Grade:
Transfiguring Adoption awarded this movie 4 Hoots out of 5 based on how useful it will be for a foster/adoptive family. [Learn more about our Hoot grading system here]
Movie Info:
From the Cover of Trolls World Tour by Dreamworks Animation:
“Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake return in an all-star sequel to DreamWorks Animation’s 2016 musical hit: Trolls World Tour. 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 Troll 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.”
Trolls World Tour (2020) is unique in that this movie directly released to streaming devices amid COVID-19 restrictions across most of the world during the initial release. While this may be a setback for the teams who worked hard to bring this film to our screens, this provided some bonuses for families who struggle to see films in theaters. The flat rate for viewing instead of ticket pricing is very reasonable for families of varying sizes and the ability to control sound and screen brightness are fantastic for allowing children and youth with sensitivity to light and sound to enjoy a new movie like their peers.
Plot-wise, the film is a fun film to view as a family for most ages, young and old alike. There is plenty of slapstick humor, colors for little ones, some subtle culture references, and adult humor thrown in to keep teens and adults interested. This fun Trolls sequel is a must-see for stir-crazy families, during and post-global pandemic!
** Spoilers Could Be Ahead **
How Is This Relevant To Adoption & Foster Care?
Trolls World Tour (2020) does actually feature a character who was raised by a foster community and reunites with the birth family, but this plot point is not central to the film. In addition to the minor plot point with Cooper and the Funk Trolls, there are several themes that are foster and adoptive care-adjacent. By this, I mean that though the concepts are not applied directly to foster or adoptive care these are themes that our young foster children and adoptees do need guidance in navigation. Foster children certainly are susceptible to struggling with appropriate friendship boundaries, like Queen Poppy, due to their level of emotional and social growth being stunted by lack of opportunities for such growth in a safe space. Foster and adoptive children can also struggle with understanding communication being a two-way street and that conflict is a normal part of close relationships, like Queen Poppy and her friends. And in addition to this our kiddos (and caregivers) sometimes struggle with navigating cultural awareness and understanding that, as said in the film, harmony requires different voices and a lot of voices!
This film can have therapeutic value in sparking and working through tough conversations in a way that even younger children can understand with meaningful, simple words and vibrant visual examples.
Discussion Points:
- Cultural Awareness
For children and adults alike, this is a very good topic to brush up on. Much like Queen Poppy, some people lack the insight to realize that people do not have to be identical in how they live and believe to develop meaningful relationships. Differences can be wonderful! Learning to appreciate the unique aspects of another’s culture is essential for children who may not have much exposure to those who are different from themselves, much like Queen Poppy, so discussing how harmony is made up of all sorts of voices is a wonderful takeaway for this film. - Healthy Relationship Boundaries
Children who have suffered trauma sometimes develop maladaptive coping and social skills to help them get through chronic stress. However, those same strategies that promoted survival may put them in harm’s way when interacting with adults and children who may not set appropriate boundaries. For this reason it is very important to discuss maintaining healthy relationship boundaries and giving care and mutual respect within those relationships. - Communication in Conflict
Due to trauma and potential exposure to conflicts that become violent, children in the system often struggle with communication and conflict. For one thing, when the traumatized brain senses a potential stressor, that already hyper-vigilant brain will disconnect from the language centers in the prefrontal cortex as fight or flight systems are activated. For another, many children from the system have never been taught appropriate conflict resolution skills and may believe that conflict breaks a relationship indefinitely and will react with grief and anger in kind. For this reason, it is crucial that our children are taught and reinforced that they are loved not matter what and that conflict can be an opportunity for communication to actually improve. By addressing the child’s sense of felt safety the communication skills can be improved through practice and patience from a loving caregiver.
