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Every song on the trolls world tour soundtrack.

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Warning! Major spoilers for Trolls World Tour below.

Trolls World Tour is full of catchy earworms just like its predecessor - here's a breakdown of every song on the soundtrack. The film, which is just as glittery and fun as 2016's  Trolls , takes place at some point after the events of original movie.

In Trolls World Tour , Poppy is happily ruling as queen of her tribe, with her best friend Branch at her side. Thanks to an invitation to Queen Barb's world tour, Poppy learns her tribe is just one of six Troll tribes - pop, rock, classical, funk, techno, and country. Each tribe has a string that represents their genre of music. Barb intends to steal the strings from each tribe to force all trolls to come together under her music: rock. Branch and Poppy set out to convince Barb to unite all music, instead of destroying what's different than hers.

Related:  Why Trolls World Tour Is 2020's Most Important Movie Release

As the film encompasses a wide variety of music genres, so does its soundtrack. Here's every song from  Trolls World Tour  that appears on the soundtrack.

• "One More Time" - Daft Punk:  The Pop Trolls sing this song at a party. Queen Barb's entrance interrupts the song.
• "Rock You Like a Hurricane" - Scorpions:   Barb sings this song as she drops in on the Pop Trolls' party and informs them of her plan to acquire each of the strings so she can rule over every Troll.
• "Trolls Just Want to Have Fun":   The song is an ode to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. Poppy sings it as her intro to the movie, with a little help from Branch, as he sings about his feelings for Poppy. The song is mashed up with "Groove is In the Heart" by Deee-Lite and "Good Times" by Chic.
• "Born to Die" - Kelly Clarkson:  Clarkson, who plays Delta Dawn in the film, sings this original song.
• "Crazy Train" - Ozzy Osborne:  Barb sings the song after acquiring the Techno string.
• "Wannabe" - Spice Girls / "Who Let The Dogs Out" - Baha Men / "Good Vibrations" - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch / "Gangham Style" - Psy / "Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO:  Determined to show the Country music Trolls that music should make you happy, Poppy, Branch and Biggie sing this medley to them.
• "Leaving the Lonesome Flats" -  Dierks Bentley:  The song plays over Branch, Poppy and Biggie's escape from jail.
• "I Fall to Pieces" - Patsy Cline:  Hickory sings the song to Branch as he calls him out on his feelings for Poppy.
• "Atomic Dog" -  George Clinton:  The song briefly plays while Poppy, Branch and Hickory fly into Vibe City.
• "It's All Love" - Anderson .Paak, Justin Timberlake, Mary J Blige, George Clinton:  The star-studded pop song is used to explain the Pop Trolls' dark past.
• "Perfect For Me" - Justin Timberlake:  Branch sings this song after he and Poppy have a big fight.
• "Russian Roulette" - Red Velvet / "Mi Gente" - J. Balvin and Willy William:  The K-Pop and Reggaeton Trolls sing this song to distract Branch before they kidnap him.
• " Barracuda "-  Heart:  Once she has all six strings in her possession, Barb sings this song so she can play her "ultimate power cord."
• " Just Sing" - Justin Timberlake:  Every troll across each tribe comes together to sing this song.
• "The Other Side" - SZA and Justin Timberlake:  The song plays over the final moments of the film.
• "Don't Slack" - Anderson .Paak and Justin Timberlake:  This song plays as the film fades into the credits.
• "Rock N Roll Rules" - HAIM and Ludwig Göransson:  The original song plays over the  Trolls World Tour  credits.

Unsurprisingly, given Trolls World Tour 's cast is made up of musical artists or actors with a background in music, these songs are integral to the film, and will be earworms for all who listen. Music is an intrinsic part of the Trolls franchise, and that continues with the Trolls World Tour soundtrack.

Next:  Where To Find Trolls Online (Netflix, Hulu Or Prime?)

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Trolls World Tour

When the Queen of the Hard Rock Trolls tries to take over all the Troll kingdoms, Queen Poppy and her friends try different ways to save all the Trolls. When the Queen of the Hard Rock Trolls tries to take over all the Troll kingdoms, Queen Poppy and her friends try different ways to save all the Trolls. When the Queen of the Hard Rock Trolls tries to take over all the Troll kingdoms, Queen Poppy and her friends try different ways to save all the Trolls.

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• 310 User reviews
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• 51 Metascore
• 4 wins & 22 nominations

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Did you know

• Trivia Sam Rockwell (Hickory) showed up to his first day of acting dressed in a head-to-toe cowboy outfit.
• Goofs Poppy asks Branch to give her a high five, by saying: "Five it up?" All the trolls in the movie only have four finger hands.

