Spoilers for all previous entries of the Trolls franchise are unmarked here. You Have Been Warned!
Trolls Band Together is a 2023 animated musical film from DreamWorks Animation and is the third film in the Trolls series.
The film picks up a month after the events of the second film with trolls Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) as they prepare for the wedding of King Gristle (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Queen Bridget (Zooey Deschanel), as Branch himself contemplates popping the question to Poppy herself. But just as the Bergens say their vows, Poppy discovers that Branch has a secret past. He was once part of her favorite boy band phenomenon, BroZone, with his four brothers: John Dory (Eric André), Spruce (Daveed Diggs), Clay (Kid Cudi) and Floyd (Troye Sivan). When Floyd gets kidnapped by the nefarious Velvet (Amy Schumer) and Veener (Andrew Rannells), it's up to Poppy and Branch to set off and reunite the band and rescue Floyd from a dangerous fate.
Once again, some new members are joining the all-star cast. This includes the likes of Camila Cabello as Viva, Zosia Mamet as Crimp, and RuPaul as Miss Maxine as well as new music from *NSYNC, featuring their first song in over 20 years, with the band appearing in the film as trolls.
The film was released on November 17, 2023, making the franchise's return to theaters after the last film was sent straight-to-digital in several markets due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. An early screening of the film was held on November 4.
Previews: Official Trailer 1
, Official Trailer 2
Trolls Band Together contains examples of the following:
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- Acid-Trip Dimension: When John Dory tells Tiny to press a button in Rhonda, it takes them to the hustle dimension.
- Act of True Love:
- When Viva try to trap the group at her home in an attempt to keep them safe, Clay helps his three brothers and their friends escape so they can go save Floyd, as he doesn't want to lose his younger sibling and his safety is more important to him.
- Floyd decides to use the remaining life he had left to help his brothers achieve the Perfect Family Harmony and get his older siblings out of their diamond prisons, but it cost him his life. However, Branch and their older brothers end up sharing their life essences out of love for Floyd, which revives their sibling.
- Actor Allusion:
- The film's major revelation that Branch was once a member of a popular boy band is an obvious reference to his actor Justin Timberlake's time as a member of *NSYNC. As such, the film is littered with a number of nods to Timberlake's band days:
- Branch is revealed to be the youngest of his siblings, and was the literal baby of the bunch during the band's heyday. While not to this same extent, Timberlake is also the youngest member of *NSYNC.
- When reuniting with John Dory in the opening, an embittered Branch remarks that it's been "over twenty years" since he's seen any of his brothers. In real life, *NSYNC originally dissolved in 2002, just over twenty years before the film's release.
- Among John Dory’s belongings is a picture of a younger Branch with curly hair, similar to Timberlake's hairstyle during his *NSYNC days. John Dory also mentions Branch tried frosting his curls, which Timberlake did in 1997.
- When Branch finally joins in John Dory and Spruce's "Brozone's Back" medley, they sing the chorus of *NSYNC's "I Want You Back".
- Just before the Dance Party Ending, Branch introduces his brothers and Poppy to some "old buddies" that he invited to perform with them. It turns out to be another troll boy band, all voiced by Timberlake's fellow *NSYNC members, officially reuniting the real-life band for the first time since their separation.Branch: You didn't think BroZone was the only band I've ever been in, did you?
- Though unnamed in the film itself, merchandise and other materials outside of film reveal that Branch's second boy band is called Kismet, one of the names that *NSYNC considered calling themselves before taking on their final name.
- This isn't the first time that Eric André voiced a character that has a big ego. However, unlike the character André played in the film, his character John Dory leaves his ego behind him and realizes the mistakes he has made.
- In one scene, Spruce does a long what is a references to his voice actor Daveed Diggs doing a similar scene in a musical play.
- The film's major revelation that Branch was once a member of a popular boy band is an obvious reference to his actor Justin Timberlake's time as a member of *NSYNC. As such, the film is littered with a number of nods to Timberlake's band days:
- Advertised Extra: Viva has far more advertising than BroZone despite the movie being about them. Really, she only becomes significant around the halfway point of the movie onward. In bigger advertising showing the cast, she's front and center alongside Poppy and Branch, and in smaller ones, it's is usually only Poppy and Viva with Branch showing up with the two of them sometimes.
- Ambiguously Christian: While the two holiday specials were heavily Christmas-themed, it was never explicitly referred to as such. In this film, Floyd makes an offhand remark about a Christmas album when lamenting his stolen talent, seemingly implying that the Trolls do indeed celebrate that holiday.
- Ambiguous Time Period: The flashback to Branch's childhood takes place at least two decades before the present narrative. It appears to be the in-universe equivalent to The '90s or early 2000's, though the exact year is not specified. Even the opening card only refers to this setting as "back in the day..."'.
- Animal-Vehicle Hybrid: John Dory's method of transportation is Rhonda, a creature that is described by Tiny Diamond as part "armadillo", part tour bus.
- Arc Words: "Perfect" is given heavy emphasis on the film, from the constant mention of the Perfect Family Harmony to John Dory's constant stressing that their performances need to be perfect, to the point where the first song in the movie is called "Perfect". This word ends up driving much of the sibling conflict in the movie, not just between the brothers either.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Branch gives an angry one to John Dory after the latter made an awful joke of him and their brothers being a family again, which ended up hurting his feelings.Branch: Oh, I'm sorry. Is that funny to you? That I might want us to actually be a family again?
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Crimp arrests Velvet and Veneer for their crimes, the former assistant explains why they are deemed guilty for what they did, with Clay adding in tax evasion as one of their crimes.Veneer: I was just saying I had a change of heart!
Crimp: You also engaged in troll-napping, troll torture, fraud… (snickers with a shrug)
Clay: And tax evasion! I’m gonna have to repossess your yacht. - Art Evolution: Compared to the last film, water and some other liquids in this installment are depicted as looking like expandable water beads such as orbeez.
- Art Shift: The Hustle Dimension is 2D animation.
- Aspect Ratio Switch: Velvet and Veneer's music video and interview after Bridget and Gristle's wedding is depicted in a ratio of 4:3 fullscreen in the style of 90's music videos and interviews as opposed to the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio for the rest of the film.
- The Atoner:
- Poppy is still amending for her previous errors from World Tour, as she decides to teach John Dory and Viva the same lesson that Branch taught her, which is that a good older sibling and leader listen.
- After realizing the damage his actions have done to his brothers and witnessing the consequences first hand, John Dory intends to atone for his mistakes and improve his relationship with his siblings.
- Auto-Tune: Velvet and Veneer's singing has an element of this demonstrating how little actual talent they have as singers, and their reliance on the BroZone trolls to compensate.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
- Despite not showing it in the introductory scene, John Dory does truly love his brothers and would do anything for them, as he was being genially nice to them.
- Although they show most of their affection for their younger brothers and have issues with their older sibling, Spruce and Clay do care about John Dory, as they have been shown to get along with him, but they let hard feelings get in the way of seeing how much their older brother cares about them until Branch scolds them for their behavior.
- Baby See, Baby Do: Tiny Diamond is briefly imitating Spruce while they are both driving Rhonda.
- Badass Adorable: In a flashback to the night the Trolls escaped Bergentown, not all the trolls made it out before the tunnels collapsed, but Viva was able to save the trolls that were trapped by personally fighting off the Bergens, even though they were several times her size.
- Bad "Bad Acting": When Kid Ritz asks Velvet and Veneer what their secret to being an overnight sensation is during their interview on his show "The Bop on Top", Veneer panics and says, "What secret? Who says we have a secret?" while hyperventilating and gesticulating wildly.
- Band of Relatives: BroZone is made up of five brothers: Branch, Floyd, Clay, Spruce and John Dory.
- Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the movie, Branch has a "small proposal" for Poppy, and gets down on one knee to deliver the proposal. It looks like he's about to propose marriage, and he asks Poppy—to join the band, but Poppy still joyfully accepts along with her long-lost sister Viva.
- Batman Gambit: Velvet sends a letter to John Dory because she knows he and the rest of Floyd's brothers will immediately come rescue the latter, as she knows how being a older sibling works due to being an older twin to Veneer, and that Floyd's older brothers would give in to their big brother instincts.
- Be Careful What You Wish For:
- Poppy wants Branch and his brothers to get along again because Poppy has always wanted a sibling, fantasizing about a sister who's just like her and has all the same interests. When Viva turns out to be Poppy's long-lost sister, she's exactly the kind of sibling Poppy always wanted, with similar personalities, hobbies, and interests, except for the small detail that Viva doesn't want Poppy to ever leave.
- Tiny Diamond spends the movie wanting to be treated like an adult instead of a child. But late in the movie, as Branch, Poppy and Tiny Diamond are scaling walls, Tiny Diamond complains that he's tired, his feet hurt, and he wants to be carried, but Poppy responds that he has to walk on his own and be a big boy now (thus demonstrating to him that being a grown-up involves responsibilities).
- Beleaguered Assistant: Velvet and Veneer don't treat their assistant, Crimp, very well at all. Velvet goes so far as to lock Crimp in a closet and tell Veneer to hire a new assistant, which he orders Crimp to do.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Velvet and Veneer, two pop stars from Mount Rageous who kidnap trolls and steal talent from them (which also drains the life out of them), since they're not actually talented themselves.
- Big Beautiful Man: In BroZone's heyday, Spruce was regarded as the Hearthrob of the group, and frequently wore open vests that showed off his chiselled abs. In the present day, he's stopped working out and has a noticeable gut, but judging by Poppy's reaction, this hasn't made him any less attractive.
- Big Brother Instinct: Despite the constant conflicts that the BroZone's members have among themselves, Branch and three of his brothers at different moments show their concern for Floyd's well-being. Also, Branch's three brothers show this for each other and the latter at different times as well.
- Big Damn Kiss: After the climactic song, Branch and Poppy finally kiss in front of their siblings and broadcast to a swooning audience.
- Big "WHAT?!": Poppy says this after realizing Branch was in another band.
- Birds of a Feather: When Viva turns out to be Poppy's long-lost sister, she's exactly the sort of sibling Poppy was fantasizing about earlier in the movie; they have the same personalities, the same hobbies, the same interests, they have lots of fun together, etc. The only difference is that unlike Poppy, Viva, who has had no knowledge of the outside world since the night the Trolls escaped Bergen Town, is still afraid of the Bergens, and tries to prevent Poppy from ever leaving again.