Cautionary Points:
- Sensory Warning
With most scenes involving the Techno Trolls and Queen Barb (the Hard Rock Troll Queen) there are lots of flashing lights and booming bass noises. This may be problematic for children with seizure/epilepsy struggles and for children sensitive to intense sensory input. I would advise caution, especially in the film’s opening sequence when the flashing lights are especially intense during a techno rave scene, though Queen Barb’s red/white lighting-like attacks may also present some struggles. - Cartoon Violence and Stunts
While most violent scenes are done in a cartoony, unrealistic way it should be noted that there are sequences of violence between Trolls in the film. Queen Barb frequently using sound waves from her guitar (which resemble red and white laser/lightning bolts) to attack other trolls or (later in the film) to zombify other Trolls. After the Hard Rock Trolls visit different kingdoms, the kingdoms are left ravaged and in ruin with graffiti all over the place. Queen Poppy, Branch, and Biggie also (accidentally) vandalize the town in the Country Trolls’ kingdom during a dance number. And there is a scene where it is discovered that Branch has packed weapons for their journey and this includes sharpened sticks, rocks, and one set of brass knuckles. The brass knuckles are not named as such and are not used on another character, only worn briefly by Queen Poppy as she admires them like jewelry. For stunts there are a lot of sequences of Trolls flying or leaping impossible distances with their hair. Most of these are not so much that the film is not worth viewing, but should be noted for caregivers who have specific struggles with children replicating violence and stunts they have seen. - Sequences of Arrest and Jailing
In the Country Trolls’ kingdom, Queen Poppy, Branch, and Biggie are jailed following the accidental vandalism during their Pop Medley. They attempt to escape before being broken out of jail by a stranger Troll that identifies himself as “Hickory”. They then engage in a chase scene to escape from town including a smaller troll who uses their teeth to apprehend escapees. This is not especially graphic but could be challenging for children and youth who have witnessed police activity of this nature or have parents who have been incarcerated due to triggering memories of past trauma. - Onscreen Death of Troll, Depressing Lyrics
In the Country Troll kingdom a character is featured with a cartoon yellow heart outline beating out of his chest before stumbling back into a coffin in a comedic manner. The sequence occurs during a song that talks about being “born to die”. While the sequence is cartoonish and not overtly graphic and most consumers of Country music know that the genre has a lot of songs pertaining to sadness and suffering, that may not be something our children are used to. This could be challenging for children who are affected by death and depressing elements. - Queen Barb Displays Problematic Behaviors
Queen Barb is portrayed as the primary caretaker of her elderly and sickly father, and as a result has been thrust (most likely prematurely) into her reign. Queen Barb is shown stealing, harming other Trolls, bullying Trolls, hiring bounty hunters for revenge for a perceived slight from Queen Poppy, rough housing and shoving other Trolls, and engaging in risky behavior. Her behavior is addressed through her choices and in the film’s resolution, but we must remember as caregivers that our children may have behaviors that root from surviving traumatic experiences and they may experience a level of relating to Queen Barb due to the trauma exposures they have experienced. Caregivers should be mindful of kiddos who may be influenced by seeing Queen Barb throwing destructive temper tantrums and justifying harming other Trolls and be prepared to challenge their children to focus on her growth at the end. This is crucial as at the end of the film Queen Barb learns she can still be her unique self without hurting others with maladaptive strategies. - Sequences Involving Abduction of Characters – One by a Birth Family
These scenes range from bounty hunters being hired by Queen Barb to capture Queen Poppy to Cooper being abducted by a UFO-like vehicle that turns out to be piloted by his biological parents. While children and teens may have varied responses to these themes, Cooper’s side story may be triggering for children who either have endured a kidnapping event or struggle with returning to the birth family. In this, Cooper was apparently taken in by the Pop Trolls as his origin was previously unknown. Cooper decides to look for Trolls like him upon learning there are other Trolls outside of the community. During this search Cooper is stranded in a desert and picked up by a UFO-like craft. It is then he discovers it is his biological family, who has been looking for him since his egg was taken by a bird prior to his birth. Cooper immediately bonds with his biological family and appears to plan to remain with them. This may be especially challenging with the theme of appearing abducted by the biological parents as well as the story of how Cooper came to the Pop Trolls to begin with as often our children have varying stories as to how they enter state custody and/or become adopted. They may also have varied feelings about reunification with the birth family, especially in cases where parental rights have been severed due to abuse and neglect. Though this is considered a minor plot point, it is important that a caregiver be mindful of this potential trigger. - Inappropriate Humor
While most “inappropriate humor” would fall under the realm of toilet humor (i.e. – character pooping a cake in fear, character splitting his pants and showing butt, etc.) there are a couple of innuendos present in the film. These may not be identified by children (or in once case even teens) but caregivers should be aware for teens and children who maybe lack a filter. The most obvious one is at the very end of the film where King Grizzle realizes he missed being in the film and says “Oh balls!” When admonished for this he clarifies he was referring to cheese balls he had made and holds up some cheese balls for dipping crackers. The less obvious one involves the first scene when a rave is occurring. Prior to the base dropping in the song, the sound box begs and begs for the bass to drop and, upon being pressed, relaxes briefly as if it has climaxed. This is done very briefly (I would have missed it had I not seen a trailer with the sequence a few times) but may be picked up on by a child or teen who has witnessed sexual acts and could be triggering in some cases.There is also a trippy-sequence involving the Smooth Jazz Troll initiating a sequence akin to someone using hallucinogenic substances to lure Queen Poppy and Branch into capture. This, again, is not one that will affect all kids and teens but may be triggering for children who have either used/been exposed to such substances or have witnessed caregiver use of substances.
About the Author: Rachael Rathe
Rachael B. Rathe is an East Tennessee native with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Child & Family Studies from The University of Tennessee Knoxville. She has worked in mental health since 2013 and in foster care/adoptions for a private provider agency since 2014. Rachael was inspired to work in the field after working with children and teens on a volunteer basis 2008 – 2013. Rachael’s ideal self-care day involves snuggling on a couch with her kitties (Tabitha, Fergus, and Rufus) while enjoying a good movie or book. She also enjoys galavanting around conventions concerning all things nerd and geekery.
**Transfiguring Adoption is a nonprofit organization seeking to nurture growth in foster and adoptive families by giving a HOOT about their families. Transfiguring Adoption does not intend for its reviewers nor its review to be professional, medical or legal advice. These reviews and discussion guides are intended to help parents to better be able to connect and understand their children who come from traumatic backgrounds.