Branch : [as a rock zombie] Who wants to get tattoos everywhere except our faces in case we need to get office jobs!

• Crazy credits There is a mid-credit scene in which King Gristle and Bridget show up just after the party has ended.
• Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: The Grinchy Dumbo (2018)
• Soundtracks The Other Side Written by Justin Timberlake , Ludwig Göransson , Max Martin , Sarah Aarons , SZA (as Solana Rowe) Performed by SZA & Justin Timberlake Produced by Justin Timberlake & Ludwig Göransson SZA appears courtesy of Top Dawg Entertainment

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• Apr 9, 2020
• How long is Trolls World Tour? Powered by Alexa
• April 10, 2020 (United States)
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• Glendale, California, USA (DreamWorks Animation)
• DreamWorks Animation
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• $90,000,000 (estimated)
• $49,276,818

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• Runtime 1 hour 31 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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Things Only Adults Noticed In Trolls World Tour

Movie theaters may be closed, but it'll take more than a global pandemic to keep the newest Trolls movie from finding its audience. DreamWorks released Trolls: World Tour , the animated sequel to 2016's Trolls , as a premium on-demand rental title on April 10, the date previously earmarked for the film's theatrical debut. Parents and kids alike were able to watch in the comfort of their own homes, even singing along to the musical numbers if the urge struck. 

A home rental also gives kids — and thus parents — the opportunity to watch Trolls: World Tour multiple times, which offers adults many more occasions to notice some elements of the film that will go right over the heads of their children. Sure, Trolls movies are mostly just silly fun wrapped in colorfully animated candy floss, but there are definitely a few aspects that will have adults tilting their heads and wanting to take a closer look. From deceptively dark plot threads to some unsettling real-world themes, here are some of the things that only adults will notice in Trolls: World Tour.

All of the characters in Trolls: World Tour are wrong

Good guys and bad guys are a staple of most kids' movies, and while the good guys often wind up revising their initial goals according to the lessons they learn over the course of the film, it still tends to be pretty obvious right from the beginning whose goal we're supposed to be rooting for. Not so with Trolls: World Tour , which sees pretty much every character — main and side, hero and villain alike — arguing for scenarios which are clearly wrong. Not one character voices a healthy or reasonable goal until well into the movie.

Of course Queen Barb, the leader of the Rock Trolls, is obviously in the wrong with her goal to turn all of the other music trolls into rock zombies. But protagonist Queen Poppy, leader of the Pop Trolls, is nearly as bad, spouting rhetoric about all trolls being the same while also declaring her music superior. Even Poppy's advisors lead her astray, with her father urging her to keep the various Troll tribes cocooned away from each other so that none of them will ever have to change, and Poppy's best friend Branch cautioning her to only trust members of her own community. Sure, they all eventually come around to recognizing that diversity is a good thing, but it's rare that a kids' movie starts with literally everyone in the wrong, with nary a word of actual wisdom to be found.

Somebody needs to check on Mr. Dinkles

Most of Trolls: World Tour is expectedly light, glittery fun, but there's one sequence that is played for laughs but is actually shockingly dark. After trying to convince the country Trolls that pop is actually the superior music genre, Poppy and her companions are subsequently run out of town, and wind up plummeting off a cliff into the gelatinous river below. Fortunately, everyone can swim — except for Biggie's pet worm, Mr. Dinkles.

Without any appendages, Mr. Dinkles sinks helplessly and begins to drown, and briefly experiences a vision of a worm-like God welcoming him into heaven, where Mr. Dinkles seems eager to go. But then, much to his own dismay, he's resuscitated by Biggie, and when Mr. Dinkles realizes that he is not, in fact, dead, he seems... disappointed. Throughout the rest of the film, whenever we see Mr. Dinkles — and especially when he's suffering through unpleasant things like Biggie using him as a raft (as if he did not just drown) — it's hard not to wonder about his brush with the afterlife, and whether he's actually doing okay now that he's back among the living.

Why does the world of Trolls: World Tour have so many bounty hunters?

When Poppy sends a note to Barb saying she can't wait to be best friends and party together, Barb becomes convinced that Poppy is taunting her (in actuality, Poppy is being completely sincere, albeit naive). Although Barb was already on a mission to gather up the magical musical strings of each of the Troll kingdoms, she now becomes fixated on the pop string, and hires a cadre of bounty hunters to track it (and Poppy, who's woven it into her hair) down. Reporting for duty are Chaz, the smooth jazz Troll, a trio of reggaeton Trolls, five K-Pop Trolls, and a pair of yodeling Trolls.