- Blatant Lies: When John Dory shows up at the wedding and approaches Branch, Branch tries to wave him off as some "stranger who looks similar to [him]", and claims "there's no Branch here".
- "Both Sides Have a Point" Remark: During an argument, Branch's three brothers do bring up good points, even though it's two against one. John Dory's point is that you don't get to be selfish or change yourself unless it's in your family's best interest. Spruce and Clay's point is that you can't treat or force the ones you love into being the image you remember, even though they do the same thing to John Dory and Branch. Fortunately, Branch sees both points, as he does help his three brothers see each other's point of view and come to terms with the fact that who they are now is better than who they were.
- Boy Band: This films centers on a boy band Branch was once a part of with his four older brothers, John Dory, Spruce, Clay and Floyd, BroZone as he and Poppy have to reunite the group in order to save one of their own. Towards the end of the film, Branch revels that he was also part of another group named Kismet, which the members are voiced by Justin Timberlake real life band mates from NSYNC.
- Break the Haughty: John Dory, Spruce and Clay's pride and selfish behavior breaks down after their fallout with Branch, thanks to their constant arguing and treating Branch like a baby.
- Breaking the Fellowship: BroZone went their separate ways after a disastrous concert gone wrong. The film revolves around them having to reunite to save one of their own.
- Breaking Old Trends: The film deviates from its two predecessors in several ways. This is mainly the result of the movie focused on Branch rather than Poppy.
- Instead of the prologue being narrated (with Poppy narrating the first film, and Cloud Guy narrating the second) this film opens with an extended flashback to Branch's childhood.
- Though the wedding at the beginning returns to Bergen Town, the Pop Trolls' village - which is usually the franchise's main setting - is not shown at all.
- The climactic song, "Better Place" is played off as their last chance to pull off the Perfect Family Harmony. Compare that to "Can't Stop the Feeling!" and "Just Sing" which are both used as an upbeat climax as a means to reinforce the theme of their respective movies.
- There is no Darkest Hour moment where the trolls lose their happiness and turn grey. A similar effect is employed when Floyd is being drained of his talent, as his colours are shown gradually fading until he eventually turns completely white during his Disney Death, though he soon recovers. This would have changed the Darkest Hour moment into You Are Too Late.
- Broken Pedestal: Played for Laughs. Spruce is listening to Velvet and Veneer's latest hit and reveals he and his kids love their music. But when John Dory tells him they're the ones holding Floyd captive, he notes "It's gonna be hard to separate the art from the artists".
- Brother–Sister Team: Velvet and Veener are a pair of twins from Mount Rageous who are a popular musical duo.
- The Bus Came Back: After making only a brief appearance at the end of the last movie, Bridget and Gristle return to prominence, with their wedding being part of the movie's opening.
- Call-Back:
- There is a few callbacks from the first film:
- Bridget wearing a white jumpsuit with roller skates at her wedding to King Gristle Jr. is a callback to her wearing a pink jumpsuit and going roller skating together on their first date.
- John Dory shouts Stop the Wedding is similar to when Branch in a flashback runs then shouts to his fellow Trolls that the Bergen's are coming at a weeding.
- John Dory tries to get a hug from his brothers when Poppy's hug time bracelet goes off is a callback to when Branch try to give a depressed Poppy a hug when her hug time bracelet goes off with both of them denying one.
- John Dory, Spruce and Clay being in the same stunned silence as Poppy was when she found out about their grandmother's fate after Branch told her about the loss of his happiness and his reasons for not singing. Also, in the same scene, John Dory has the same facial expression that Poppy did.
- Floyd regains hope of stopping Velvet and Veneer's plan to take talent from other Trolls, including his older brothers, through Branch is a callback to when he brought hope back to Poppy and their fellow Trolls in stopping the Bergens from eating them.
- The adventure to save Floyd change John Dory for the better is similar to how the adventure to save Poppy's friends did for Branch, as it reignited their inner Troll and befriending Poppy reopen their hearts.
- Seeing John Dory and Viva not listening to those around them, Poppy sees them making the same mistake she made in the previous films, as she provides the advice and source they need to see their error.
- There is a few callbacks from the first film:
- The Cameo: Just before the final song, Timberlake’s fellow *NSYNC members arrive at the venue in troll form, with Branch telling his brothers that BroZone wasn’t the only band he was a part of. The final performance is performed by both the *NSYNC trolls and BroZone together.
- Cassandra Truth:
- Branch, Spruce and Clay have been skeptical of John Dory's intentions of doing the perfect family harmony that would save Floyd from his diamond prison, but they did believe him about their brother being in trouble. Although, seeing Floyd's confinement for themselves, Branch, Spruce and Clay come to realize that John Dory has been accurate in his intentions in doing the perfect family harmony.
- Poppy with Branch and John Dory wordlessly backing her up try to tell Viva and her group of Putt-Putt Trolls that the Bergens have change their ways, as they no longer eat Trolls, but they don't believe her, except Clay. However, upon witnessing King Gristle Jr. and Bridget making out after capturing them, Viva and the Putt-Putt Trolls realize that Poppy did tell them the truth, as they befriend King Gristle Jr. and Bridget and Viva join forces with them in order to help her sister and their friends save Floyd.
- Casting Gag:
- Anna Kendrick and Camila Cabello previously both played Cinderella on screen. Kendrick portrayed her in the 2014 film adaptation of Into the Woods, while Cabello portrayed her in the 2021 film of the same name.
- Eric André (John Dory) and Daveed Diggs (Spruce) were both voice actors in live-action remakes of Disney animated movies from the studio's Renaissance era (1989-1999). Andre voiced Azizi in 2019's The Lion King, while Diggs voiced Sebastian in The Little Mermaid, which was released the same year as this film (2023).
- Central Theme: Family. The complications, the difficulties of being in one, but ultimately the best parts of them. The movie easily separates the characters into each family dynamic to show different aspects of it and that while it's not always easy, it's still worth it. There's also an aspect of found family as the movie frequently shows Poppy and Viva being as integral to each other as they are to the brothers with the ones connecting both families being Branch and Poppy who are dating. This even extends to Poppy and Bridget who often regard each other as sisters. Velvet and Veneer's relationship also shows the toxic side of this, with the former being the dominant one in the relationship and overriding any protests on Veneer's part, especially as his sense of ethics begins to overshadow Velvet's desire for fame and glory.
- Censor Box: There's one of this trope when Tiny Diamond says a bad word when he gets grossed out by Spruce's daughter's pink eye.
- Chekhov's Gun: Subverted, with the Hustle Dimension. When John Dory tempts Tiny to press the Hustle button while travelling in Rhonda, they travel to the Hustle Dimension to get closer to their next destination. Later during Poppy and Branch’s chase in Mount Rageous, they try to catch up with Velvet and Veneer via the Hustle Dimension after Tiny presses the button again, but is literally dropped by the Interdimensional Hustle Traveler after he agrees to drop them off at the twins’ yacht.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Bridget and Gristle get married at the start of the movie and ride off on their honeymoon. On their way home, they meet up with Viva (not before getting into a misunderstanding) and along with her, travel to Mount Rageons to help the heroes win the day.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- A number of members of the Snack Pack are noticeably missing from this movie, with the most obvious examples being Smidge, Legsly, and Fuzzbert.
- With the exception of Cooper's brother Prince D, who attends the wedding at the beginning, the other Troll tribes introduced in World Tour are absent.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Velvet and Veneer taking Floyd's talent could count as torture, as they are also taking the life out of him. Later, they do the same thing to Floyd and Branch's older brothers.
- Continuity Nod:
- When BroZone split up, Floyd leaves Branch with their grandmother, explaining how Branch ended up in her care before her death shown in the first film.
- John Dory explains that he was able to track down Branch after hearing how he and Poppy stopped Queen Barb's "Rock-pocalypse" in the previous film.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Velvet and Veneer contrast both Chef and Barb, the respective Big Bads of the two previous movies. Whereas Chef and Barb were individual villains who sought to conquer a place (Bergen Town for Chef, the non-Rock major Troll Tribes' settlements for Barb) for different reasons, Velvet and Veneer are a Big Bad Duumvirate and Brother–Sister Team of aspiring pop musicians aiming to achieve fame and fortune by abducting and stealing the talent of Floyd to fake their way to the top. In contrast to Chef and Barb, who were in some way connected to royalty (Chef being a servant to Bergen Town's rulers and Barb being the Queen of the Rock Trolls), Velvet and Veneer are a duo of spoiled rich kids from a cushy background whose pampered upbringing made them feel entitled to whatever they wanted despite doing nothing to earn it. They juxtapose Chef's goal to kill and feed the Pop trolls to the Bergens to achieve power by depending on a single troll (though they later manage to imprison all but one member of BroZone) to siphon his talent in order to compensate for their utter lack of natural singing ability, which also contrasts Barb's genuine talent as a rock musician. Additionally, upon getting their comeuppance, Velvet remains irredeamable much like Chef did, while Veneer has a Heel–Face Turn similar to Barb's (though not without accepting a more proper punishment).
- Control Freak: John Dory's excessive perfectionism and overbearing demands toward his brothers was a big part of why BroZone split up.
- Crystal Prison: Floyd is being held captive in a diamond prison by Velvet and Veneer, and the perfect family harmony is the only thing powerful enough to shatter diamonds. Later on in the film, John Dory, Spruce, and Clay also get captured by Velvet and Veneer and put in diamond prisons as well.
- Curse Cut Short: Tiny Diamond says a bad word, but it gets the Sound-Effect Bleep.
- Dance Party Ending: Like the last two films, this films ends with Branch, his brothers, and his band do a performance together.
- A Day in the Limelight: While Poppy was the clear protagonist of the first two films, Branch takes the central focus in this one.
- Death Glare: After BroZone's failed concert in the introductory scene, Spruce, Clay and Floyd give John Dory a look that shows they aren't happy with him for going off the choreography and getting them tied up in a vine.
- Demoted to Extra: Other than Poppy, Branch and Tiny Diamond, most of the supporting cast from the first two films, particularly the Snack Pack, only appear at the wedding near the beginning of the film, and don't go along on the main adventure, nor do they return for the Dance Party Ending. Biggie in particular only has a single line that is difficult to hear while Mr. Dinkles appears without him in two scenes.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Many of BroZone's songs have similar titles; in the opening sequence, John Dory wants to open with "Girl Baby Baby" and then close with "Baby Baby Girl", but then changes his mind and decides to open with "Baby Baby Girl" and then close with "Baby Baby Girl Woman". Later in the film, when Poppy is asking John Dory who wrote each of Brozone's songs, one song she brings up is "Girl, I Love Your Love, Girl, You Break My Heart, Girl, I Still Love You, but I Seriously Think We Should Have a Talk About Our Relationship, Girl".
