Trolls Holiday is a half-hour Christmas television special that follows up the events of Trolls, and the first TV special in the DreamWorks Trolls franchise. It was aired on November 24, 2017 on NBC.
It was directed by Joel Crawford and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The main cast all reprised their roles as their respective characters, most notably Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, and Zooey Deschanel as Poppy, Branch, and Bridget, respectively.
A follow-up correspondent to Trolls World Tour, titled Trolls: Holiday in Harmony, was released on November 26, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Based on DreamWorks' hit musical-comedy film, "Trolls Holiday" is an animated special that continues the story of the Trolls and the Bergens. When Poppy, Queen of the Trolls, realizes that the Bergens' calendar has no holidays to celebrate, she enlists Branch and The Snack Pack in a mission to enlighten her best friend Bridget and the rest of the Bergens about the importance of holidays. Can these two mismatched friends find something meaningful to celebrate, even if it's super tiny? The original cast from the Trolls feature film - Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and James Corden - will fill this holiday season with toe-tapping songs and tons of fun![1]
Now that the Bergens' one holiday is gone - and the Trolls don't have to worry about being eaten by their neighbors - Poppy, the eternally optimistic Troll queen, has made it her mission to bring a brand new day of celebration to Bergen Town.
When Poppy recruits reluctant Branch and the rest of the colorful Snack Pack to join her quest, she'll try to prove to her best Bergen friends, Bridget and King Gristle Jr., that life would be better if they'd just adopt a new holiday. But just because Poppy won't rest until the village embraces Ticklepalooza or Balloon Squeal Day doesn't mean the Bergens are ready to launch a celebration as loud, crazy and glittery as the little Troll suggesting it.
Plot[]
The story begins with an explanation that the Trolls celebrate everything. The narrator then says that the Bergens had but one holiday, and since Trollstice was cancelled, the Bergens had no holiday.
The special then focuses on Bridget and King Gristle Jr., who are on thrones with Gristle banging on a keyboard. They receive a card from Poppy for "Toss your friends day", and Gristle comments badly on it because of what would happen if they dropped her because of the insurance. Bridget states she would never drop Poppy. Gristle comments on the number of holidays the Trolls have and Bridget thinks it's nice.
In Troll Village, Poppy receives a card back from Bridget. She has a wall for every day of the week from the Bergens. Branch is trying to practice his smile in the mirror, but he can't do it. Poppy tries to help him and he asks about the cards. Poppy realizes that the Bergens have nothing to celebrate, and Branch notices her facial expression, telling her to sleep on whatever plan she has. She says she will.
Next day, Branch is returning into his bunker when Poppy surprises him; she hasn't slept at all. She explains her plan, including getting Branch on board. She plans to show Bridget and Gristle all the Troll holidays and their minds be blown and then adopt it. The other trolls jump out as Branch goes to drink coffee and he is covered in it.
They catch the Caterbus express to Bergen Town and sing while they progress. Cloud Guy, who is the driver, starts to dance with them, leaving the bus without a driver. They fall into a wormhole and turn into dolls. When they leave the wormhole, they're sent flying through the air to Bergen Castle.
Poppy bursts through the door of the castle and explains they're here to help the Bergens with their problems, much to the confusion of Bridget. They begin a presentation of various holidays, with Bridget and Gristle being on the receiving end. A lot of the presentations mishap, beginning with Gristle getting glitter in his eye. Bridget tries to comment that these holidays aren't Bergen things.
Eventually, Branch pulls her aside and tries to tell her that this isn't working but Poppy mistakes his words and tries harder. More holidays are presented with the Bergens getting increasingly hit with the presentations' mishaps. Bridget tries to stop once it once again but Poppy starts quick fire round. Bridget puts her foot down, and tells Poppy that she has to leave.
Later, Poppy is down and Branch goes to cheer her up. On his second guess with where she is, he finds a sad Poppy, who thinks that Bridget and her just had their first fight. Poppy fears she may have lost her best friend, and Branch begins to sing friendship-related songs.
At Bergen Castle, Gristle is annoyed at the state of the throne room and believes the Trolls just want to be more like them, even considering to ban them from the castle. Chad and Todd clean up the mess of foam, glitter and streamers. Bridget realizes this was all for them, and brings in Gristle to get to work.
Meanwhile, Poppy finally snaps at Branch, who's still singing, but she quickly realizes that what Branch's doing is what she just did to Bridget. Poppy claims that she needs to apologize, though bubbles attract their attention.
The Bergens are singing around the Troll Tree. Bridget and Poppy apologize, with Bridget stating that she realized they didn't need all of the extras load for a holiday in which they should just be celebrating their friendship with the Trolls. Branch smiles at last and gets it correct. The Bergens and Trolls then sing and skate around the Troll Tree.
Cast[]
- Anna Kendrick as Poppy
- Justin Timberlake as Branch
- Zooey Deschanel as Bridget
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse as King Gristle Jr.