But... in the world of the Trolls, where each of the various Troll lands keep to themselves and supposedly remain peaceful, why would there need to be so many bounty hunters? Plus, this isn't even all of the Troll bounty hunters — merely the best Troll bounty hunters. As a matter of fact, when Barb's four picks are lined up onscreen, they each appear under the title Bounty Hunter Weekly , implying there is an entire weekly Troll periodical devoted solely to this profession. Why on earth would bounty hunting be such an in-demand profession in Troll world? Could it be that there's actually a much darker underbelly to the glittery, technicolor existence of the Trolls that we haven't yet seen?

There must be a lot of roving bands of nomad Trolls

According to Poppy's father, King Peppy, there are six Troll lands: Pop, Rock, Funk, Country, Techno, and Classical. He even unrolls a map showing how all of these lands are divvied up, which doesn't seem to leave much room for any other types of musical Troll. However, we meet a lot more than those six types of Troll during the course of Trolls: World Tour , and it's really unclear where they all came from. Each of the bounty hunters are the only representatives we see of each of their respective genres of music (smooth jazz, K-Pop, reggaeton, and yodeling), but are we to believe they are the only ones in existence ?

It seems more likely that there are more Trolls fitting into each of those genres, and many more (Where are the showtunes Trolls? The opera Trolls? The Afro-soul Trolls?), but they just don't have their own lands, although it is worth noting that when Barb shows her map of the region, there appear to be 12 kingdoms, not six, begging the question of whether Peppy's map is erasing a much more diverse Troll landscape. However, if Peppy's map is indeed correct, then all of these other Trolls must have either come from somewhere outside the map, or there are large populations of Trolls with no land to claim for themselves. Given some of the film's other surprisingly heavy themes, it wouldn't be surprising if these smaller groups of Trolls had to make do in the cracks and margins of society, carving out homes for themselves wherever and however they could. No wonder so many of them became bounty hunters.

More than smooth jazz is coming out of Chaz's saxophone

Chaz, the smooth jazz Troll, is the first of the Troll bounty hunters to catch up with Poppy and Branch, and when he does, he reels them in with the dulcet tones of his soprano saxophone. Except... is that really just smooth jazz Chaz is wafting toward his targets? Almost immediately after Chaz starts playing, Poppy and Branch become groggy and compliant, lose feeling in their extremities, and perhaps most disturbingly, they begin to hallucinate.

None of this is in line with the effects of listening to jazz, no matter how smooth it is, and it's clear to any adult watching that Poppy and Branch aren't simply captivated; they're drugged. It's impossible to know exactly what sort of hallucinogenic cocktail Chaz is piping out of his saxophone, but it appears pretty potent. It explains how he's such an effective bounty hunter, but raises some significant questions about what else is being hidden within the Trolls' "music."

The story of the funk Trolls contains some disturbing real-world parallels

When the funk Trolls pick up long-lost prince Cooper in their sci-fi hovercraft, they're able to offer a different side to the story of the strings than the sanitized version Poppy got from her father. While Poppy's scrapbooks say that the Trolls all lived in harmony until they could no longer agree on which music to play, and then mutually agreed to go their separate ways, dividing up the six strings among them, the Funk Trolls inform her that the truth is far darker. In actuality, the Trolls were living in harmony, until the pop Trolls decided they weren't content with just a sliver of the musical pie, and wanted it all.

Rather than become subjugated by the pop Trolls, the remaining Trolls made the difficult decision to thwart their conquering plans in the only way they could — by fleeing their homes and separating the strings, so that no single group of Trolls would ever have enough power to oppress the rest. Kids will see the tragedy in the Trolls history, but may not realize that this story of colonization, oppression, and driving people from their homes is one that has played out many times on the real-world stage. Characters in Trolls: World Tour even make a point of saying several times that history repeats itself, cautioning Poppy that her ignorance of the past may be paving the way for the destructive cycle to repeat itself once more. It's a message young audiences may miss, but adult viewers should hear loud and clear.