- Deranged Animation: When the group enters the Hustle Dimension, the animation changes from 3D to 2D.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?:
- John Dory's anger towards Spruce and Clay during an argument. Deep down John Dory is greatly hurt that Spruce and Clay not only brush him off, but for assuming he is still a bossy big brother and believing he didn't care about their family. It takes hearing the pressure John Dory was under in taking care of them and Branch scolding them for their behavior for Spruce and Clay to realize how unfairly they treated their older brother ever since reuniting with him.
- Branch's frustration to his three older brothers when he finally had enough of them treating him like a baby. He lets out how angry and hurt he is to his three older brothers for not only leaving him, but for believing that his feelings don't matter. Branch's three older brothers had no idea what their youngest brother was feeling and went through, leading them to feel guilty for hurting him and unintentionally exposing him to danger by leaving him to defend himself alone.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: After his brother shows up at the wedding warning the Trolls and the Bergens to stop it, Branch protests that he has no brothers due to the band breaking up and his brothers abandoning him.
- Disaster Dominoes: The performance in the prologue is a disaster because John Dory goes off-script so he can attempt a "stacking" maneuver with his brothers, which throws off their harmony, and then Baby Branch accidentally steps on Clay's face which exacerbates the stack's collapse, and when Floyd falls off the stage he accidentally grabs a vine and gets John Dory tangled in it, then JD gets Spruce tangled in it, then Spruce gets Clay tangled in it. Only Baby Branch is spared being tangled in vines, because coincidentally he's not standing in anyone's paths.
- Disowned Sibling: Branch feels bitter about his brothers abandoning him and when John Dory comes back to ask for his help, considers him his former brother. Poppy misunderstands what that means stating, "That's not how DNA works."
- Dissension Remorse: John Dory, Spruce and Clay all have one after a horrible argument that led to them pushing Branch away thanks to them not being considerate of Branch's feelings since they were treating him like a baby and John Dory making an awful joke about them being a family again, which made Branch finally snapped and leave them.
- Distressed Dude: Floyd was captured by Velvet and Veener, and spends most of the movie as their prisoner, being slowly drained of both his talent and his life. After Poppy and Branch split off from the rest of Branch's brothers, they end up being captured by the spoiled siblings in what is implied to be them just charging right into Mount Rageous.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- Velvet and Veneer's plot to forcefully "steal talent" from other performers parallels various real-life cases of dishonesty within the music industry, such as plagiarising song lyrics, lip-syncing, and even pretending to sing with other people's vocals.
- Tiny offering Branch to suck on a pacifier after being annoyed by John Dory and Poppy, with Branch saying, "I can't get back on that train", is like someone offering you a cigar or drug to deal with a stressful situation and a former addict doesn't wanna relapse into that old habit.
- Do I Really Sound Like That?: When the Trolls meet Viva, she's extremely enthusiastic and friendly, but the Trolls find her sheer energy to be "a lot". Poppy, aware that her own personality is similar to Viva's, even asks in an aside, "Is this how people feel when they meet me?"
- The Dog Bites Back: In the climax, Crimp switches off Velvet and Veener's microphones, allowing Branch and his brothers to perform the perfect harmony needed to shatter the diamonds keeping most of them imprisoned. She also quickly performs a citizen's arrest on them when Veneer confesses their crimes, likely as payback for her mistreatment by them.Crimp: (after Velvet and Veneer are arrested) Wow, this is liberating!
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: The movie's climax features Gristle and Bridget helping the Trolls chase down Velvet and Veneer. But the villainous duo start gaining ground, the Bergen couple throw their Troll friends over to Velvet and Veneer's boat, thereby ensuring they can't assist during the direct confrontation.
- Dramatic Irony: Velvet and Veneer are introduced performing their Breakout Hit, "Watch Me Work", which is all about how talent and fame takes years of effort and hard work. In the scene right after this, it's revealed that the pair are actually tone-deaf hacks who are literally stealing their talent from Floyd to make themselves famous overnight.
- Dude, Not Funny!: When John Dory teases Branch about being a together as a family, Poppy and Spruce are the only ones beside Branch who doesn't find the joke funny.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?:
- John Dory wants respect from his brothers, but they refuse because he was being too demanding with Spruce and Clay treating him as the same bossy older sibling they remember.
- During an argument, Clay asks John Dory where his respect is when he tells him and their two brothers that he is a licensed CPA.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Each of Branch's brothers have gotten a happy ending. Even Branch himself gets one, as he has his brothers back and are reunited as a family.
- John Dory sees the error of his ways, his brothers have forgiven him for his past actions and found real friends (excluding Rhonda) who, like his real self.
- Spruce and Clay are not only happy to be together again, but be with the rest of their brothers.
- Floyd has reunited with his brothers, made friends with his fellow Trolls and changed Veneer's life for the better.
- Embarrassing Old Photo: John Dory shows Poppy an old picture of Branch as a baby with a perm hairstyle, which Branch finds embarrassing, and Poppy finds the picture hilarious and bursts into laughter over it. However, Poppy also thinks the picture is cute, and likes it so much that she wants John Dory to make wallet-sized copies of it.
- Energy Absorption: The diamond prisons with any device that is connected to has the power to take the talent and life from any Troll and give it to the user.
- Engineered Public Confession: Subverted in the climax. Rather than being tricked into it, due to the entire city's cameras already being on them after the car chase and BroZone's performance, Veneer himself takes the opportunity to publicly confess to his and his sister's crimes, having finally decided to have a change of heart.Veneer: Listen up, Mount Rageons. We are...FRAUDS! And we've literally been torturing little trolls!
- Entitled Bastard: Velvet and Veneer are a female and male example; Veneer even admits that they believe "we deserve to be famous just because we want to." Later on, Velvet and Veneer even tell Floyd and the rest of BroZone that they should be thankful that Velvet and Veneer want to steal their talent, because at least then their talents "won't go to waste".
- "Eureka!" Moment: Branch gets one when he gets an idea to use Clay's old Funderdrawers in order to find him.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Velvet fails to see why the BroZone brothers would go out of their way for each other, as she doesn't see that it's real family love, and that her behavior towards Veneer doesn't exemplify it.
- Evil Gloating: Velvet gloats to Floyd that she forged a letter to John Dory to lure him and their brothers to come save him, but her gloating gives Floyd a chance to warn Branch when his younger brother comes to save him.
- Evil Plan: Velvet and Veneer are planning to win an award called the "Lifer Award", which celebrates a lifetime of achievements. This would be a mundane plan, except that since Velvet and Veneer plan to do this by kidnapping trolls and draining the talent (and life) out of them.
- Eyes Never Lie:
- Upon looking John Dory in the eyes when he explains to him that Floyd is being held captive in a diamond prison, Spruce understands that they need the perfect family harmony to free their sibling.
- Clay's appearances may have change, but his eyes have not, which helps his three brothers recognize him when they reunite with him.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Bridget and King Gristle Jr. are captured by the Putt-Putt trolls and sentenced to be executed by the teeth of the park's mechanical clown, Bridget asks if it would be weird if they made out. King Gristle Jr. replies that it would be weird if they didn't, and they decide to spend their last moments alive smooching. This contributes to saving their lives, along with Viva recognizing Bridget from Poppy's scrapbook, as it demonstrates to the trolls that the Bergens are now capable of happiness by themselves and are no longer a troll-eating threat.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- After Branch left to rescue Floyd with his friends, John Dory, Spruce and Clay didn't bother to ask or notice that Poppy wasn't in shock when their brother tells them the fate of their grandmother, as she already knew.
- When capturing the rest of BroZone, neither Velvet or Veneer seem concerned by or have even noticed the fact that the fifth member of the band - Branch - isn't there with themnote . As a result, they're completely blindsided when Branch - along with Poppy and Tiny - crashes their award ceremony to rescue his brothers.
- Family of Choice:
- Poppy considers Bridget a sister that she never had until she meets Viva, but still treats her like a sibling despite having a sister by blood.
- Branch's three brothers come to consider Poppy part of the family and care for her like a sister. Although Clay has already treated her like family, three of his brothers came to consider Viva a sister as well.
- Figure It Out Yourself:
- Poppy quickly figures out that Branch is not a younger brother of one sibling but four, after realizing that the entire BroZone group is his family.
- Clay is quick to realize that Floyd is being held in a diamond prison. Also, an offscreen example. Clay with John Dory and Spruce figured out that Branch with their friends went to save Floyd on their own, as they attempt to catch up with them in order to help them and apologizes to their youngest brother for their awful behavior.
- Finish Dialogue in Unison: Branch explains to Clay how Floyd has been kidnapped. He finishes his point along with Poppy, John Dory and Spruce.Clay: Anyway I can't believe you all are here. Wait, where's Floyd?
Branch: That's why were here. Floyd has been taken prisoner at Mount Rageous by superstar singers Velvet and Veneer.
Branch, Poppy, John Dory and Spruce: And the only thing powerful enough to free him is the Perfect Family Harmony. - Five-Second Foreshadowing:
- The letter John Dory receives from "Floyd" becomes questionable when we find out Floyd is trapped in a diamond container with no way to mail a letter from there. Turns out it was Velvet who forged the letter to lure him and his brothers into a trap.
- Additionally, the letter is signed "Floyd the Sensitive One". But when Floyd left in the prologue, he specifically said he was pursuing a solo career. So, why would he sign a letter using his former "Sensitive One" sobriquet that BroZone gave him, when he doesn't want to be a part of BroZone anymore? Because he didn't sign the letter or even write it; Velvet forged the letter, and she signed it using Floyd's BroZone stage name because that's what she's familiar with.
- Also, the letter says that Floyd is being held against his will by "superstars Velvet and Veneer". But "superstars" sounds like a strangely complimentary nickname to give to people who are sucking the life out of Floyd...because Floyd didn't give them that nickname at all; Velvet forged the letter and called herself and her brother "superstars" to boost her own ego.
