"The Joy Chord" is the second segment of the 6th episode of the third season of Trolls: TrollsTopia, and the 49th overall episode in the series. It premiered in June 10, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Dante is thrilled to learn that legendary composer, and Dante's personal hero, BeeTrollven, is coming to TrollsTopia! But when BeeTrollven arrives and Dante finally meets his hero, Dante struggles to reconcile the differences between the Troll he imagines and the Troll standing before him.
Plot[]
Poppy and Holly are playing croquet when Dante excitedly interrupts the game with exciting news: his hero Beetrollven is coming to TrollsTopia to visit him. Holly and Poppy say that is great and Dante agrees and sings about how great Beetrollven is. When he is finished, he tells them about the Joy Chord, which is a special arrangement of notes that elicits a feeling of joy to anyone who hears it, and that Beetrollven has agreed in the letter to teach it to him. Holly takes the letter and points out that it doesn’t say that, to which Poppy asks Dante if he is reading into the letter too much, but Dante tells them he deserves the honor.
At that moment, a carriage pulls up and Beetrollven comes out much to Dante's surprise. Holly points out that Beetrollven is nothing like Dante described. Dante admits he only assumed that based on his wonderful music, Beetrollven would come from someone like himself. But he supposes he mustn't judge Beetrollven based on appearances although he shudders a bit. Beetrollven asks what he has to do to have some Puffalo wings. Later Dante watches in disgust as Beetrollven eats without any silverware. Dante then states that he has deduced the Joy Note is in the key of G and consists of 5 notes. Beetrollven tells him its seven notes in D major and before they get into the chord they need to have a "bro hang" to get to know each other. This is because the Joy Chord is powerful; he can't teach it to just any slob wanting to learn the chord so Dante agrees.
The bro hang has them driving the Dune Huggy in some mud and watching a ball game and having a temporary tattoo. Dante gets frustrated after being offered milk from a cup Beetrollven had drank out of and asks to learn the Joy Chord. To his dismay, Beetrollven refuses because Dante is like the other Classical Trolls; they judge him because he doesn't talk fancy or use napkins. According to Beetrollven, this means Dante lacks humility and only a humble Troll can be trusted with the Joy Chord. Angrily, Dante tells him that if he won't he will teach him it himself; as of now, he knows the key signature and number of notes.
On the stage at the Classical Crest concert hall, Poppy and Holly tell Dante that Beetrollven is leaving, which Dante assumes to be for some sauce-related activity and he doesn't need him since he deciphered the Chord himself. He plays the chord and Holly says she feels something. Holly and Poppy then begin to hiccup. Dante realizes that he has played the Hiccup Chord and tries a different combination, which stops the hiccups but causes them to sneeze. Dante plays different chords, which turn out to be Itch Chord, Legs Are Asleep Chord and Chicken Chord. Dante, seeing them act like chickens, is horrified by what he has done and flies off to stop Beetrollven from leaving. He tells Beetrollven that he was right the chord was powerful and he was a fool to think he could learn it himself, stating that he has so much to learn and begging him to help his friends.
Beetrollven tells him he won't but Dante himself will, that all he had needed was humility and that he has passed the test. He then reveals himself in formal clothes and tells Dante he had to make sure that he was worthy. Dante and Beetrollven arrive much to Holly and Poppy's relief, Beetrollven shows the technique and Dante plays the chord, restoring Poppy and Holly back to normal. Dante thanks Beetrollven for teaching him humility and offers to treat him to Puffalo wings. When he is offered some, Dante tries it and loves it.
Cast[]
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- Beetrollven was first mentioned in "Mouth Guitar" in passing comment by Minuet Sonata. His name is stylized similarly to Trollzart's in that it is a portmanteau between a real-life composer's name and "Troll" to create a pun.
- The dynamic between Dante and Beetrollven is based on the idea of "snob vs. slob" with Dante being "the snob" and Betrollven presenting himself as "the slob".
- The Joy Chord is a similar idea to the Ultimate Power Chord of the Rock Trolls, which sends a destructive blast into the air, except the Joy Chord instills a feeling of upmost joy into the listener.
- The knowledge of the Joy Chord is most likely a nod to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony. The lyrics were sung to the tune of Ode to Joy, and its very first performance was awful due to a few problems, the first being the performers having a lack of practice of the piece. The second was caused by Beethoven himself, who was acting conductor, being deaf didn't know his tempo was completely off during the entire performance nor he was giving bad instructions overall, but the performance was so unique that it had received 5 standing ovations. It was said at the time that Beethoven had to be physically turned to face his audience so he could see their reaction, as he hadn't heard any of their admiration of the piece.
- The real-life Beethoven was a man of extreme eccentricities and he was very strict with how others met his standards. This is somewhat ironic when compared to how the episode portrays his Troll counterpart.
Beetrollven performing for a audience consisting of clones of himself.
- In the song Beetrollven, the Troll is in a concert hall performing in front of an audience who the viewer can see only the backs of. Instead of the common background Classical Troll model, Beetrollven's model was reused for the entire crowd, and the animators simply recolored and re-scaled him. Beetrollven's assets are unique, making it obivous what the animators have done, but since the models are only of Beetrollven from behind, it's less obvious what they've done at first glance.
- A storyboard animatic version between Dante and Beetrollven was uploaded online here.
- "Puffalo Wings" are based on the real-life "Buffalo Wings", an American cuisine wherein chicken is fried and then covered or dipped in sauce.