There's an important message about how history gets written in Trolls: World Tour

Along with its pointed commentary on historical oppression, Trolls: World Tour also has something to say about how history gets written, and the importance of interrogating our commonly accepted historical narratives for truthfulness. When Poppy exclaims that the pop Troll scrapbooks (read: history books) don't say anything about the pop Trolls' power grab and their attempts to subjugate the other Trolls, Prince D. gently informs her that "those [scrapbooks] are cut out, glued, and glittered by the winners," so of course they'd exclude the unsavory bits that the pop Trolls would prefer history forgot.

Adding additional weight to the lesson is the fact that Poppy is given this historical education through hip-hop, a genre of music created by black and Latino Americans, two groups who know all too well about having history books rewritten to gloss over the atrocities committed against them. The lesson is tucked away in a song performed by silly-looking animated llama-like creatures, so kids may not register the full weight of the message, but it's still a meaningful reminder not to take a dominant culture's version of history at face value, and to always consider how the popular narrative has been shaped by the "winners."

The strings were meaningless

The MacGuffins of Trolls: World Tour are six magical strings, each imbued with the spirit of a specific genre of music that coincides with the six main Troll kingdoms. We're told early on in the movie that the strings are of vital importance, and that if used together, they have the ability to either unite all of Trolldom or conquer it. These strings have been hidden away and kept safe for generations, guarded as the greatest treasure in each kingdom. Later, we see the powers of the six strings in action, when Barb uses them to create rock zombies out of the monarchs of the other kingdoms, and intends to use them to make all Trolls everywhere into rock Trolls, wiping out musical diversity once and for all.

Except it turns out that the strings never really had any benefit whatsoever, and probably should have just been destroyed long ago. After all, the strings were created by the Troll ancestors after they first discovered music, and when the strings are broken at the end of the movie, the Trolls realize their ability to make music hasn't been impeded at all. The strings' sole usefulness is to impose their player's music style on others, which is a power it quickly becomes obvious no Troll should possess. Much like the One Ring , the strings never had any good reason to exist, and would've saved everyone a lot of pain and effort if they'd just been tossed into a volcano from the get-go.

There's an interesting nature vs. nurture argument hidden in Trolls: World Tour

For all the talk in Trolls: World Tour of the various types of Trolls being separated by genres of music, that's not actually the case in practice. Even before the strings are destroyed and all the Trolls come together at the end, merging their disparate single-genre societies into one giant, diverse musical extravaganza, not every Troll in a given land lined up with the given musical genre of that land. Early on in the movie, Guy Diamond, a pop Troll, gives birth to the tiny, glittery Tiny Diamond, a hip-hop Troll. And Cooper, a funk Troll by birth, identifies as a pop Troll after being raised in their community — and later, as a pop/funk combination — while his twin brother, Prince D, is a hip-hop Troll. Further, when the pop Trolls try to infiltrate the rock Trolls' kingdom to save Poppy, they manage to do a pretty spot-on rock performance in order to keep their cover intact.

All these hints add up to suggest that many of these Trolls may have an aptitude for multiple types of music, and simply slotted into the single genre they did based on where they were born, not who they really were. Trolls may, in fact, be far more complex than most of them were willing to consider, with innate musical aptitudes that have nothing to do with the land in which they reside. It's an interesting take on a nature vs. nurture debate, and makes you wonder just how many Trolls are basing their identities not on who they inherently are , but on who they think they're supposed to be based on their environments.

Barb's entire quest was unnecessary

For most of Trolls: World Tour , Queen Barb's quest to "unite" all the Troll kingdoms under the banner of rock seems driven not by a personal wish to rule over all of Trollkind, but by Barb's desire to please her ailing father. King Thrash is old and in poor health, using a wheelchair and seeming to possibly suffer from some form of Troll dementia, although he always seems to remember his love of rock. Perhaps this is why Barb gets it in her head that what Thrash wants her to do is create an entire world full of rock-loving Trolls, by any means necessary.

However, at the end of the film, once the Trolls all begin to make music together, Thrash has a moment of lucidity in which he tells his daughter, "It's all right, Barbara. Just let everyone be what they want to be. Including you." Barb, in turn, embraces who she is as a rainbow-hued rock Troll, uniting the different string colors in her sky-high hair. It makes it clear that not only did Barb never really even want the world she was trying to create, neither did her father. With no one on Barb's team actually in favor of her world-dominating mission, the entire effort becomes pointless, based on justifications that never really existed in the first place.

The power of the six strings seems a lot more sinister than the history books are willing to admit

According to King Peppy's version of history, the six strings were created by the Troll ancestors in order to celebrate the different types of music. Even in Prince D's amended version, the strings originally existed during a period of peace and unity, and things only got out of hand when the pop Trolls attempted to steal all the strings and subjugate the rest of the Trolls. The strings, we are led to believe, exist to help the Trolls' music reach its full potential, and when united, they unite the Trolls in one big party.