- When Spruce puts his hand on Branch's shoulder and the latter is holding Floyd in his arms, his nose starts to regain its color, as they are unknowingly saving their brother by sharing their life essences out of love for him. Also, Spruce was unknowingly giving Branch a boast by putting his hand onto his shoulder where his arm is close to Floyd's heart, which ends up revving their brother. It shows that a Troll can have their life essences restore if another shares the same blood, as Branch, John Dory, Spruce, Clay and Floyd are brothers who have the same DNA.
- After Floyd is revived and Branch moves his arms, the process to restore Floyd's life essences pauses until Branch hugs him and the rest of their brothers join in. However, Branch and his three older brothers life essences doesn't completely restore Floyd's hair, as some parts of it are still white.
- The letter John Dory receives from "Floyd" becomes questionable when we find out Floyd is trapped in a diamond container with no way to mail a letter from there. Turns out it was Velvet who forged the letter to lure him and his brothers into a trap.
- Forbidden Fruit: Discussed when John Dory asks Tiny Diamond to press the Hustle button on the bus.John Dory: Hey Tiny. You see that button?
Tiny Diamond: Uh, yeah!
John Dory: That beautiful, shiny button?!
Tiny Diamond: Oh, you mean the button that's taking every fiber of my being not to press? Yeah I see it.
John Dory: Press it! - Foreshadowing:
- Branch being the first to glow when they first try the Perfect Family Harmony foreshadows that he not only values his family, but is true to who he is.
- John Dory, Spruce, Clay and Floyd getting tied up by a vine during their last concert before their breakup foreshadows them being captured by Velvet and Veneer.
- Even if you weren't spoiled by the trailers, King Peppy's suspicious behavior when questioned by Poppy about "secret family members" and his face when Poppy mentions if she had a sister really would've hinted at Viva's existence.
- Spruce getting upset with John Dory when his sibling mentions the perfect family harmony foreshadows his resentment towards the latter, as he didn't give his older brother a chance to explain his noble reasons for coming to find him and ends up getting the facts wrong until John Dory tells him that Floyd is in trouble.
- Branch and his brothers having fun performing together foreshadows their strong family bond, which ends up being part of what saves Floyd.
- John Dory trying to take credit for Branch's plan to rescue Floyd foreshadows that he hasn't shaken off all of his controlling tendencies.
- Branch and Spruce being the first to touch Floyd's lifeless body, as its foreshadows their unknown role in reviving their brother and restoring his life essences with John Dory and Clay's help.
- Forgiveness: This film centers on Branch and two of his brothers forgiving John Dory for his past actions and mistakes he have made when they were in BroZone.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Subverted. Branch's brothers leave him with their grandmother when they break up in the opening flashback, with this being set a few years before she was eaten by the Bergens before the events of the first film. When Branch reunites with his brothers as an adult, none of them are ever shown questioning their grandmother's whereabouts and are not concerned at all about her absence. Branch later mentions during an argument that she was eaten, which left his brothers in stunned silence, traumatized and feeling guilty for not thinking about their remaining relative or asking their sibling about her whereabouts.
- Formerly Fit: Spruce was once the "heartthrob" of BroZone, with the abs to match. But after settling down and starting a family, he has gained a noticeable gut (though Poppy still believes he lives up to the "heartthrob" title).
- Freudian Slip: When ushering Poppy out the door to Gristle and Bridget's wedding, Branch excitedly says "Let's go get married!", inadvertently revealing his secret intentions to propose to her. When Poppy questions this, he hurriedly backpedals and clarifies that he meant "Let's go get Bridget and Gristle married."
- From the Mouths of Babes: Most of Bruce's children have ordinary childhood concerns like wanting a cookie, one sibling biting the other, etc. But one child worries that "I don't think any government stands a chance!" Bruce replies, "you're not wrong, kid."
- Funny Background Event: At the end of the movie during the Dance Party Ending, just after Branch invites Poppy and Viva to join the band, Viva can be seen in the background awkwardly moving from group to group while singing and dancing, unsure of which to join, until finally she joins the main singing group of Branch, Poppy, and BroZone. just before the credits.
G-N
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Branch is able to get his three brothers back to their senses during an argument when he reminds them to think about Floyd.
- Gilded Cage: The Putt-Putt Trolls' hideout used to be an abandoned Bergen minature golf course, which Viva and Clay converted into a bright, fun carnival converted filled with rides and treats, and Viva seems very welcoming to any trolls that pass by, especially when one turns out to be her long-lost sister, Poppy. The moment that Poppy and the brothers try to leave, Viva suddenly slams the front gates shut and refuses to let them go because of her fear of what's outside, forcing Clay to let them out instead.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: The "Perfect Family Harmony" is said to be the only thing capable of shattering Floyd's diamond prison.
- Group Hug: Branch, three of his brothers, Poppy and Viva do a group hug with Floyd after he is revived by his siblings' life essences and their love for him.
- Handshake Substitute: Throughout the film, John Dory, Spruce and Clay do a fist bump with each other as a sign of their close brotherly bond. John Dory also does a fist bump with Poppy when he is impressed with her optimism.
- Happily Married: After BroZone breaks up in the prologue, in the present we see that Bruce, formerly Spruce, is happily married to a resident of Vacay Island named Brandy, and they have several children together. They co-own and operate a business and clearly love each other, and Brandy has no problem with Bruce temporarily leaving her in charge of the children so he can help save Floyd because "You'd never forgive yourself if you didn't help save your brother!" Besides, Bruce can return the favor next month by covering for her while she's on a girls' yoga retreat.
- Heel Realization:
- John Dory gets one when he witness Viva not listening to Poppy about the Bergens changing their ways as he realizes that he did the same thing to his brothers. He then comprehend that he really screwed up with his brothers after being called out by Branch for his selfish actions and behavior, especially when he finds out what happen to their grandmother and what his youngest sibling went through. John Dory also sees that he abandoned his responsibility to his brothers and pushed them away, all the times he try to control his siblings in order to make them perfect has been hurting them and didn't really consider their feelings. However, it takes realizing that his friendship with Poppy touched his heart, witnessing Velvet's own bad behavior and Branch's words of not being perfect to be in harmony for John Dory to not only see the error of his ways, but to let go of his obsessions and loner attitude for good.
- Veneer goes along with his twin sister Velvet's scheme to become famous by stealing Floyd's and later his older brother's talent. However, Veneer is frequently appeal by Floyd, as he tries to help him see his better nature, telling him that he doesn't have to be submissive to Velvet and go along with her scheme. During the climax, Veneer finally realizes that Floyd was not only right about Velvet, but was right about him, which led to his change of heart and publicly confesses to his and Velvet's crimes.
- Heroic BSoD: After failing to escape from Velvet and Veneer, Floyd is sitting in his diamond prison depressed that he couldn't stop the duo from taking any more of his talent and warn his brothers or other Trolls of their plan. However, when Branch arrives to save him, Floyd snaps out of his depression, because seeing his little brother again causes his hope of doing something to prevent Velvet and Veneer from taking talent from other Trolls, especially from their older siblings, to re-surface, as he warns the latter of the duo's plan and convinces him to escape before it's too late. Floyd further gets out of his depression when he reunites with the rest of his brothers, even though they get captured as well, as John Dory keeps his promise to come back with their family to save him.
- Hidden Depths:
- Clay can be stealthily, as he is able to sneak over to the door of his home so he, three of his brothers, Poppy and Tiny Diamond could leave in order to rescue Floyd without anyone, including Viva, noticing.
- Spruce is pretty mellow to the point that is hard for him to lose his temper, but he is very clever, as seen when he wordlessly came up with an idea to help Branch and their friends save their captured brothers, Clay and Floyd, from Velvet, which John Dory goes along with, even though they were trapped in diamond prisons.
- History Repeats:
- Branch angrily telling someone the fate of his grandmother plays a role in realizing that they weren't considering the latter's feelings, even leaving them in stunned silences. During the events in the first film, Poppy realizes that she truly wasn't considering Branch's feelings when she not only gets into an argument with him, but for pressuring him into singing, and he told her what happen to his grandmother. In the events of this film, John Dory, Spruce and Clay realizes that they never thought about Branch's feelings when the latter angrily snaps at them for their selfish behavior and treating him like a baby, as he revels to them what happen to their grandmother and had to grow up alone after that.
- Just like in the first film, King Gristle Jr. and Bridget's romance becomes more important to the plot than it first seems. In the first film, Gristle and Bridget finding happiness with each other convinces the Bergens that they don't need to eat trolls to be happy. In this film, Gristle and Bridget being romantic and kind convinces Viva that the Bergens really have changed their ways and there's no longer a reason to be afraid, which inspires Viva to go to Mount Rageous after all to help her sister Poppy.
- Upon witnessing Floyd sacrifice himself for Branch and their brothers, Branch gets concerned for his sibling and feels like it was their grandmother risking her life to save his all over again.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Without troll magic, Velvet and Veneer are comically unable to carry a tune. (Which is strange for Veneer in particular because his actor is actually a very talented singer)
- Horrible Honeymoon: Subverted. The newlyweds Gristle and Bridget have a fun offscreen honeymoon, but it takes a turn for the worse when they visit Viva's golf course to get some fries. Since the Trolls there don't trust Bergens, they tie the two up and send them to be mashed up in the giant mouth of the clown. However, Viva recognizes Bridget from Poppy's scrapbook and spares the two.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Velvet and Veneer use Floyd as a hostage to make his brothers Branch, Clay, John Dory and Spruce come save him in order to capture them, then use their talents just like they are doing to Floyd.
- Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: Spruce (or as he now prefers to be called, Bruce) is married to Brandy, a Muppet-like being several times his size, with whom he had many children (and they are biologically his, as they look like Muppet Trolls). When asked how this could be possible, he replies "Don't overthink it".
- Hurricane of Puns: This movie is chuck-loaded with boy band puns.
- Velvet and Veneer's debut song is called "Watch Me Work", but they have never actually worked to earn their fame and are just stealing talent from Floyd.
- Branch calls out Spruce and Clay on this for treating John Dory like he is still obsessed with perfection, which they weren't entirely wrong on, and for still being upset with him for petty reasons, as he points out to them and their older brother that they are doing the same thing to him by treating him like a baby.
- I Gave My Word: Before leaving to find their family, John Dory gives his word to Floyd that he'll be back to rescue him with their brothers.
- Ignored Epiphany: Velvet ignores the feelings of her brother Veneer and doesn't understand why Branch and his brothers would go out of their way for each other.
