April 6th, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
The DreamWorks Animation sequel to their 2016 Oscar nominated hit will be available for home viewing this Friday, April 10th. Director Walt Dohrn and Producer Gina Shay discuss the game-changing move to release the film on Video On Demand and if they wanted to top ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ in the music department.
Jackson Murphy: This is the movie everyone’s talking about. I first want to get your thoughts on Trolls World Tour coming to VOD for families on Friday.
Walt Dohrn: I am so excited and so honored to be able to share the movie this way. I have three kids – two little, little kids at home – and this is how we watch movies. We worked [for] 3 years on a film, and everyone puts their heart and soul into it. The whole goal is to share it with as many people as we can. And I couldn’t think of a better way.
Gina Shay: I think I would’ve actually been a bit bummed if we couldn’t bring the movie out in this time right now. In these unprecedented times, I feel like this movie has joy in spades. There’s so much interactivity with the music and the possibility of dancing and bursting out in song is absolutely real. I’m really happy that Universal made the decision to bring it to people’s homes so people can watch it with their families… people of all ages can watch it. It just feels right for right now.
JM: Were you consulted on the decision?
GS: I know that there were a lot of scenarios being bounced around. But we found out about it pretty close to the time where the world found out about it. It felt like the right decision because I had been bouncing around scenarios in my mind. It could’ve gone so many different ways. But I’d rather people get a chance to watch it now with their families altogether instead of pushing it off until the very busy, probably, Fall.
WD: Yeah. We had talked about a lot of different possibilities. And I know it’s something Universal really wanted to try. They were keeping us in the loop the whole time. And I think when it finally came to this decision, they were letting us know, and we were definitely a part of it. Besides [being] excited to share this with everybody, the movie is designed to make you feel good: from the jokes to the colors to the music. The opportunity to give a little jolt of joy to everybody during this time… again, I think it’s an honor.
JM: It’s interesting because when the first “Trolls” came-out in November 2016, it was during the crazy Presidential Election time. And it was kind of an ugly time to be on social media and talking about things. “Trolls” gave everyone this positivity, and now here we are again!
WD: (laughs) I know! And… we talk about when a film comes out, we don’t really know what the situation will be. But it’s always our intent, no matter what, to make films that make you feel good. And through science… and technology, we can make you feel better!
JM: I also think this film will shatter some stereotypes people have about direct to video animated movie sequels. Some people think, “Oh they’re not as good as the first ones because they were in theaters.” I think what you guys are doing is a real game-changer.
WD: Thank you. My co-director David Smith and I feel the same way. During the 3 years of making this, we just kept looking at each other, watching it over and over. We couldn’t believe what we were making, and we couldn’t wait to share it with everybody because we kept thinking, “People are gonna be really surprised by this.”
JM: Do you know if Universal will release the box office for how “Trolls” does on VOD?
GS: Your guess is as good as mine at this point because this is unprecedented. We’re all kind of stepping through this process together. Every day it seems to be quite a surprise. I think we’re all just holding hands and figuring it out as we go.
JM: There are a bunch of different music genres in this film. What was the process like in bringing them all together, choosing them and making the rock genre kind of the villain in “Trolls World Tour”?
WD: It was a challenging process because we had this story at its basic, which is this idea of gathering the strings, which everyone will see. It kind of lends itself to a guitar, which is the weapon in this film. It has six strings, so there’s gonna be six main genres that we explore. We worked with a musicologist from UCLA that helped us [determine that] these six genres are represented all over the world and there’s many sub-genres beneath them.
But we wanted so much diversity in the film that we started to stretch-out as much as we could to get as many other genres in there. So besides pop, rock, funk, classical, country and techno – we put in reggae-tone and K-Pop and smooth jazz, of course, and hip-hop. And we started getting as much diversity as we could within an 80-minute movie. And even though the Rock Trolls are the antagonists of the film and are a little aggressive, there’s no one, true villain. We were very careful not to vilify any genre, any rock.
JM: What’s your favorite genre of music? Is it one of the six lands in the film?