Except... that doesn't actually appear to be the purpose of the strings at all. By the end of the movie, it's made clear that the Trolls are perfectly capable of creating music without the strings that's just as good — if not better — than the music they were able to create with the strings. In fact, their devotion to the strings may have actually been holding them back, forcing them to conform to single genres instead of allowing them the freedom to explore and experiment. In actuality, the only actual function the strings seem to have is to create musical zombies, stripping the Trolls of their free will. It makes us wonder whether there's yet another, darker chapter of Troll history that's still being left out.

Did all the Trolls stand by and watch a guy die at the end of Trolls: World Tour?

By the end of Trolls: World Tour , the Trolls have all come together in one big, candy-colored party, dancing as a united people to a beat created with the power of friendship and understanding. But there's one Troll who may actually have... died? And in front of a massive audience, to boot.

When Barb makes her grand entrance, performing a rousing rendition of "Barracuda," one of the rock Trolls gets so swept up in the energy of the performance that he vaults into a pool of molten lava. A couple minutes later, we see him slowly sinking, and he calls out, "Uh, this is a little hot." And then we never see him again.

Could someone have pulled him to safety? Sure, but given the complete lack of concern shown by all the other Trolls in that scene, it seems doubtful. Trolls: World Tour may not have intended for all its characters to be dancing on a Troll's fiery grave at the end, but given the implications of what we saw, that's exactly what's happening.

'Trolls World Tour' Exclusive: Visit Vibe City with the Cast in This Funky Featurette

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Do you want to bring a little more music into your weekend at home? Perhaps something with a little more ... funk? Well, you're in luck, because not only is Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour available for at-home viewing right now, we also have a look at a featurette from the Special Features that explores one of the many musical motifs in the family-friendly film. This video takes viewers to Funkytown, a.k.a. Vibe City in the Kingdom of Funk, along with cast members and special musical guests like Mary J. Blige , George Clinton , and Anderson .Paak . Get a fresh look at the funk with our exclusive video above!

As for Trolls World Tour , Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake return for the all-star sequel to DreamWorks Animation’s 2016 musical hit. In an adventure that will take them well beyond what they’ve known before, Poppy (Kendrick) and Branch (Timberlake) discover that they are but one of six different Trolls tribes scattered over six different lands and devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder.

A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb ( Rachel Bloom ), aided by her father King Thrash ( Ozzy Osbourne ), wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends — Biggie ( James Corden ), Chenille ( Caroline Hjelt ), Satin ( Aino Jawo ), Cooper ( Ron Funches ) and Guy Diamond ( Kunal Nayyar ) — set out to visit all the other lands to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who’s looking to upstage them all.

Cast as members of the different musical tribes is one of the largest, and most acclaimed, groups of musical talent ever assembled for an animated film. From the land of Funk are Mary J. Blige , George Clinton and Anderson .Paak . Representing Country is Kelly Clarkson as Delta Dawn, with Sam Rockwell as Hickory and Flula Borg as Dickory. J Balvin brings Reggaeton, while Ester Dean adds to the Pop tribe. Anthony Ramos brings the beat in Techno and Jamie Dornan covers smooth jazz. World-renowned conductor and violinist Gustavo Dudamel appears as Trollzart and Charlyne Yi as Pennywhistle from the land of Classical. And Kenan Thompson raps as a newborn Troll named Tiny Diamond.

Trolls World Tour is directed by Walt Dohrn , who served as co-director on Trolls , and is produced by returning producer Gina Shay . The film is co-directed by David P. Smith and co-produced by Kelly Cooney Cilella , both of whom worked on the first Trolls .

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Music and Fiber Collide Melodiously in ‘Trolls World Tour’

Production designer Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin returns to lend her fuzzy sense of style to DreamWorks Animation’s charmingly frenetic ‘Trolls’ sequel.  

Available starting today through video on demand platforms, DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour is an energetic, whirlwind romp across six diverse lands of Trolls connected by music, color, and fiber. For Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, production designer on the studio’s 2016 hit, Trolls , returning for a sequel set in an even bigger world of psychedelic “fuzz” meant pushing the visual envelope even further. Once again, she was responsible for designing the look of the film, managing the art and character departments while communicating with the other departments to assure the visual quality and continuity of the film. She had a hand in every pixel on every frame of the movie.