- Immediate Sequel: Tiny Diamond is stated to be one month old, establishing how much time has passed since Trolls World Tour, when he was shown being born.
- Innocently Insensitive: John Dory, Spruce and Clay brush off Branch's idea of being family again, not realizing that their actions and words hurt his feelings until he snaps at them and leaves.
- Instantly Proven Wrong:
- Poppy and Branch's argument over John Dory.Poppy: Branch, what's going on with you?
Branch: The question we should be asking is "What's going on with him"?! I bet you he's only here because he needs something.
Poppy: That's not true. He's your brother!
John Dory: Branch. I'm gonna be straight with you, I need something.
Branch: And there it is.
Poppy: Come on, man. I'm trying here. - Branch dismisses the postcard John Dory got from Spruce as enough to track him down, since he thinks the island and sunset on the card doesn't exist, until he sees it just three seconds later. It even has the exact message on the postcard "Wish you were here!" floating in the sky.
- Poppy and Branch's argument over John Dory.
- Interspecies Romance: Spruce settled down with a vaguely felt puppet-like being named Brandy.
- Ironic Echo:
- When John Dory tries to save Floyd, he tells his oldest brother that he doesn't understand the situation until he explains it to him. Later, when Spruce misunderstood John Dory's reason for coming to see him, he tells his younger brother that he doesn't understand and tells him that Floyd is in trouble.
- Upon finding out about Floyd's capture, Spruce:Spruce: What! Well then what are we waiting for. We need to call the authorities.
- Later, after finding out the same situation with Floyd, Clay:Clay: Well why haven't you just called the authorities.
- In the introductory scene, John Dory saids lets bro to his siblings before they went on stage. After being rescue by Viva from Veneer, Spruce says the same thing when he and John Dory spring into action in order to help Branch and their friends save their capture siblings from Velvet, even though they were trap in diamond prisons.
- Ironic Juxtaposition: Veneer and Velvet's relationship is this to the Trolls. While the Trolls help their siblings with love and care despite their previous separations to lift one another up in the end, Veneer gets metaphorically and literally dragged down by his sister who makes him overdependent on her, even if her influence is terrible on him, which got him arrested with Velvet in the end despite atoning.
- Irony: Vacay Island is a place where every day is a vacation...except for Spruce and his family, who work the only apparent Local Hangout there.
- It Runs in the Family: Branch and his brothers seem to have the same issue of not opening up to others, even to each other.
- It's All About Me: Velvet and Veneer both think the world revolves around them, though Velvet is much more selfish than her brother. After Veneer says his sister's his biggest inspiration, Velvet says her biggest inspiration is "also me", she treats Crimp like a doormat and then accuses Crimp of draining the life from her, she reacts to Floyd's demand to leave his brothers alone by saying she's "tired of all this drama", and in a flashback to when she and her brother were children, their parents ask Velvet how her day was, and Velvet responds by shouting "Stop attacking me!" and banging the table.
- It's All My Fault:
- Seeing Branch angry, desolate and hurt after being insensitive to him, John Dory, Spruce and Clay begin to blame themselves for having been away from their family for all this time.
- Floyd and Branch feel responsible for their older brothers getting captured, as Floyd believes the reason was because he didn't bother to ask John Dory how he knew he was being held captive. This would have prevented him from involving their brothers into the situation, while Branch believes himself to be at fault for leaving them during a fallout, as he could have come up with a plan to prevent their siblings from getting caught.
- It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: During the climax, when Bridget and King Gristle Jr. need to make a motorcycle jump to bring Poppy and Branch closer to Velvet and Veneer, Bridget shouts that this is the "best...honeymoon...ever!"
- I Was Quite a Fashion Victim: In one scene, Poppy sees an old photo of Branch as a baby with frosted tips, which she laughs about. John Dory also shows Poppy a picture of Baby Branch with a perm.Branch: It was an era!
- Jerkass Ball: While Spruce and Clay's resentment towards John Dory is valid and they make some correct criticisms during their argument, they don't stop yelling at their older brother until Branch broke them up.
- Jerkass Realization:
- Although John Dory may have had one of those realization during his time away from his brothers, as he realizes that Spruce and Clay were right about his bad behavior, and made an effort to be nice to his siblings when he reunites with them, he fully realizes how much of an inconsiderate jerk he was to his family when he made a terrible joke to Branch about his intentions to be together again, which ends up hurting his feelings.
- Spruce and Clay have one when they not only realize how badly they have treated John Dory ever since they reunited, but they spread their bad behavior onto Branch for no reason.
- Viva realizes that she has been an unreasonable jerk to Poppy and her friends after meeting Bridget and King Gristle Jr., as she shows remorse for not listening to her sister and not coming with her close friend to help the group save Floyd.
- Jumped at the Call:
- The minute he finds out Floyd is in trouble, John Dory didn't hesitate to rescue him and quickly goes on a quest to find their remaining brothers in order to save him.
- Poppy jumped at the chance to join John Dory's mission to reunite his and Branch's remaining brothers in rescuing Floyd.
Poppy: We are so in.- Later, Clay didn't hesitate in coming with his remaining brothers to save Floyd.
Clay: I'm in. - Life Drain: Floyd gets his life drain through Velvet and Veneer, which they later do to his older bothers as well.
- Literal-Minded:
- After John Dory reveals himself to be Branch's brother, Poppy asks Branch why he never told her he had brothers. Branch says that John Dory is his "former brother". Branch means that he no longer considers John Dory his brother after he walked out on him, but Poppy thinks Branch literally means he and John Dory are no longer related, so she shouts, "That's not how DNA works!"
- Late in the movie, as Tiny Diamond, Poppy and Branch use the "Hustle Dimension" to get closer to Velvet and Veneer, they ask the Hustle man to drop them off near Velvet and Veneer. He agrees, but then literally drops them so they're free-falling and have to be caught by Gristle and Bridget in the nick of time, with Branch shouting, "Not literally!"
- Locked into Strangeness: Floyd's vibrant reddish-pink hair gradually loses its color as Velvet and Veneer keep draining the talent and life out of him. Even when his brothers eventually save and revive him, the tips of Floyd's hair are still permanently bleached white in the ending.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Veneer didn't know that Velvet asked Crimp for a machine that will trap three of Floyd's brothers when they capture them until Crimp reveals it. Also, Crimp has no idea that Velvet plans to use her machine on Trolls, as she thought it was for smoothies, until she witnesses her use it on Floyd.
- Viva and the rest of her tribe still live in fear of the Bergens, unaware that Bergens no longer want to eat Trolls.
- Logo Joke: After the DreamWorks logo is formed, it turns into a scrapbook version of it similar to the variant used in the first film. Also, the logo's theme is in low pitch.
- Long-Lost Relative:
- Branch for twenty years thought his brothers have been lost, as he didn't tell anyone, including Poppy, or spoke of them, until John Dory return to ask for his help in rescuing their sibling Floyd.
- Turns out, Poppy too has a missing older sibling.
- Lured into a Trap: Velvet and Veneer send a forged letter to John Dory to lure him, Spruce, Clay and Branch into saving Floyd so they can trap them. Fortunately, Floyd finds out about the trap and is able to warn Branch, but is too late to do the same for their older brothers, as they end up getting caught.
- Make-Out Kids: After the wedding, Bridget and King Gristle Jr. start smooching whenever they can. It even becomes a plot point; they're captured and almost executed by the Putt-Putt trolls, but they choose to spend their last minutes smooching, and this, along with Viva recognizing Bridget from Poppy's scrapbook, proves to the Putt-Putt trolls that the Bergens have changed their ways, and Bridget and King Gristle Jr.'s lives are spared.
- Mana Drain: The diamond perfume bottle that Floyd is trap in has the power to take his talent and life away. Later, the shoulder pads that Crimp invented that have diamond prisons has the power to drain Floyd and his older brothers of their life and talent.
- Meaningful Echo:
- In the prologue:
Baby Branch: And when you come back, we'll make our hideout.
Floyd: Differently. Whoa, is that a ten-story waterslide?
Baby Branch: Yeah, that's how we shower!- In the end:
Branch: I built the hideout, Floyd. Except the ten-story waterslide.
Floyd (waking up): But... how will we shower? - Medium-Shift Gag:
- During the " BroZone's Back" impromptu performance by John Dory, Spruce, and Branch, when Branch invites Poppy to dance along with them onstage and the song transitions to Stayin' Alive, the screen briefly shifts to being made entirely of dots, like the surface of a disco ball.
- At the tour bus, when Tiny Diamond presses the Hustle button, the bus warps into light speed, causing Tiny and the other passengers to be depicted in trippy 2D animation.
Poppy: Wow! Too much Hustle is a thing! - Metaphorically True: John Dory tells Floyd half the truth about his stress during their show preparation for their concert in the introductory scene.
- Mirror Character: Branch and his four brothers all lived in isolation with no contact with the outside world, including their fellow Trolls, except Clay, whose only friend was the same species. However, like Branch in the first film when he reconnected with his fellow Trolls during Poppy's quest to save her friends, John Dory, Spruce, Clay and Floyd reconnect with the outside world. Three of Branch's brothers even reconnect with their fellow Trolls through their friendship with Poppy, Tiny Diamond and Viva.
- Mouth Screen: The screen goes to Poppy's mouth when she is in shock about Branch being in another band.
- Mundane Solution: At the film's darkest hour when Floyd has apparently been drained of all his life, Crimp foils Velvet and Verneer's performance and gives Branch and his brothers the chance to achieve harmony, via the very simple method of turning off the villains' microphones.
- Must Make Amends:
- Realizing that they left Branch to defend himself alone and their selfish actions really hurt him, John Dory, Spruce and Clay decide to reunite with him so they can apologizes to him, after they figured out that their youngest brother left with their friends to save Floyd on their own.
- Viva sets out to join Poppy and Clay's mission to rescue Floyd in order to make things right with them after realizing her mistakes.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- John Dory, Spruce and Clay have one of those moments when they realize how much their actions and infighting have hurt Branch, especially after finding out that their grandmother died when he was just a child and that he had to raise himself alone thanks them walking out on him years ago.
- Viva has a guilty look on her face when she comes to see how wrong she was about the Bergens and shows regret in not listening to and joining Poppy on her mission to help Branch and Clay rescue Floyd.
