While at first glance, one might not be expecting too much from an animated film based on a toy line, the Trolls movie has been putting together an impressive cast of voices. While we haven’t seen very much of the film yet, we have begun to hear things from it, and one thing that is clear is that music is going to be very important part of the film. Two of the voices from Trolls have given us a sample of that music, and if Trolls sounds anything like Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake do here, then this could be a much more emotional film than we were expecting. Check it out.
Two of the stars of Trolls, Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, took the stage at the Cannes Film Festival to perform, and to show some footage from the upcoming film. They performed a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s "True Colors." While music has always been a key aspect of Disney animated movies, Dreamworks features have not relied on it quite as much. According to Variety, Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg says that this will be different in the case of Trolls, which uses music to drive the story more than any of their previous pictures.
In addition to voicing one of the characters in Trolls, Justin Timberlake is also acting as the executive producer for the film’s soundtrack. Based on the performance here, and the fact that Timberlake has discussed writing music for Trolls with both Ariana Grande and Gwen Stefani, it looks like the plan is for the music to be a combination of both original music and covers of well-known pop tunes. The movie just released the first single from the soundtrack, the Timberlake-led, "Can’t Stop The Feeling." It’s on the other side of the spectrum from "True Colors." Check that video out here and prepare your toes for tapping.
In Trolls, Anna Kendrick will play a relentlessly upbeat troll named Poppy, while Timberlake’s character, Branch, will be her polar (bi-polar?) opposite, Branch. The two will team up to attempt to rescue their village from menacing creatures. It may not be the most creative of plots, but a creative use of music may be just the thing to put some life into it. Trolls is currently set for a November release.
Check out footage of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake rehearsing "True Colors" and a bit more from their performance next...
The above B-Roll comes from Cannes, where Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake were promoting Trolls. This video follows the release of Justin Timberlake's catchy tune "Can't Stop The Feeling." Warning: the song in the video on the next page may very well get stuck in your head and make you want to dance-dance-dance!