And in Trolls World Tour , it feels like there’s an incredible number of pixels in every frame of the movie; think Carl Sagan’s “billions and billion!” And of course, as with all animated feature sequels, subsequent films give creatives a chance to push the visuals much much farther. “They let the beast out of the box with me on this one,” Cronkhite Shaindlin says. “I had such a great creative experience on the first movie, being allowed to really get deep into what I felt I could do creatively. Even though it seems we’re so advanced in CG animation, I still feel we're at the early stages. There's so much left to do, so much more to explore. We're just starting to tap into some great stuff. So, when I was allowed once again to design this sort of fiber-inspired world, that was really exciting.”

“For Trolls , the design came from the doll -- this stubby little character with lots of woolly, brightly colored hair,” the production designer states. “The shape language was right there. We don’t have a single straight, elegant line in the movie, just like the doll. It wasn’t just their hair, but the felted clothing the doll often came in. We were inspired by the era of the Good Luck Trolls dolls that was multicolored and textured. We ran with this idea.”

Regarding the new film’s extravagant celebration of all things multi-colored, textured, and fuzzy, Cronkhite Shaindlin recognizes dialing up the Troll-ishness wasn’t easy. “Rendering all that fuzz, I won't lie, was a huge challenge,” she laughs. “Thank goodness for our VFX supe [Matt Baer]. He really worked hard to get that figured out because on this film, there's a lot of fuzz… a lot. And it's better than the fuzz on the first film; much more refined. So that was a huge challenge, absolutely.”

A film’s production designer, especially in animation, provides the center point where visual design meets story; they balance the integration of narrative and design through laser focus on how every visual element does service to, rather than takes the place of, or distracts from, the story. The design and composition of every asset, character, environment and visual effect, along with the shape, color and lighting choice, flows through their hands.

When asked, Cronkhite Shaindlin notes several areas where she brings both skills and sensibility to the party. “First,” she shares, “you have to focus on visual storytelling -- the ability to really lock onto what your particular story is about. And making things fit into exactly what the story is or should be.” The second thing, for her, is the most exciting. “Risk,” she continues. “That’s what really excites me creatively. It's finding something that's never been done before and having faith that it can happen, then inspiring a crew to believe that too. That’s a big one.” Third, she continues, is working with great talent. “Finding the right team, that's key. Working with directors and producers, who are willing to let you go, that trust your creative vision for the show, and allow it to happen. And support it with the studio.”

In a film as visually frenetic and fast-paced as Trolls World Tour , there’s a fine line between dazzling and overwhelming. What visual elements celebrate a musical culture without being insensitive or falling into stereotypes. “Well, I have a lot of eyes to help me,” she reveals. “Frankly, to be honest, initially I was actually worried about the film being visually overwhelming. I was worried it was going to exhaust people. But what I discovered, and I hope that the audience feels, is that there's a consistent shape language and fiber texture quality that ties things together visually in a compelling way that I didn't quite expect until I started to see it on screen.”

So, from a conceptual design standpoint, how did one tribe of Trolls become six? How did the filmmakers come up with five new musical lands? According to Cronkhite Shaindlin, “it was such an incredible challenge.” While the first film informed the sequel, it only featured a single Trolls world, known as the home of the Pop Trolls in the new film. “In the first movie, we established the Trolls basically as little forest sprites,” she describes. “They live in a forest, but a felt-inspired forest. In the new film, we felt like we had to combine those two things for each of the tribes. There had to be an organic environment that they lived in, different from the world of the original Trolls, now called Pop Trolls. And it had to have fiber grounded in that tribe’s musical culture. Those two elements combined created each new world.”

The task was daunting. Six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands, each devoted to a different kind of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Six Troll tribes meant six unique sets of music-specific cultural elements: characters, colors, and shape languages. Working closely with art director and character designer Tim Lamb and their team of artists, Cronkhite Shaindlin searched for visual reference and inspiration for each new tribe

Let there be Rock Trolls!

“When I was researching the music and visuals around all these hard rock bands, certain things kept coming up,” Cronkhite Shaindlin says. “The occult kept coming up; the Illuminati kept coming up. And all the visuals were black and red. Everything was black and red. So, I thought, pyramids are big in the Illuminati. I thought of Branch’s rock; he lives in a kind of triangular subterranean home. Maybe Branch was originally a hard rocker and just never knew it. Maybe the rockers should live subterranean in the dark. But then I thought, a triangle, that's not quite right. What about a volcano? They could live in a volcano. It's slightly subterranean, slightly pyramid in shape, it’s red and black. So that was the natural environment we landed on.”

