Trolls Party Edition Blu-ray Review

In Trolls, princess Poppy (voice of Anna Kendrick) is going to throw a noisy party. Will the trolls’ old enemy the Bergens hear and come capture and eat the trolls who provide them with temporary happiness with each crunch? Can Poppy and pals turn this around?

Branch and Poppy to the rescue!Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

In the Past

In the past, happy, singing, dancing and hugging trolls were trapped in their tree in the middle of Bergentown just waiting to be “picked” and eaten but troll king Peppy (voice of Jeffrey Tambor) helped them escape through tunnels on the day that crown prince Gristle (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)  was supposed to munch down on his first “happy” meal. Really unhappy is palace Chef (Christine Baranski) who secretly wants to be queen. She vows to track down the whole troll population.

Evil Chef with her prisonersCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

Years Later

King Peppy’s daughter is now 20 and is the most optimistic and happy of all trolls. She gives a huge party to commemorate the trolls’ escape but negative troll Branch (Justin Timberlake) lives in his underground bunker and warns that loud parties will attract the dreaded Bergens. Sure enough, banished Bergen Chef sees the light and fireworks and steal several of Poppy’s pals. Everyone is afraid to go to Bergentown with Poppy. Branch reluctantly goes with her to pull off a rescue.

Poppy takes sailCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

Sad Love Story

After an adventure through the woods, Poppy and Branch reach Bergentown and find their friends (all but one who appears to have been eaten) guarded by sad kitchen maid Bridget (Zooey Deschanel) who hopelessly loves the now King Gristle. Poppy and Branch make a deal to do a make-over on Bridget and get her a date with the king if she will free their friends. It seems to work great but the “eaten” troll Creek (Russell Brand) has sold them out to save himself.

Will I be dinner?Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Is it Dinnertime?

All the trolls are re-captured and about to be served to the Bergens and even Poppy loses hope but Bridget again frees them. Can the happiest of creatures prove to the sulking Bergens that they don’t have to eat a troll to be happy? Will the king and Bridget ever get together? Are Poppy and Branch a love match?

Branch fist-bumps with CloudCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

Special Extra Features

We received the “Party Edition” Blu-ray/DVD/Digital set. The "Play" button is Party Mode, which takes you to a sing along, a request that you hug anyone you are with.. and other cute stuff while the movie plays. Best for the younger crowd.

• Travel Through Troll Village is hosted by Cloud Guy and introduces many of the troll residents we don’t see that much in the movie. Cute and fun to get to know some of these supporting trolls.
• The Potion for Stop Motion is a nice extra that takes us into Poppy’s scrapbooking world where figures are cut out and made of felt, paper, hair, fur, etc. and, in a crude stop motion manner, are moved and then shot frame by frame. This is shown and explained by female filmmakers and it’s colorful and interesting, especially if you are into crafts.
• Creating Troll Magic has the film’s production designer talking about and showing how the look of the film was developed. We are taken through the storyboard phase, Pre-Viz sets, modeling, surfacing, early animation, lighting department and the finished animation. A nice tutorial.

Poppy greets a tiny palCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

• Inside the Bunker has Cloud Guy as host again this time showing us briefly all around the inside of Branch’s fortified survival bunker with little details.
• Deleted Scenes (four of them) present the directors telling us why the scenes (some with songs) were cut.  It is fun to see these but we see why they would have slowed down the film.
• Troll 2 Troll features Poppy and Branch debating simple subjects in a series of short trailers (to sell the film). Subjects range from mousse or gel? to vanilla or chocolate? Cute and short.
• You might pass over The World of Dreamworks Animation but this extra contains some of the best and most fun music videos from many of the studio’s top films. You can sing along or dance.  Well worth watching and keeping.

Poppy's bestie palsCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

Wrapping Up

Trolls in Blu-ray and DVD looks and sounds great and although I would have loved to have seen Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick either doing audio commentary over the film or just being interviewed, the extras provided are fun.

A page from Poppy's scrapbookCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

The story and its message is simple: happiness is inside all of us. Sometimes we just need someone to help bring it out. There is a lot of fun music in the movie provided by a lot of talented modern music artists. The “Party Mode” is fun for younger viewers.

Adventurous PoppyCourtesy of 20th Century Fox

For an upbeat, colorful addition to your home collection, we can recommend this Blu-ray or DVD with 4 stars.

Trolls Blu-ray Rating:

Trolls Party Edition Blu-rayCourtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Trolls  is now available on Blu-ray + DVD!

Have Your Say

Are you familiar with troll dolls? Are you into Justin Timberlake or Anna Kendrick? Is this home entertainment film a keeper for you? Talk about it below.