DreamWorks Animation‘s Trolls franchise has been a real surprise.
Trolls (2016) managed to be so much more than a simple musical adventure, and its success has been lasting — spawning an animated holiday special, six seasons of the Netflix Original Series Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, a robust merchandising program, an upcoming live tour, and finally, a big-screen sequel. In Trolls World Tour, the gang from the first film realizes that they’re not alone in the world and that their ties to music as a whole are vastly more important than anyone could’ve ever thought.
The Trolls as we’ve always known them represent just one string of a mystical guitar, from which six were plucked — each representing a different genre. Poppy and Branch have notably represented the world of pop, but now they’ll meet their counterparts from different lands that carry the torch for rock, country, funk, classical, techno, and jazz. And in the first trailer, we discover the birth of a seventh Trolls genre.
The massive voice cast for Trolls World Tour includes Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, J Balvin, Rachel Bloom, Flula Borg, Kelly Clarkson, James Corden, Ester Dean, Jamie Dornan, Gustavo Dudamel, Ron Funches, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Kunal Nayyar, Ozzy Osbourne, Anderson .Paak, Anthony Ramos, Sam Rockwell, Betsy Sodaro, Karan Soni, Kenan Thompson, Charlyne Yi, George Clinton, and Mary J. Blige.
Justin Timberlake, who earned an Oscar nomination for his song for 2016’s Trolls, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” will provide new music, while Theodore Shapiro (2016’s Ghostbusters, The Devil Wears Prada) will provide the score.
Photos: DreamWorks Animation