And then, of course, rockers like denim and leather and fishnets and a little leopard skin print. “I wanted Barb’s look to have a really raw, punk-rock edge,” she adds. “We drew inspiration from the variety of clothing fashions that were popularized by the rock scene. Her zipper belt and skull buckle have that punk DIY quality, while her shirt looks like it’s been shredded in a blender. There's zippers and studs everywhere. I also gave her a chopped mohawk and smeared eye makeup to channel the raw ‘rock ’n’ roll’ we saw in female-led rock bands. Those attributes visually establish Barb’s rebellion at being a Troll. That kind of mashup became their language. I’m still surprised they let us design a Troll with fishnets.”

The EDM-loving Techno Trolls

These brightly colored Trolls live underwater in a crocheted digital fortress adorned with LED lights, originally inspired by nautical ropes. “Techno was one of the first ones we figured out,” Cronkhite Shaindlin says. “We decided it would be underwater and we’d have techno mermaids… Troll-maids. So, when I was thinking about the fiber, I was thinking a lot about knot making. Macramé and weaving are just a series of knot making. Knitting is too. What if there’s a coral reef made from rope and knotted twine? Then we incorporated stuff from techno shows, like the laser lighting; we wove fiber optics through the macramé reef, so things light up and glow, with a real black light quality. Voila, underwater dance club!”

A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Troll

The design team headed West for their Country Troll inspiration. “I thought a lot about the West, about the frontier, and quilts came up; the pain of a lot of Country songs was like the pain of surviving on the frontier, using everything you've got,” she explains. “And quilts are just so much a part of that culture. And when I look at landscapes, when I'm flying over farmland, it just looks like a patchwork quilt. For me, this was the first one we hit that just felt right. And using cacti was a perfect way to house the Trolls. The art department continued to riff on this with their own ideas, like characters pulling quilted trailers. And Tim was so incredible about pulling those ideas into characters. That’s how the Trolls became horses – well, centaurs, which was perfect.”

We Got the Funk… Trolls

According to the production designer, Funk was the was extremely challenging for a variety of reasons. “We had a consultant on Funk, because it was so challenging for us,” she admits. “But it's actually one of my favorites. Funk is a little different in that the tribe lives on a spaceship. That's inspired by George Clinton and Parliament. Of all the tribes, we wanted a little bit more of an urban feel for the Funk world. And so, we created this whole funky spaceship world, with a lot of 70s funk-inspired shape language -- lava lamp language -- and art from that period. The fibers are all shag, but there's also a lot of metallics, because we pulled in NASA technology as well.”

The world of Funk weaves together many style elements besides metallics, including sequins, tinsel, and a sort of black light neon lighting. “We have these colorful, furry characters like Cooper, and we began by dressing them in metallic helmets and costumes,” Cronkhite Shaindlin says. “Eventually, I said, ‘No, these characters should not be wearing metallic costumes, but be made of metal. It should be part of their DNA.’ That’s when we started using tinsel-like objects within their fur, sequins on their buildings, etc. If the Pop Trolls are felt and live in a felted forest, then the Funk Trolls should be metallic and live in a metallic world.”

If it Aint Baroque

Because the Classical Trolls were largely inspired by Baroque and Romantic periods, and classical music can often evoke a heavenly elevated feeling, the creative team looked for ways to combine textures, fashions and art of those eras into their designs. “We landed on this idea that they were up in the mountains above the clouds, almost like Machu Picchu,” Cronkhite Shaindlin notes. “And they had wings like little cherubs from some of those old classical paintings we felt really related. So, they live in caves inside rococo covered fabric mountains. And the mountains are organized like an orchestra, with the conductor in the middle, on top of a giant metronome mountain.”

In talking to AWN, the film’s director, Walt Dohrn, praised his production designer and her impact on the film. “She’s phenomenal,” he beams. “She is one of the most incredible production designers, who is always thinking about story as well.” For Cronkhite Shaindlin, diving headfirst into the Trolls world a second time was a difficult but ultimately rewarding experience. “It was both amazing, and a huge challenge,” she concludes. “But honestly everybody on the crew was so excited to work on this film. It was really a joy; a true labor of love.”

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.

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Elsewhere on AWN

• Trolls World Tour Characters

The Funky Family

The Funky Family is the name of the royal family of the Funk Trolls , who are in turn the rulers of Vibe City . While their first member is seen in Trolls , the family wasn't fully introduced until Trolls World Tour .