- Kunal Nayyar as Guy Diamond
- Zooey Deschanel as Bridget
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Mr. Dinkles
- James Corden as Biggie
- Ron Funches as Cooper
- Aino Jawo as Satin
- Caroline Hjelt as Chenille
- Walt Dohrn as Cloud Guy, Smidge and Spider
- Mike Mitchell as Chad
- Curtis Stone as Todd
- Fuzzbert (non-speaking)
- Aspen Heitz (non-speaking)
Music[]
Special Songs[]
- Trolls Holiday Score Suite
- Love Train - Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Ron Funches, James Corden, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Kunal Nayyar & Walt Dohrn
- Lookin' For A Holiday - Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Ron Funches, Aino Jawo, Caroline Hjelt & Kunal Nayyar
- The Holla-Day For You - Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Ron Funches, Aino Jawo, Caroline Hjelt, Kunal Nayyar, Zooey Deschanel & Christopher Mintz-Plasse
- Double-Down Speed Round - Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Ron Funches, Aino Jawo, Caroline Hjelt & Kunal Nayyar
- Friend Medley - Justin Timberlake
- Holiday - Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel the Trolls & the Bergens
Soundtrack[]
See Trolls Holiday - Soundtrack.
Success and Critical Response[]
By February 2021, Trolls Holiday made $4.9 million in DVD sales.[2]
Awards[]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Ben Willis | Nominated | [3] |
| Onur Yeldan | |||||
| Kevan Shorey |
Related Media & Merchandise[]
DVD release[]
The special was released on DVD on November 28, 2017.
It was later bundled with Trolls in a Blu-ray and DVD double feature release, and the first season of Trolls: The Beat Goes On! in the "Happy Place Collection". Another bundle is the "Dance! Dance! Dance! Collection" Blu-ray and DVD which includes Trolls and Trolls World Tour.
Trolls Holiday Shorts[]
The Trolls Holiday Shorts are a series of shorts that were produced as promos for Trolls Holiday.
Trolls Annual[]
The Trolls Annual 2019 recaps the special's plot.
Trolls Holiday Generator[]
Trolls Holiday Generator was an online game that created a holiday based on answers to questions. It was a tie-in promo.
Books[]
A number of adaptations of this storyline were written by David Lewman, including Trolls Holiday: The Junior Novelization and a Treasure Cove book.
Toys[]
A Caterbus figurine and Wave 6 of the blind bags from the Hasbro Miniature Figurines were produced to go with this special.
Build-a-bear also released Poppy's outfit from the special as a doll outfit for purchase.
Trivia[]
- This is DreamWorks Animation's first production with NBC Universal after its acquisition in 2016.
- In the wormhole, the Trolls are made to look like the original Troll Dolls that each one of them was respectively based on.
- Gristle is badly playing "Chopsticks" on his keyboard when he's introduced. It's a simple piece that's easy to master, but Gristle fails at. The song isn't mentioned in the special itself, but instead named in the novelization.
- DJ Suki, King Peppy, and Creek do not appear in this special.
- This special begins DJ Suki's absence from 3D media, with her also not appearing in Trolls World Tour and Trolls: Holiday in Harmony.
- Trolls Holiday takes place at least four weeks after the events of Trolls. This canonically puts the special at a similar time to Season 2 of Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, which is confirmed in "Sorry Not Sorry" to take place one month after the events of the movie. References to Trolls Holiday occurred in Season 4 of the series.
- The Caterbus scene was referenced in the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Branch Bum".
- The scene of Bridget and Gristle iceskating together is similar to the one where they rollerskate in Trolls.
- This is the first time where Poppy performs a curtsy after saying "prim and proper". It would be happened again in the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Bunker Break-In", after she takes the flag from Branch.
Videos[]
Official Trailer[]
Special Clips[]
Music Videos[]
References[]
External Links[]
- Official website
- DreamWorks Animation Wiki: Trolls Holiday
- Christmas Specials Wiki: Trolls Holiday
- Trolls Holiday on Wikipedia
| DreamWorks Trolls franchise | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movies | ||||
| Trolls • Trolls World Tour • Trolls Band Together • Trolls 4 | ||||
| TV Specials | ||||
| Trolls Holiday • Trolls: Holiday in Harmony | ||||
| TV Series | ||||
| Trolls: The Beat Goes On! • Trolls: TrollsTopia | ||||
| Mini-series | ||||
| Troll 2 Troll • Trolls Holiday Digital Shorts • Ask Poppy • Tiny Diamond Goes Back To School • Trolls: Pump up the Party! • Trolls Scrapbook Stories • It Takes Three | ||||
| Trolls Holiday characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trolls | ||||
| Queen Poppy • Branch • Biggie • Smidge • Guy Diamond • Satin & Chenille • Cooper • Fuzzbert | ||||
| Bergens | ||||
| King Gristle Jr. • Bridget • Chad and Todd • Bibbly • Captain Starfunkle | ||||
| Other | ||||
| Mr. Dinkles • Cloud Guy | ||||
| Trolls Holiday songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack | ||||
| Lookin' For A Holiday • Holiday • The Holla-Day For You • Double-Down Speed Round • Love Train • Friend Medley • Trolls Holiday Score Suite • Angel of the Morning | ||||