"The Trolls-a-Thon" is the second segment of the 1st episode of the seventh season of Trolls: TrollsTopia, and the 91st overall episode in the series. It premiered in August 11, 2022.
Synopsis[]
Synth and Smidge discover that training Minuet Sonata for the big race is going to be harder than they thought because she never learned how to walk.
Plot[]
Poppy re-tells the escape from Bergen Town (see Trolls). According to her, they ran for 30 minutes, then another 7 minutes. They then feasted on the only food from Bergen Town: a giant Bergen-sized Jelly Doughnut, but first, they ran for another 4 minutes. She states that the Trolls run the Trolls-a-Thon, an annual running marathon, every year, and notes that the winner gets to partake in the ultimate prize as she sinks in a Bergen-sized jelly doughnut.
Minuet wants to be involved as it has two of her favorite things: working hard to reach a goal and oversized pastries. Poppy tells her that she will do well, to which Minuet notes that she knows the two Trolls to help her get into shape.
Smidge and Synth are helping a Troll at the Hairnasium and say that they give them a score of 224%. Minuet goes to ask them to help her partake in the Trolls-a-Thon so she can meet her goal and take a bite out of the victory doughnut. Excited, they tell her they will give 224%, only to suddenly remember that they currently have another Troll who they left doing hair push-ups: they panic to tell him to stop, as he is doing too much.
On the track, Minuet stops flying, takes one step of running and immediately falls over. It turns out she has never run before or even walked. Minuet doesn't think it will be hard at all, but she can't even stand up well. When she manages to stand up at last, her head is so heavy she loses balance again. Synth and Smidge try to keep her hopes high when she thinks she won't be ready for the Trolls-a-Thon. They note they have never failed to get a Troll to their goal results.
A training montage begins and Minuet has to be taken through the process of learning, including using a baby crawler to learn how to run. It ends with her celebrating running under the time limit. She hits the show and Synth asks Smidge if she did make it, to which Smidge notes she wasn't even close. The race is tomorrow and they don't know what to do. They note the only thing to do is to push this even further than they've ever pushed before: they have to give 225% instead of 224%. The issue is that they have no idea how to do that.
At the Trolls-a-Thon, Minuet is at the starting line with other Trolls (including Demo) as the doughnut is rolled out. Minuet gives Synth and Smidge a wink and Cooper starts the race. During the race, Minuet waddles way behind the other runners, and Synth does the first interference by rerouting her to a different route that is shorter. Smidge jogs besides her and asks if she is alright, but she notes she hasn't seen any other runners, Synth runs alongside her with a disguise on, pretending he is another runner. The next interference is they hid trampolines under bushes to help her bounce along the route faster. They lead her into a dark log then airlift the log elsewhere. She re-joins the race, not realizing what they have done.
As Demo finishes, Poppy comments that Minuet approaches as the last runner with 10 seconds to go. She celebrates with the other runners having made it, Synth and Smidge join her. Minuet is excited as its the moment she worked hard for, and goes to take a bite, but stops to thank her trainers Synth and Smidge for their help. She gives a speech about their appreciation as she made her goal through hard work - no cutting corners. She goes to take another bite, but once again stops as she wants to say a bit more about her appreciation on their efforts. Once again she goes to take a bite, but stops as she still hasn't finished thanking her trainers.
Smidge and Synth can't take it anymore and reveal they interfered and took her off track. For a moment she seems angry, but she reveals she actually knew what they done - she was aware of the time of the race and as a Classical Troll she has perfect timing - plus Synth's mustache was absurd. She still wants them to be her trainer, as she didn't fail to reach her goal; she just needs to keep working for next year. But first, she has been holding her head up for too long and she needs their assistance as she walks off-balance offscreen with the duo behind her.
Cast[]
- Demo (non-speaking)
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- The title is a pun on "Triathlon", an endurance event which consists of 3 parts: running, cycling and swimming.
- Poppy begins the episode re-telling the introduction of Trolls by summarizing how the Pop Trolls escaped Bergen Town. This is one of the few times the film has been referenced in the series.
- The episode is the second time the series noted the Classical Trolls baby-like appearance, the first being "Dante the Entertainer". How Minuet is shown learning to walk and run is actually the steps babies go through to learn how to walk, from learning how to deal with their oversized heads, the issues of stairs, balance, etc. This process is a note to "taking baby steps".
- This is the second episode to involve fitness, the first being "Follicle Fitness". While that dealt with those who start training but give up after seeing no results, this episode refers to the long process athletes go through to meet a end goal and how they then try and best that time until they manage to meet their expectations.
- The other episode focused on the strength of her hair, which means this would be the second known time Minuet turned to Smidge and Synth for physical help.
- Smidge and Synth do examples of being a bad trainers. Some trainers get desperate to see their students succeed and feel pressure about their claims and abilities as trainers to train their pupils, particularly as sporting events can be highly competitive. They then begin to attempt to influence things artificially, though unlike here, the trainers normally push performance-enhancing drugs onto their students.
- As with "The Bunker Sitter", the claim of 224% is impossible. A person can only ever give 100%, and limitations of the body and mind result in an athlete being unable to give more then they can.
Videos[]
