This week Trolls turns 10. The DreamWorks film that gave us Princess Poppy, Branch and Can’t Stop the Feeling! had a long road from toy aisle to screen: a first version with a different cast, a 2013 rights deal, a full musical reset, and one of the biggest marketing spends of the year. Here are nine facts you didn’t know.
A very different Trolls almost came first
DreamWorks announced plans for a film based on the Troll toyline as early as 2010. By 2012, Chloë Grace Moretz had been cast in the female lead and Jason Schwartzman was reported to have been offered the male lead. In September 2012, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation set a June 5, 2015 release, with Anand Tucker directing and Wallace Wolodarsky and Maya Forbes writing.
DreamWorks bought the toy rights
By April 2013, DreamWorks Animation had acquired the intellectual property for the Trolls franchise from the Dam Family and Dam Things. It became the exclusive worldwide licensor of the merchandise rights, except in Scandinavia, where Dam Things remains the licensor.
The musical reimagining was a 2013 reset
In May 2013, the film was pushed back to November 4, 2016. The same month, DreamWorks Animation hired Mike Mitchell as director and Erica Rivinoja as screenplay writer to reimagine the film as a musical comedy, which would present the origin of the Trolls’ colorful hair.
A Kung Fu Panda 2 friendship shaped the storyboards
Story artist Joel Crawford, who previously worked with Mitchell on Shrek Forever After (2010), brought on animator Januel Mercado to work on storyboards because of Mercado’s enthusiasm for the project. The two had become best friends during production on Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).
Timberlake had voiced for DreamWorks before
On June 16, 2014, Anna Kendrick joined the cast to voice Poppy, a princess. On September 15, 2015, Justin Timberlake was reported to voice Branch; he had previously voiced Arthur ‘Artie’ Pendragon in Shrek the Third in 2007. The full cast announced their respective roles on Twitter on January 6, 2016.
One song ruled 17 countries
Justin Timberlake served as an executive producer for the film’s music and released Can’t Stop the Feeling! on May 6, 2016. The song reached No. 1 in the official charts of 17 countries, including the United States and Canada. The soundtrack also features Earth, Wind & Fire and Ariana Grande, and the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA and the Australian Recording Industry Association.
DreamWorks spent $105 million promoting it
The first teaser trailer was officially unveiled online on January 28, 2016, and made its theatrical debut the next day with Kung Fu Panda 3. A second trailer was released online on June 29, 2016. DreamWorks spent an estimated $105 million promoting the film.
It opened at $46.5 million, behind Doctor Strange
Trolls grossed $153.9 million in the US and Canada and $193.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $347 million against a budget of $125 million. It opened to $46.5 million, finishing second at the box office behind Doctor Strange. Deadline Hollywood calculated a net profit of $19 million.
Can’t Stop the Feeling! won the Grammy
Trolls was nominated for Best Original Song at the 89th Academy Awards and the 74th Golden Globe Awards for Can’t Stop the Feeling! The same song won the 59th Annual Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A.
Your favourite fact? Tell us which of these nine sent you back to the Trolls soundtrack.
Facts from Wikipedia: Trolls (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.