Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake On a Trolls World Tour!

In Trolls World Tour, troll queen Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) and reclusive Branch (Justin Timberlake) are musically-challenged by six troll tribes world-wide, each believing that their style of music (funk, country, techno, classical, pop or rock) should be adopted by all. Will a giant riff-off war be required to settle the question or can Poppy and Branch convince all to unite and enjoy all types of music?

TROLLS WORLD TOUR | Official Trailer 3

 

Anna Kendrick has appeared in many musical movies before; Into the Woods and the Pitch Perfect films to name a few, but she was thrilled to perform music put together by Justin Timberlake, who, in addition to voicing troll Branch, served as Executive Music Producer on the film attracting artists like Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne, SZA, James Corden, Icona Pop, Rachel Bloom and George Clinton to join him in song.

Anna and Justin, a fun duo, talk to the press about the upbeat movie’s story, their characters, the music, working together and more….

Q: Anna, what is up with Poppy at the beginning of the film?

• Anna: At the beginning, Poppy is queen now so she is in a leadership position and she is discovering who she is as a leader. She finds out that there are all these other kinds of trolls in the world and they have all these different styles of music that they have their world view based on. She finds out that there is another queen who wants to take over all the trolls and have the only music in the troll universe be rock music and Poppy and Branch have to go on this really fun adventure and meet all these different kinds of trolls to save all the music obviously.

Q: Justin, tell us about Poppy and Branch going on this adventure.

• Justin: Well, there is a difference of opinion (among the trolls) and troll Queen Barbara represents the hard rock trolls. She thinks that the way to save music is to unite everyone by making them all the same style or the same genre of music. So Poppy and Branch go on this crazy adventure to teach Barb that all styles of music should be saved.

Q: Has Poppy and Branch’s relationship changed in this film?

• Justin: It has changed a little bit. It took the whole first movie to bring Branch out of his shell and help his discover his true colors and now I think he is exploring some feelings with Poppy that he’s never really felt before and trying to find a way to tell her.

Q: Anna, how do you feel that Branch has changed in this film?

• Anna: We get a little bit of vulnerable Branch in this one because he wants to say that he is more than friends with Poppy but he just doesn’t have the courage to really say it. It’s really sweet to see them evolving and trying to talk about their feelings.

Q: Awwwww, troll romance! Anna, what is Poppy’s personal journey? Is she learning about getting along with trolls who are different than her….at least musically?

• Anna: She’s on this personal journey to make sure that she’s a good leader and that she listens. There is a larger message in the movie about listening to different voices and celebrating each other’s differences. It’s such a fun way to explore that idea because in it we get to have Kelly Clarkson singing country and all these different styles of music from all these different styles of trolls. The first time I saw the finished movie, I was like ‘Oh man if I were a little kid I would be like, oh the techno trolls are my favorite or the country trolls are my favorite’ because they’ve done such an amazing job of designing all these different characters.

Q: What is the story of the other queen, Queen Barb?

• Anna: Queen Barb, who is played by Rachel Bloom who is so funny in this movie, represents rock music and the rock trolls want to take over the world and make everybody hard rockers. That choice was the funniest choice and helped the story the most. It’s a perfect genre of music for these tiny, villainous trolls. There are a lot of really good rock music sequences in the movie. It’s pretty great to have Rachel and Ozzy Osborne really leaning into the comic elements of being the baddies in this movie.

Q: What do you like about your character Poppy?

• Anna: She’s very loyal and tough. She’s this pretty pink princess who is really optimistic about people, who loves everything but she’s also smart and tough. And being able to have those little moments of like growl in her vocalization is really fun.

Q: How was working with Justin again?

• Anna: I felt really confident and happy to be working with him again and really looked forward to those sessions because I get to dabble in music. I’ve been lucky to be in films where I get to stand just on the outside of the music world (Into the Woods and the Pitch Perfect movies) and having somebody like Justin involved, it just makes me feel so grateful that I get to fulfill that little part of me and know that I’m in such good hands. It’s like having the best parachute on your back.

Q: Justin, how did you feel about all the different troll worlds?

• Justin: Coming in as Executive Music Producer, when I found out about the worlds we were exploring and how far our reach was going to go and how diverse the music was going to become, I just got incredibly excited and felt like, honestly, the way that I grew up hearing and experiencing so many different styles of music, I felt like a kid again.

Q: Tell us more about being Executive Music Producer on this film. Was it really hard?

• Justin: As the producer of this music, coming up with all these different styles and bringing them together was a big challenge but a lot of fun for myself and the whole team. I try to be open. There are no bad ideas. We really touched on so many different styles of music. When you see the movie it’s something we’re all really proud of is that we are teaching young minds about all these different styles and how that can relate to life. Representing a celebration of individuality and how being different is pretty cool.

Q: Why will older teens and even adults get into the films?

• Anna: I will say that for adults and teens, I’m just glad they think that the movie and the music is good enough that they can watch it or watch with young kids over and over and not get mad at me and Justin (she laughs). So grateful to you Justin for making the music good. That was something he said when we were working on the first one, he said ‘I just want to make sure that parents are happy to listen to this music’.
• Justin: Right.

Q: Anna, what can we all expect out of the film?

• Anna: Audiences can expect the same kind of signature positivity and visual feast of the first movie. There is a lot more music and more characters. It really is this sweet discovery of all these different genres that we all know about but to really get to see them on display through the lens of the troll world is really fun.

Q: Justin, why do you think people connect so well with these little trolls?

• Justin: I think the reason people connect with trolls is that they are a beautiful, humorous, loving way of bringing you a message of diversity and how that should be celebrated and, at the same time, there is all this fantastic music to connect with….if I can say that. Can I say that? It’s just a great ride. This movie is really funny, really musical and has a wonderful message for kids and older people…like myself.

See Trolls World Tour On Demand starting April 10^th

Talk Up Trolls and Music!

Are you into the world of trolls? Do you collect the dolls/figures? If you had to choose, which kind of music would you want to rule the world? In this tough time of staying at home for health, are you glad more movies might come out to watch at home until theaters open again. Lots to talk about! Leave a comment or blog about it on your profile page!

 

By: Lynn Barker