- Seeing Velvet still wanting to perform with just Floyd and being on the verge of losing the last of his life, Veneer realizes the damage his actions have caused to both the Trolls and himself.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Branch didn't have his remaining family growing up, due to his brothers abandoning him and his grandmother getting eaten by a Bergen when she risked her life to save his, which led him to blame himself as he could't do anything to save her. However, Branch takes the adventure to rescue Floyd with his remaining brothers as a second chance to not only have a relationship with his siblings, but to save one of his family members.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: After finding out through Branch what happened to their grandmother, John Dory, Spruce and Clay become regretful about not saying goodbye to their remaining relative the day they left Branch and Floyd, as they didn't know it would be the last time they would see their grandmother alive.
- Never Trust a Trailer: Most of the marketing made Branch's brothers seem more callous towards him than they are in the actual film.
- Branch's grandmother is not shown in the trailer, and the flashback is edited to imply the brothers simply abandoned Branch by himself when they broke up. In the film, Floyd makes sure to leave Branch in the care of their grandmother before he leaves, tying back into Branch's backstory shown in the first film.
- The trailers gave the impression that Baby Branch screwed up a performance due to pre-show jitters, causing the brothers to leave him. In the opening scene of the movie, while the performance is indeed a disaster, the band breaks up because the brothers are mad at each other, not at Branch (and Floyd even takes time to reassure Branch that it's not his fault they're leaving).
- Branch claims that his brothers never came back for him, but John Dory claims that he did eventually come back for Branch, but Branch wasn't there (because by then, the last Trollstice had happened and everyone had moved out of the tree to Pop Village), and John Dory didn't even know Branch was still alive until he heard about him saving the world from Queen Barb in the last film.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: The fact that Velvet and Veneer kidnapped Floyd, out of everyone in BroZone, is what brings our heroes into conflict with them to begin with, because Branch initially refused to come along on John Dory's rescue mission, and only gave in because it was Floyd specifically that was kidnapped.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Velvet and Veneer's plan to "steal talent" from BroZone as an easy route to fame has many direct parallels to the infamous real-life R&B duo Milli Vanilli. After becoming famous overnight in The '80s, Milli Vanilli became the subject of a massive scandal after it was revealed that they never actually sang any of their songs and had in fact been lip-syncing to another singer's vocals while passing it off as their own work.
- Noodle Incident: Gristle and Bridget's honeymoon. It appearently involved Gristle of all people getting both of them kicked out of a water park. We never get the full story, but according to Gristle, it involved Gristle losing his swimming trunks because of a water slide malfunction.
- Also, Bridget (who spent her whole life as a poor maid in the Bergen's castle) apparently knows how to drive a motorcycle.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When attempting to persuade Viva to lift the lockdown and allow Poppy, Branch, his three brothers and Tiny Diamond to leave, Branch explains to Viva that he used to be just like her, living in a bunker. The bunker did keep him alive, and he didn't even have to wear pants—but it meant he was living without pants (the analogy is that he missed out on daily life due to his paranoia).
- Not Using the "Z" Word: Or in this case, B word. In the Mini Golf Hole of Fun, the citizens try not to say the word "burgers", because it reminds them too much of "Bergens". Clay explains that they call burgers "meat circles" instead.
- Nothing Personal: Veneer tells Floyd that stealing his talent and life is nothing personal, he just love Velvet, fame, money and the things he bought.
O-Z
- Obnoxious In-Laws: During Bridget and King Gristle Jr.'s wedding, an elderly Bergen in the audience, who is apparently the groom's aunt, shouts, "Hey Bridget, you still have time to run for it!" King Gristle Jr., trying to remain civil, says to her, "Very funny, Aunt Smeed, so glad you could make it!"
- Official Couple: After two movies and two series of Ship Tease, Branch and Poppy are openly referring to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Hearing that Velvet forged a letter to John Dory to lure him and their brothers into a trap, Floyd realizes that she is not only using him as bait for his family, but intend to put his siblings in diamond prisons and take their talent as well.
- John Dory gets one when Clay asks about their grandmother getting eating, after being informed by Branch, as he realizes how badly he screwed up with his brothers and for not realizing that his siblings are the only remaining family he has left sooner, especially when Poppy mentions to him that she hadn't met anyone from his family before.
- After being informed by Floyd, Branch gets one when he realizes that his three older brothers are walking into a trap.
- Oh, My Gods!: Instead of the word "god", Branch says this when he is grossed out by one of Spruce's kids pink eye.Branch: Oh, my pink eye.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Branch looks at his three brothers with concern when he sees them arguing again, as he realize that it's the same argument that caused the breakup between them in the first place.
- OOC Is Serious Business: Branch snapping at his three older brothers shows to John Dory, Spruce and Clay that their selfish actions truly hurt their youngest sibling.
- Painful Persona: Spruce and Clay feel like their boy band images were this trope, as they felt like they were being trapped in their persona.
- Pass the Popcorn: Tiny Diamond, excited about the drama of Branch's long-lost brother, asking Mr. Dinkles to "Corn me" and Dinkles spits out a bag of popcorn.
- Passing the Torch: John Dory lets go of being leader of BroZone, as he gives it to Branch after seeing the error of his ways and having not only witness his maturity, but his words of wisdom of not being perfect to be in harmony.
- Parents Know Their Children: More like siblings know their sibling, as John Dory, Spruce, Clay and Floyd are quick to recognize Branch the minute they see him as an adult, even though they haven't seen him in over twenty years. Viva quickly connects with Poppy and is able to see similarities between them, which made it easier for her to realize that is her little sister.
- Party Scattering: After their last performance and argument, BroZone separated halfway around the world. Spruce headed off to Vacay Island, Clay moved in with the Putt-putt Trolls, It's unknown where John Dory was, but he came to rescue Floyd who was captured by Velvet and Veneer on Mount Rageous.
- Parting-Words Regret: John Dory and Spruce become filled with regret about the words they said to Branch during an argument, as they realize that all it did was hurt Branch's feelings and push him away.
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: As Viva is introducing herself to the trolls, she says it's "fantastamazing" to meet all of them, and then explains that "fantastamazing" is a word she made up by combining "fantastic" and "amazing". She used to say "amastic", but that didn't sound as good. Poppy tries this as well and comes up with "fantastamawesome", which Viva says is different but works too, congratulating Poppy for making it her own.
- Playful Rump Bump: Poppy and Viva bump butts a couple of times during "It Takes Two".
- Please, Don't Leave Me: After Viva tries to trap Poppy and her friends so she won't lose her sister, Clay opens the door anyway, since he doesn't want to lose his brother either. As Poppy and her friends are leaving, Viva is unable to follow since she's too afraid to step outside, so she begs Poppy, "Please! I want you to stay!"
- Please Wake Up: Spruce does this with Floyd. After Floyd risked his life to help his brothers achieve the Perfect Family Harmony and destroyed the diamond prisons his older siblings were being trapped in, including himself, Spruce goes to his side and tries to wake him up, but he alongside their brothers become heartbroken when they didn't get a respond. Fortunately, through his brother's life essences and love, Floyd is revived and wakes up.Spruce: Come on man wake up. Wake up Floyd.
- Police Are Useless: When Spruce and Clay were first told Floyd has been kidnapped, their first thought is to contact the authorities. This plan is shot down because the police wouldn't have any way of breaking Floyd out of the diamond prison he's being kept in, and only a specific harmony from the brothers' band can break the prison, thus keeping the burden of action entirely on our protagonists. This is very much downplayed, though: as soon as the bad guys incriminate themselves publicly, in less than a minute, police of their own species are dragging them off in handcuffs.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Branch could have prevented his three brothers from making the same mistake in separating again sooner if he had immediately told them about his feelings and life growing up. To be fair, three of his brothers didn't give him much of chance to do so, due to being focus on rescuing Floyd.
- Floyd never sent John Dory a letter for help, yet he didn't ask him how he knew where he was. This could've clued JD into the fact that Velvet set him up.
- John Dory could have had an easier time getting Branch and Spruce to hear him out quicker if he mentioned Floyd first. Although, he did try to mention Floyd first to Spruce, but he interrupted him before he could say anything else.
- The Power of Family: Branch and his brothers' bond remaining strong despite being apart for many years and some of them disagreeing with each other.
- The Power of Love: Branch and three of his older brothers' unknowingly use their love for Floyd to save their sibling after he goes through a Disney Death, although sharing their life essences had a hand in saving the latter as well.
- Prank Gone Too Far: More like joke gone too far, as John Dory pulled one on Branch but it backfired, as it ended up hurting his feelings. Realizing his mistake, John Dory tried to correct himself and assure Branch that he wasn't trying to hurt him, but it was too late as his youngest brother snapped at him and left.
- The Promise:
- In the introductory scene, John Dory tells Floyd that they and the rest of their brothers promise the fans they will do the perfect family harmony. Although they fail the first time, BroZone manages to pull off the perfect family harmony, even though it takes twenty years to do so, with Poppy and Viva's help.
- Before leaving Branch, Floyd promises his younger brother that he'll come back one day but doesn't, and Branch ends up coming to him instead.
- John Dory promises Floyd he will be back with their brothers in order to save him, after he escapes from getting caught by Velvet and Veneer. Despite John Dory and two of their brothers getting caught by Velvet and Veneer, Floyd nevertheless is very happy that his oldest sibling keeps his promise to him, as he is just delighted to be with their family again.
- Psychological Projection: Poppy spends the first half of the movie really hoping Branch can make up with his brothers, because she always wanted to have a sibling herself. Branch says sibling relationships are complicated, but Poppy disagrees since if she had a sister, they would never fight, always have each other's backs, think the same things and be practically twins, etc. So, she wants Branch to reunite with his brothers because she's projecting her own desire for a sibling onto him; Bridget even asks Poppy at the beginning, "Poppy, could we maybe unpack the sister thing ''after'' the vows?" Poppy learns her lesson later about how complicated sibling relationships can be when her long-lost sister Viva, despite being exactly the sort of sibling Poppy fantasized about, tries to prevent her from ever leaving again.
- Putting the Band Back Together: Having learned of Branch's boy band past, Poppy joins their mission to reassemble the band.
- Rage Breaking Point:
- John Dory has been keeping his cool around his brothers, even when Spruce and Clay dismiss him. However, when Spruce and Clay accused him of being bossy and uncaring, John Dory snaps back at his two brothers out of anger and hurt.