GS: Just like in the movie, I do not have a favorite genre of music because I love most music. I’ve been a big music fan my whole life. My first memories have to do with music: music on “Sesame Street”, funk music from the ’70s all through the way through rock. I remember the first thing I got off the bookmobile was a Kiss record when I was about 7. I love music that is unique as well. I love funky music, hip-hop and indie rock. I’m one of those people that kind of listens to everything.
JM: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake and James Corden are back. Joining the cast are Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, Oscar nominee Mary J. Blige and one of the biggest names in music, Kelly Clarkson. How was it working with them?
WD: [Rockwell] is an incredible actor. He’s like an actor’s actor. It was so funny… he was so into the role that the first day he came to record as Hickory, he showed-up in a full cowboy outfit (because he’s playing the country music troll). And he had a lasso – he was trying to lasso the craft services table. He was into it, man!
GS: Working with Kelly was such a joy. She has this incredibly effervescent personality, and it comes through as someone who you would think carries those “Trolls” themes of happiness and togetherness and inclusion. It was incredible to work with her. She just blew our minds when she sang the country song that Justin Timberlake wrote for her called “Born to Die”. We’re all in tears laughing at ourselves in the session because she delivered this incredible performance that felt so real.
And it was amazing to work with Mary because I’ve always loved her. She brought this incredible anchor to our funk world. She’s paired with George Clinton and Anderson Pack. [Blige] anchors them all in this great reality when Poppy comes across them and is schooled in a very surprising way.
JM: “Can’t Stop the Feeling” was the hit song of Summer 2016, then it was in the first “Trolls”, then it got an Oscar nomination. Did you or Justin Timberlake feel any pressure this time around to try to top that song?
WD: It was definitely part of the conversation. It became such a mega hit. Everywhere: every birthday party, every skating rink, you name it: it was everywhere. And I was so proud, and so was Justin. It felt so good to connect with people on that scale. So it was definitely a challenge coming into this film: how are we gonna top that? The direction we felt, and Justin too, was we’re not gonna try to top that song. We have this opportunity to collaborate with all these different artists from different genres. It lent itself having a different kind of music. Not to mention that in this film there’s more original music than the last film. So there was a larger canvas for Justin and the music team to work with.
GS: The songs are always rooted in what the story is dictating. We write the story and then we talk to our music team about what we need to convey. And we talk about and brainstorm what the vibe needs to be. And there are several songs in the movie, so I do believe that this epic collection of music is vast.
JM: Walt, you once again voice Cloud Guy and Smidge. Is it weird directing yourself?
WD: (laughs) It can be. It can be very economic. But I also have Dave Smith, so when I get behind the microphone, he really steps up and gives me notes on my performance. Mostly he’s very supportive!
JM: And Gina, you were also the producer of the first “Trolls” and the EP of the “Trolls Holiday” NBC special. What percentage of your life over the past five or six years has been devoted to these characters?
GS: Probably every part of my life since 2012.
JM: Wow.
GS: My kids have grown up… hearing about Poppy and Branch adventures at night – their bedtime stories. (laughs) These characters have lived in my heart for a very long time. And I think way before they even started, they were in there in the form of Bert and Ernie. They’ve been in there forever. They are part of the tapestry of my life, and I love them. I love this franchise. It’s a challenge to make sequels, but I feel like we are delivering on what people are expecting from a sequel.
JM: So if you made a scrapbook of your entire “Trolls” experience, what would you put on the cover?
WD: Something about the music. I love so many aspects of it, but I have to say, working with the musicians and working with the music element of the film is really something unique compared to the rest of my career. I just love it so much. I’m a hobbyist. I have a piano, and I play 20 instruments very poorly. I’m not a formally trained musician. So a chance to work with caliber of musicians on these films has been quite an honor.
GS: I think [my] cover would probably have every single person who’s worked on “Trolls” on it. As Poppy says in the movie at the very end, “You cannot harmonize alone.” And that’s the big takeaway from the movie. This is a big art collective. The “Trolls” art collective has been a joy. I cannot to see everybody again and work with everybody again very, very soon.
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