st233

MOVIE FEATURE

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

In 1959, a Danish fisherman and woodcutter named Thomas Dam crafted the first troll doll. As a jack-of-all-trades, he often carved small mythical creatures from wood for his children, later selling them in Scandinavian department stores. Facing financial strain one Christmas, Dam improvised a gift by fashioning a unique, shock-haired, bug-eyed troll doll from his imagination. The doll quickly garnered attention, with his daughter's friends clamouring for their own. This sparked widespread demand, leading to the mass production of the dolls using plastic, marketed as Good Luck Trolls. By the 1960s, they had evolved into a multi-million dollar industry (equivalent to billions today). Unfortunately, due to an oversight in copyright trademarking, Dam missed out on his rightful share of the fortune. THE FIRST Troll doll

“They'll make a movie about anything these days,” was the sentiment back when the first Trolls movie was released in 2016. Kids will watch anything, right? Words Glenn Cochrane

H ollywood had already made a big-screen LEGO movie, and the Bratz movie was also a thing, so the next logical, inanimate object to shoehorn into a story was the classic Troll doll. The beloved toyline, which was created in 1959, is recognised throughout the world for its characters' pint-sized bodies and iconic Don King hair styles (a reference for our older readers). Somewhere along the line, Dreamworks Animation decided to turn the first Trolls movie into a musical, with Justin Timberlake brought on board to executive produce the soundtrack. The rest is history: Trolls became a runaway success. Timberlake's original song Can't Stop the Feeling earned a Grammy, and was also nominated for an Academy Award. These triumphs led to a franchise, with the second movie, Trolls World Tour , released in 2020, alongside two holiday specials and two television series. This leads us to Trolls Band Together , the spectacular third

well as NSYNC's first release since their album Celebrity in 2001. It became the group's highest charting single since their debut song I Want You Back , and was well received by critics. Adding to the excitement for loyal NSYNC fans is the fact that all five members played troll

versions of themselves in the movie, starring as a reunited boy band. Adding backstory to Timberlake's Branch character, whom we know from the troll band BroZone, we learn that he used to be in another boy band called Kismet. The in-joke for fans is that Branch previously left Kismet to pursue a solo career (a cheeky nod to

Thomas Dam

Timberlake's own departure), and that Kismet was actually the original name of NSYNC. Of course, music is integral to the Trolls series, which are described as jukebox parties for all ages, so having NSYNC on board was a massive coup. “Justin was essential in the last movie, working with all the different collaborators like George Clinton and Ludwig Göransson,” says director Walt Dohrn. “For Trolls Band Together , Justin had ideas with classic, familiar songs. We had even more collaboration with him on this film, and I’m excited to put the songs out into the world.” Anna Kendrick reprises her role as Princess Poppy alongside Timberlake, with a stellar lineup of Hollywood's finest joining the fun; Kenan Thompson, Kid Cudi, Troye Sivan, Amy Schumer, Zooey Deschanel, RuPaul, and Anderson .Paak are among the talented voices bringing the high energy pop music to life.

• Trolls Band Together is out on Mar 20

movie featuring one of the biggest pop groups of the ‘90s reuniting for the first time in 20 years. NSYNC’s unofficial frontman Timberlake has dubbed Trolls "the gift that keeps on giving," and to amplify the new movie's impact, he arranged a surprise reunion with his old bandmates. Timberlake co-wrote a new song called Better Place with renowned music producer Shellback and singer songwriter Amy Allen, and it would become the movie's lead single as

NSYNC (L to R): Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, and Joey Fatone.

14 MARCH 2024

jbhifi.com.au