Trolls Band Together (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
In my day job as a preschool teacher, Trolls and the music of Trolls has played a large part of my student’s classroom life. They love the music and talk about the characters a lot. I have never beyond the music seen or know anything about the Trolls universe. So I took the plunge, and started with this, Trolls Band Together, the third of the series. It’s hard to believe that the films are now a trilogy, but obviously Universal and Dreamworks are doing something right! Read more below and make sure to click the cover art below for the paid Amazon link to order a copy of this disc!
Film 
“As Poppy (Anna Kendrick) grows closer to her now boyfriend Branch (Justin Timberlake), she discovers his secret past as a member of her favorite boyband, BroZone, with his four estranged brothers. When Branch’s bro Floyd is kidnapped for his musical talents by a pair of nefarious popstars, Branch and Poppy embark on an action-packed journey to reunite the other brothers and rescue Floyd. Along the way Poppy uncovers a family secret of her own, a long-lost sister named Viva (Camila Cabello).”
As you can see, the Trolls keep marching on! The pair of Branch and Poppy are now a couple, and the film opens with a flashback to BroZone, which Branch was once a part of. At first, Branch attempts to deny his involvement with the group, and we learn that the brothers had a falling out and haven’t been in touch. As Branch attempts to find his kidnapped brother, he somehow gets the boyband together and more past details are revealed as we venture on through Bergen Town, Mount Rageous and the colony of the Pop Trolls.
This sounds sort of complicated when you write it down, but, in truth, the simplicity of things is what drives this newest Trolls entry. We meet some new characters, voiced by pop stars Camilla Cabello and Troye Sivan, and we learn some new things about Branch and his brothers (voiced by N’Sync members). The story plays out in a routine fashion and that’s perfect for children’s attention spans. Adults may not have the same reaction, but the animators and studio clearly can tell who the target audience is.
The other side of the coin for the adults though is the animation and the music. Visually, Trolls Band Together is a candy-coated dream. The characters are all varied and colorful and vibrant. The voice actors are all game for their characters and the songs are often catchy, with the mashups of the past entries continuing here with earworm songs from the past mixing in with new material. You’d be hard pressed to dismiss the music if you like any popular music from the 80’s to 2024…
Video:
NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use and are not from the actual 4K disc.
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 2160p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Layers: BD-100
Clarity/Detail: Trolls Band Together was of course digitally captured and animated. There is no loss of clarity anywhere and detail is sharp, consistent, and exactly what 4K enthusiasts look for: Crisp, clean and exceptional.
Depth: As we travel through the many worlds of the trolls, we see wonderful depth no matter where we venture. The mountains, the villages, and the homes of each troll variant all benefit in this department. You’d have to be blind not to see the phenomenal amount of work done by the animators here.
Black Levels: Dolby Vision makes for an incredible black presentation. No crushing is evident and when things do go dark, we still have plenty to take in visually.
Color Reproduction: Colors are the name of the game with this transfer. Things look as if they were passed through a vibrancy test. You won’t find anything looking dull here, and the primaries are just as gorgeous as the pastels or variants on primaries. The color palette of the film is staggering, and this disc gets the job done.
Flesh Tones: N/A
Noise/Artifacts: None.
Audio:
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, French (Canadian) Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Details: Dolby Atmos really puts you in the world of the trolls. The sound field is typically one that needs the use of surrounds. Crowd noise, movements like panning and low end from the subwoofer all put in equal work in the rear and bass channels. This is not a flat release at all and could be used as a reference to show the unknowing the wonders of an Atmos mix.
Height: The height channels work to propel you into the adventure and the music sequences. The mix sounded dynamic to my ears, and this was best evident in the BroZone sequence and the opening musical sequence with the mashup song before the wedding. We only wish all Atmos mixes were this dynamic.
Low-Frequency Extension: Music and appropriate sound effects truly pack a punch and dig deep. The floors will rattle when these candied pop bops play at home!
Surround Sound Presentation: Just as the height channels were dynamic, the surrounds also carry the weight in the lower channels. Busy, bright, and immersive!
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is loud and clear throughout.
Extras
Features for Trolls Band Together fit in the typical mode for a Universal animated feature. This is a musical, so of course there is a Sing-Along Edition offered. This is like in-home karaoke, and fun for those who like to sing. Beyond that, a slipcover, digital code and bundled Blu-ray come along with these features:
- Audio Commentary: Producer Gina Shay, Co-Director Tim Heitz, Head of Story Colin Jack, Production Designer Ruben Perez Reynoso, and Visual Effects Supervisor Marc J. Scott
- It Takes Three (Short): 4K, 4 Min. approx.
- Deleted Scenes with intro from Head of Story Colin Jack: 4K, 5 Min. approx.
- Behind The Scenes & How To:
- Fun in the Recording Booth: 4 Min. approx.
- Hi, Hi, Hi: 3 Min.
- Building The Band: 12 Min.
- Together Again: 2 Min.
- Animating Trolls: 4 Min.
- How To Draw: 23 Min. approx. (This featurette is a tutorial!)
- How To: Hug Time Bracelets: 2 Min.
The How-To features are highlights for me. Your kids will love them. It’s also always a blast to see voice actors really getting into their readings so that is also a big gem here. The rest of the features fill the bill, and add some depth to the film that helps make it more fun for the viewer.
Summary
Do I think Trolls Band Together is a masterpiece? No. Do I think the technical merits of this 4K UHD Blu-ray edition are solid? Beyond that. The release is gorgeous visually and powerful in the sound department. You’d be silly to pass on this one if you have children or you yourself are a big kid at heart. Worth checking out for sure!