- Spruce has been holding back his anger towards John Dory until he gets upset with him for trying to get him and their brothers to be like their boy band images once more, which leads to them revealing the true reasons why they left the band and their younger brothers.
- Branch, though with Tranquil Fury, finally reaches his after finding out his brothers are planning on going their separate ways after rescuing Floyd, having enough of their fighting as well treating him like a baby and John Dory made a horrible joke about them being a family again.
- Rainbow Puke: After reacting to King Gristle's outfit, Cloud Guy upchucks rainbow-colored glitter.
- Really Gets Around: A G-rated example. During King Gristle Jr. and Bridget's wedding, the officiant remarks that "Falling in love is easy. We've all done it. I've done it a hundred times, thousands even if you count the semester I spent abroad."
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When his brothers plan on going their separate ways after they rescue Floyd, Branch gives an angry and heartbreaking one to them for their selfishness, always treating him like a baby, and never thought about taking his feelings into consideration, especially when he tells them that he had to fend for himself ever since their grandmother got eaten.Branch: You're mad at him, but you guys do the exact same thing to me! You all still treat me like the baby of the family, but guess what, I stopped being a baby the day you guys walked out on me. 'Cause I had too. Then Grandma got eaten and there was no one else to take care of me. This time, I'm walking out on you.
- Refusal of the Call:
- At first, Branch and Spruce refuse to help John Dory rescue Floyd, but change their minds out of concern for their brother's safety and are convinced to help their older sibling by those around them.
- When offer to come with her sister and Clay to help the group save Floyd, Viva declines out of fear of the outside world. However, upon realizing her mistake, Viva decides to help Clay and Poppy save Floyd.
- Remember the New Guy?:
- Apparently Branch has four older brothers that were apart of a famous boy band known as BroZone when he was a baby, despite that Branch was primarily raised by his grandmother before she was eaten.
- Poppy has an older sister, Viva who was lost in the escape from Bergen Town. Even trolls who might've been around by the time Viva was even an infant and then know as the first born princess, like Branch and his brothers, are surprised to learn of her existence.
- The Resenter: Spruce and Clay resent John Dory for how he treated them, as they accuse him of being bossy and not caring about them. However, after Branch calls them out for their behavior, Spruce and Clay not only realize that they were wrong about John Dory not caring about them but show remorse for how they treated him, as they realize that their older brother genuinely made an effort to be nice to them.
- Reverse Psychology: When John Dory and Spruce are about to do a practice song to prove that the latter was in a band, Branch at first refuses to participate. Poppy tells him that he's probably right that he can't do it; singing with his brothers after all these years would probably overwhelm him with emotions too powerful to handle, so Branch shouldn't do it. Branch scoffs, "I think I can handle singing a song" and agrees to perform.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: As Velvet and Veneer are driving on the roads to get away from Branch and Poppy, Velvet rhetorically asks the citizens of Mount Rageous, "You didn't think we were just going to give you a boring old stage show, did you?" But one citizen replies, "That's explicitly what I bought tickets for!" So, Velvet has to cover with "We're taking this show on the road!"
- Rhymes on a Dime: When BroZone breaks up and the brothers are going their separate ways, John Dory uses a lot of words with the "o" sound, "I'm going to hike the Never-glade Trail, by myself, bro-lone! Yeah, that's right! Bro, bro, going solo, YOLO!"
- Rich Bitch: Velvet and Veneer are a female and male example; they want to be famous, but don't want to actually work for it (despite their breakout song being about hard work), so they kidnap Trolls and magically drain the talent out of them, which also drains the life out of them as well.
- Road Trip Plot: John Dory, Branch, and Poppy have to drive to different locations picking up Spruce and Clay to use the Perfect Family Harmony to save Floyd.
- Same Plot Sequel: This film borrows some elements from the first film, as both films open with a flashback of a major character's past before the setting goes to the present day. The plot involves a rescue mission, as someone who is close to the main characters gets kidnapped, Poppy's friends in the first film and one of Branch's brothers in this film, but the rest of his siblings get captured later on in the film. Also, Poppy's kindness and positive influence plays a role in changing another Troll's life for the better, as her good influence changes the lives of Branch in the first film and John Dory in this film.
- Screaming at Squick: Upon seeing Spruce's daughter with pink eye, Branch, Poppy, John Dory and Tiny Diamond are horrified.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- John Dory, Spruce and Clay quit the band then leave, as they can't take the pressure of maintaining their boy band images and each other.
- Branch leaves his three older brothers when he can't take any more of their arguing and treating him like a baby.
- Self-Serving Memory: Played for Laughs. During the scene where Veneer shows apprehension over killing Floyd, Velvet asks he wants to give everything up and return to their Dark and Troubled Past before their rise to fame where they had nothing, leading to a flashback where they're shown as dirty street urchins begging for more food. Veneer then corrects her, pointing out that their parents were dentists and they grew up rich in the suburbs with everything they ever wanted, leading to a more accurate flashback where they're shown eating sugary cereal for dinner and Velvet gets all dramatic over the dad asking how their day was.
- Sequel Escalation: Inverted. The first Trolls film was about saving the entire village of Pop Trolls from being captured and eaten by the Bergens, and World Tour upped the ante by introducing other troll tribes and a villainous Rock Troll trying to take over the entire world. In contrast, Band Together has comparatively smaller stakes, and mainly revolves around Poppy and Branch going on a road trip to reunite his family and save his brother from an egotistical pop duo.
- Shared Life Energy: Branch, John Dory, Spruce and Clay unknowingly share their life essences with Floyd, which revives him from his Disney Death.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Smidge, Lesley, and Fuzzbert from the first two films and the other Troll tribes aside from Cooper's brother Prince D introduced in Trolls World Tour are absent in this film.
- Shout-Out:
- In the opening flashback, Floyd explains to Branch why BroZone is breaking up, while name-dropping several other boy bands in the process.
Floyd: We're not in sync. We've gone from boys to men, and now there's only one direction for us to go: the back streets.- This happens again at the very end of the film, after the brothers have reunited and are about to perform together for the Dance Party Ending.
Floyd: We may not be the New Kids on the Block anymore, but I'm loving this new edition of us.
Clay: You know, I'm really glad those ninety-eight degrees of separation are behind us.
John Dory: Just as long as we're together.
Spruce: (while eating) Hey, you guys gotta try this menudo.- Of course once a certain other boy band arrives on the scene:
Clay: "Now these guys know how to flex the drip!"
John Dory: "You are so in sync!"
Boom: "I don't get it"- Velvet's Imagine Spot of her and Veneer as children parodies Oliver Twist.
Young Veneer: Please, sir, I want some more.- After rescuing John Dory and Spruce from Veneer, Viva name drops both album and song title from Coldplay that has her name in it.
Viva: Viva la Vida baby. - Sibling Rivalry: Branch's three older brothers have a rivalry because of their inability to get along and not letting go of a petty disagreement.
- Sibling Team:
- Velvet and Veneer are a sibling duo until Veneer decides to stand up for himself and confess to his and Velvet's crimes in front of everyone.
- Poppy and Viva form a sibling team that can't be broken.
- Towards the end of the film, Branch and his brothers re-form their sibling team, as they intend to make it stronger than before.
- Single Sex Offspring: Branch is the youngest of four older brothers.
- Skewed Priorities:
- During John Dory's crashing of Bridget and Gristle's wedding, Gristle tries to have defuse the situation, because it's holding things up and they have a venue he doesn't wanna miss. Bridget, however, shushes her soon-to-be husband since she enjoys "very hot gossip."
- Veneer has second thoughts about the plan to drain the talent (and life) out of Floyd, but still won't go against the plan until the end of the movie because he's scared of his sister Velvet, and because he still enjoys all the fame, money, and things he was able to buy. Floyd scoffs that "dying sucks", but he's glad his death will at least serve the cause of Boho-chic home decorations for Veneer.
- Smile of Approval:
- John Dory and Branch approve of Spruce's marriage to Brandy.
- Spruce happily approves of letting John Dory persuade Tiny Diamond to press the hustle button in Rhonda.
- Floyd gives one to Veneer when he finally got the courage to stand up to Velvet and confess their crimes to everyone, which solidified their newly formed friendship. Even Branch and John Dory smile in approval of Floyd's newly form friendship with Veneer.
- So Proud of You:
- Throughout the film, Branch's brothers at different moments show pride in Branch for his maturity and various skills.
- John Dory and Spruce smile with delight in Clay, as they are so proud of him for prioritizing Floyd's safety over staying with Viva. They also briefly look at Clay with pleasure when he tells Velvet and Veneer that he has to repossess their yacht for tax evasion, although they are mostly satisfied that their brother is giving them well deserved payback for everything they put them and Floyd through.
- Sorry to Interrupt: King Gristle Jr. said this trope when he tries to get everyone to resume his and Bridget's wedding.
- Soup of Poverty: Parodied - when Veneer is expressing reservations about draining the talent out of trolls to fuel their popstar careers, Velvet asks, "Do you wanna lose all this and go back to the dark place where we had nothing?", followed by a flashback of Velvet and Veneer as small orphan children holding empty soup bowls and begging for more food. Then Veneer reminds his sister that they actually had a normal middle-class upbringing and their parents were dentists.
- Squee: Poppy and Viva shriek with joy when Branch invites them to join BroZone.
- Sphere Factor:
- Floyd try to escape from Velvet and Veneer by rolling his diamond prison around.
- Upon being rescue by Viva, Spruce wordlessly came up with the idea to use his and John Dory's diamond prison to trip Velvet so Branch and their friends can save Clay and Floyd from her, which his older brother goes along with.
- While doing the perfect family harmony, John Dory, Spruce and Clay move around in their diamond prison before being set free.
- Stag Party: Gristle had quite the bachelor party, as he and Cloud Guy are both exhausted and nauseous (likely hungover) the morning of the wedding.
- Stage Parent: Stage-siblings to be more precise
- Velvet uses mental and emotional abuse to control her brother and changed him to be just like her in order to become famous and keep Veneer from betraying her.
- John Dory had his brothers act the way he wants them and to push them to perfection in order to achieve the Perfect Harmony. Problem was he had no idea how much he was hurting his brothers.
- Still Got It: John Dory says that he and Spruce still got it after their performances on Vacay Island.John Dory: Yes! We still got it.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: After Viva is revealed to be Poppy's long-lost sister, Viva offers to make candy necklaces with Poppy "that we never finish because we eat all the candy." At the end of the movie, after Viva is reunited with her father Peppy, Peppy asks Viva if she wants to make candy necklaces with him "that we never finish because we eat all the candy.
- Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: Spruce turns away from the group when John Dory mentions the perfect family harmony, not interested in hearing what his older brother has to say. However, hearing through John Dory that Floyd is being held captive, Spruce stops and turns back to the groups direction in shock.
- Strong Family Resemblance:
- Branch and his brothers all look alike, as they have similar colors in their skin and noses.
- Branch and three of his brothers have blue eyes.
- John Dory and Clay both have green hair, but in different shades.
- Spruce, Floyd and Branch have some form of purple hair, except Floyd's hair is magenta and Branch's hair is periwinkle.
- John Dory, Spruce and Clay have their ears up.
- Branch and Floyd both have their ears down.
- Poppy and her sister Viva are very similar in skin and eye color.
- The Stinger: In a post-credits scene, Tiny tells Mr. Dinkles about the journey he had and would rather stick to being a child for a while. When he asks Dinkles how much money he owes him, the worm simply says he's out of network, much to Tiny's confusion.
- Stunned Silence:
- Branch is in stunned silence after John Dory unintentionally hurts his feelings.
- John Dory, Spruce and Clay are in stunned silence when they hear through Branch not only what happened to their grandmother, but how lonely their younger brother was growing up.
- Succubi and Incubi: Velvet is called a succubus in-story, but she's a G-rated version who drains talent rather than doing anything sexual. It's worth noting that, if "succubus" is indeed her species, then her species' ability to drain talent doesn't translate to their approval of doing so: police of her own species quickly arrest her once it becomes public knowledge that she'd kidnapped a troll and had been draining his talent.
- Suddenly Shouting:
- Poppy does this when she is mildly scolding Branch for not telling her about having a brother.
- Branch, when he tells John Dory that frosted trips were an era after telling Poppy about him and the rest of their brothers pulling the plug on a perm the latter had when he was younger.
- Clay shouts "Stop being so bossy" to John Dory when he tries to help them be better so they can save Floyd.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In the climax, Veneer has a Heel–Face Turn and publicly exposes his and Velvet's schemes. To his surprise, he's still arrested along with his sister, since having a change of heart doesn't change the fact that he still knowingly committed all those crimes. Thankfully, he's willing to acknowledge this point and is still a very good sport about being arrested.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Upon witnessing Velvet's treatment of Veneer and seeing the good within him, Floyd comes to show sympathy for him and decides to not only help him see through his mistakes, but to see how his sister treats him, by giving him some wise advice.
- Swapped Roles: While they are both the main characters, the last two movies were focused on Poppy with Branch supporting her. Because of the context of saving Floyd and bringing BroZone back together, Branch takes the lead while Poppy plays his support.
- Take That!:
- When he learns what Velvet and Veneer are doing - magically stealing Floyd's talent for themselves and slowly draining the life out of him - a horrified John Dory remarks that it's even more evil than lip-syncing.
- Floyd begs Velvet and Veneer to stop using his talent, he claims he only barely has enough left to do "a desperate Christmas album" or a one-off performance of the National Anthem.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine:
- Spruce and Clay's treatment of John Dory may have been payback for how he treated them, even though their older brother is aware of what he did and tries to make it up to them. However, Spruce and Clay's actions push John Dory back to his old ways and nearly drive their family apart again, which Branch calls them out on.
- Viva gives Poppy a dose of what it's like for other Trolls when she showers them with her relentless friendliness and peppy optimism.
- Branch gives his three older brothers a taste of walking out on him by doing the same thing to them when he gets upset with them for not only not taking his intentions of being a family again seriously, but for treating him like a baby and how no one was there to take care of him ever since their grandmother got eaten. Fortunately, Branch's actions does help John Dory, Spruce and Clay realize that walking out on those you love can really hurt them, as they now see the mistake they have made and feel terrible for abandoning their family.
- Tempting Fate: John Dory says at least he and his three younger brothers didn't fall, but end up falling anyway after a mishap in their concert.John Dory: Hey, at least we didn't fall. After falling, we fell.
- That Man Is Dead: Clay tells Poppy that his fun self is dead, after she request him to do the rusty robot dance for her.
- Tragic Keepsake:
- Branch's vest is revealed to be a gift given to him by Floyd when the band broke up.
- Turns out Poppy's hug-time bracelet was this as it belonged to her sister Viva, who was lost in the tunnels and Peppy found the bracelet soon after.
- Trailers Always Spoil:
- Poppy having a long-lost sister was spoiled by most of the movie's trailers.
- This promo for the film ended up spoiling the appearance of the *NSYNC trolls, and Branch being a member of the band.
- True Companions: Poppy and Tiny Diamond choosing to go with Branch and help him save Floyd by themselves shows how loyal they are to him.
- Turn the Other Cheek:
- Poppy and their friends don't hold a grudge against Viva for wanting to trap them at Hole N' Fun, as they get that Viva is just trying to protect them.
- Branch quickly accepts Clay's, who also apologizes on behalf of their brothers, apology for leaving him and missing out on seeing him grow up.
- Two Scenes, One Dialogue: Or in this case, Three Scenes, One Dialogue. While Poppy and Viva are getting to bond as sisters for the first time, Clay is also shown catching up with his brothers about how he and Viva created the carnival hideout. Meanwhile, back in Trolls Village, King Peppy is relaying his side of the story of how Viva and the others were separated to his therapist (Mr. Dinkles.) Clay tells them that they need to get Poppy and go before Viva finds out, right before Viva is shown telling Poppy that she isn't going to let her leave.
- The Unapologetic: John Dory, Spruce and Floyd don't apologize to Branch for leaving him and missing out on seeing him grow up, even though they feel bad for doing so. Fortunately, Clay apologizes to Branch on their behalf and for himself.
- Understanding Girlfriend: Poppy to Branch. She joins him in his quest to reunite his brothers and supports him. Even at his lowest point, Poppy still chooses to be with Branch because of her loyalty towards him.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Poppy shows how loyal she is to Branch by staying by his side and providing comfort when he needs it.
- Despite having issues with his brothers, Branch still decides to help and rescue them, which shows how loyal he is to his family.
- Unexpected Kindness:
- Although they believe that John Dory is going to boss them around when they reunite with him, Branch, Spruce and Clay seem a bit taken aback when their older brother makes an effort to be nice to them and has been nothing but kind to their friends.
- Veneer is genuinely surprised that Floyd gives him some advice and comforts him about how Velvet treats him.
- After listening to Poppy's advice about not asking Branch or any of his siblings about their feelings, John Dory realizes that his youngest brother defended him from Spruce and Clay, as he didn't have any of his brothers do that for him until Branch gave him the back-up he needed.
- Up, Up and Away!: Poppy and Viva are first seen flying together during the start of It Takes Two.
- Vertigo Effect: Played four times during the movie.
- Visual Pun: There is a marker drawing of a hot dog on Gristle's cheek following his bachelor party. In other words, someone drew a wiener on his face.
- Wham Line:
- When Poppy meets Viva, she's ecstatic at having a long-lost sister, especially since they think so much alike, have similar personalities, and have many of the same hobbies. However, when Poppy asks Viva to come along on the journey to Mount Rageous to rescue Branch's brother Floyd, Viva not only refuses, but:
Viva: Whoa, I am not going to Mount Rageous. And neither are you, silly! You're never going to leave again!- After being calmed down by Branch when he argues with Spruce and Clay, John Dory tells his and Branch's two brothers that their youngest sibling is right, that they need to think about Floyd. However, John Dory tells Spruce and Clay the sooner they and Branch can save Floyd, the sooner they could go their separate ways.
- When Branch and Poppy confront Velvet and Veneer to give the former’s brothers back, the latter calls them out for stealing their talent because they're talentless, leading to this:
Poppy: You're stealing BroZone's talent because you have none of your own, you big… Oh, you big…phonies! - What Have I Become?:
- Seeing Spruce and Clay not only being cold and unforgiving towards John Dory, but for treating him as the same bossy older sibling they remember, Branch realizes that he is slowly becoming just like them, which plays a part in helping him forgive his oldest brother for his actions.
- After Branch scolds them for their behavior, Spruce and Clay realizes that being dismissive of both their older and youngest brother is having them act like John Dory did to them when they were younger.
- Upon witnessing Viva not listening to Poppy and Velvet discard her own brother Veneer, John Dory realizes what he has become and decides to not only be a better listener, but a better older sibling for his family.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Poppy briefly calls Branch out for not opening up to her, as she tells him that he could have started by telling her about having a brother.
- Branch angrily scolds his three older brothers for their selfish behavior and for treating him like a baby. He didn't realize that he defended John Dory during his calling out towards them.
- Who Dares?: Viva in the clown mouth says to Branch, his brothers, Poppy and Tiny Diamond this:Viva (talking into the clown mouth): Who dares trespass these sacred grounds.
- Who Is Driving?: Branch, Poppy and John Dory are surprised to see Tiny Diamond is driving Rhonda, especially when no one is questioning who's driving Rhonda, as John Dory was in the back with Branch and Poppy.
- Wingding Eyes: Rhonda’s eyes become swirls when Tiny Diamond presses the Hustle button.
- Window Love:
- John Dory and Floyd touch hands through the latter's diamond prison before his oldest sibling leaves to find their brothers in order to rescue him.
- Seeing Branch for the first time as an adult, Floyd puts his hand in his diamond prison with the latter putting his hand close to his on the other side.
- You Never Asked: Poppy said this word for word when John Dory pointed out that he didn't realize that Branch cared about his brothers so much when he had a picture of his bunker.Poppy: This is Branch's bunker. He built it for you guys.John Dory: I didn't know.Poppy: I guessed you never asked.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Velvet throws her and Veneer's assistant Crimp into a cramped closet, after using her to make a pair of shoulder pads capable of draining the talent out of BroZone and believes that she is becoming too smart.
- You Would Do the Same for Me: Part of the reason that Branch and his three older brothers are willing to rescue Floyd is because he is not only family, but he would have done the same for them if it was the other way around, which turns out to be true when Floyd sacrifices himself to help his brothers achieve both the perfect family harmony and free his older siblings from their diamond prisons.
- You're Insane!: John Dory tells Velvet that she is sick after hearing her tell him and three of his brothers that she and Veneer are putting their talents to good use by stealing it from them.