to be iconic you want to lose all this and go back to the dark place where we had nothing please sir I want some more girl we grew up in the suburbs our parents were dentists so how was school today stop attacking me there sort of like self-aware T and cheek caricatures of jenz influences and the way that they behave but especially evident in the way that they speak it gives them a certain amount of relatability and I think that's where a lot of the humor comes from and why they're blowing up on Tik Tok right now whereas Barb's Journey as a villain was sort of at ODS with her personality what's awesome about these two is that their personalities reflect the direction they're taken as villains in velvet you get your unapologetically cruel Disney villain while with veneer on the other hand you get your sympathetic Redemption Arc Villain Like Bobb these two acts are foil to John Dory and his brothers like how John only cared about achieving the perfect family Harmony treating his brothers like tools velvet similarly never gives a thought to what veneer wants and bends him to a will to achieve her own dream of superstardom what they expressly have over Barb is having depth and complexity more than just being foil their storyline is about unhealthy power dynamics and abusive relationships for as as he pretends to be venir is a naturally good person he has compassion for others and it's that compassion that eventually causes him to have a change of heart at the end but he loves his sister so much that he puts aside his own values to help her and she knowingly uses that to her full advantage there's this scene where Floyd is giving a big emotional speech to veneer about how he doesn't have to let his sister use him like she is and it seems like he's going to let her go up until the very last second velvet appears and for the first time in the movie tells him how much she appreciates him him hey I know I probably don't say this enough but good job there's a lot of things to love about this scene for one thing you can infer from the context that she overheard their conversation and knew exactly what to say to manipulate him over to her side at that moment but it's subtle she doesn't like do an evil grin after she says it but moreover it perfectly encapsulates the toxicity of their relationship ship the story line is also handled with a lot of maturity all too often we see sympathetic villains especially in kids media automatically redeemed after saying sorry and not being held accountable veneer ass is arrested willingly and that's how it should be ultimately even if he was manipulated into it he chose to follow velvet and like let's be real bro was given like 1 million chances to stop torturing Floyd and didn't his ass deserves it oh and while Barb had some great songs velvet and veneers watch me work actually for Shadows their relationship which is so cool to me while velvet sings about how great she is veneer is essentially just a backup singer hyping her up so yeah trolls good and now is a great time to watch the Christmas specials they're pretty good too certainly better than a certain recent remok Christmas special a special thanks to waky Deli for giving me feedback on the first draft and without whom the video would have been distinctly worse and to my friend Remy who was also there I guess and of course thanks to all of you who watched until the end

Channel: Charles J. Thomas

Views: 912,266

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Id: 1vlISBclwP4

Length: 15min 29sec (929 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2023