• 3.1 Pre-Trolls
• 3.3 Trolls World Tour

The Funk Trolls are led by the Funky Family. They consist of a father ( King Quincy ), a mother ( Queen Essence ) and their 2 sons ( Prince Darnell and Prince Cooper ). The family are regal and friendly, appearing as the most traditional "nuclear family" unit in the Trolls franchise. The Funky Family is generally friendly and open minded towards other Trolls and return respect to others. But they were well aware of the "us versus them" mentality of the six Troll Tribes and they themselves preferred to hold onto their Funk Troll identity rather than combining it with the music of others.

While Quincy and Essence are the traditional Funk music Trolls that love Funk and Soul, their twins are only half-Funk. Darnell developed into a half-Hip Hop Troll after experimenting with his parents' music, while Cooper was half-Pop due to his time spent with the Pop Trolls .

Members [ ]

History [ ]

Pre-trolls [ ].

At one point, King Quincy married Essence, and the two settled down together to rule over their people and protect their String . The pair became expecting parents of twin eggs. One day, as Queen Essence and King Quincy were on a balcony outside their home in Vibe City a bird snatched one of their eggs. This made Cooper hatch in Pop Village , then known as "Troll Village". The Pop Trolls soon became attached to the little baby Troll, and raised him as their own. Meanwhile, Darnell hatched in the company of his parents, who began to search in hope to find their lost son.

According to their official bios, the Funky Family had to deal with a number of things that occurred during the period thereafter. Essence rose as a leader to meet many challenges that faced them, and even got her people to no longer fear the Pop Trolls returning to steal their Funk music. Meanwhile, Quincy had been focused by the search for Cooper, which had seem futile to the point that by Trolls World Tour he had just about given up hope of finding Cooper at all.

Prince Darnell, known as Prince D, was raised by his parents, who neglected to tell him about his lost brother until they thought he was old enough that he would understand. Darnell grew up always feeling something was missing in his life, but had never known it was a twin in the meantime.

At some point in time, Cooper became good friends with then- Princess Poppy , leading him to join The Snack Pack . Cooper himself was left at risk of death during the events of Trolls , as he was among the Snack Pack members taken by Chef . He was captured twice by her, though he managed to avoid death thanks to the efforts of Poppy, Branch and the Bergen Bridget ; he would then lit a cooking pot that sent Chef away from Bergen Town .

Trolls World Tour [ ]

When Queen Barb begun her World Tour event, they had been aware of her bid for Rock world domination, and begun preparations.

At some point, they picked up a random Troll lost in the desert. To their delight, it was their missing son Cooper. Upon realising their son had been found they soon reunited their twins. Later, they would pick up Queen Poppy , Branch and Hickory . Though they were reluctant to take on the proposal of combining their music with Pop, they were grateful for the Pop Trolls looking after their missing son all these years. So the family explained the true history of the Strings to Poppy, revealing that the ancestors of Pop had done exactly what Rock was doing now: taking the Strings for themselves.

When the Rock Trolls arrive, the Funk Trolls prepared for battle, as Cooper secures his friends and himself's escape route against Poppy's plea to let them remain. The power to Vibe City was quickly cut by Riff . The family were soon captured and taken to Volcano Rock City .

In Volcano Rock City, Barb held a victory concert. While attempting to use the Ultimate Power Cord on Queen Poppy, Branch got hit the way and was instead transformed into the first Rock Zombie. Quincy and Essence were also converted before Barb turned back to Poppy. After Poppy appeared to have been converted also into a Rock Zombie, Barb tossed Poppy the guitar to convert her father King Peppy , as well as Cooper and Prince D into Rock Zombies. But Poppy had used gumbdrops to block out the Ultimate Power Chord's influence, and soon destroyed the Strings.

The Funky Family lost their music along with all other Trolls soon afterwards, but the Rock Zombies were freed from the brainwashing. While most of the Trolls were saddened by the loss of their music, Cooper realizes he still has music in his heart, and joins in with D in singing. The Funk twins reveal to the Trolls that they don't need the Strings, as they now have music in their hearts. All of the Trolls sung Just Sing , and soon had their music and colors back.

The Funky Family were lastly seen dancing in the Trolls World Tour credits.

• Similar to The Snack Pack , the Funky Family aren't called by name in the movie, but are named in merchandise related to Trolls World Tour .
• 3 Queen Poppy