Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick and Moderator Chris Hardwick stirred a “happiness epidemic” during the “Trolls” movie panel (Dreamworks Animation) at Comic-Con 2016 this weekend in San Diego, California. After Chris made Justin “feel awkward,” they demonstrated “hug time” for what seemed like a very long seven seconds to make him feel better.
In this animated film, Anna does the voiceover for a happy troll named “Poppy” who joins unlikely forces to save the day with Justin, who plays the unhappy troll named “Branch.” You can watch all the fun panel banter in our VIDEO: Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick hug time at Comic-Con 2016 Trolls Panel.
Director Mike Mitchell and co-director Walt Dohrn kicked off the panel by giving an overview of this Dreamworks Animation film. Mike focused on the feelings; “There are two characters in this world. One is the trolls. They’re happy all the time. They sing songs about singing … And then there’s another tribe of characters called the Bergens. These people are really depressed and they’re down … They’re searching for happiness.”
Along with being a star in the film, Justin explained that he was excited to “help craft the music with the story.” With a big grin, he added, “It was just a dream come true.” Moderator Chris Hardwick then congratulated Justin for his movie theme song; “Can’t Stop That Feeling” hitting 126 million views on YouTube (now over 133 million)! Doesn’t this sound like an “Oscar Nomination” for Best Song in the making?
When initially asked to play the always, happy character “Poppy,” Anna Kendrick acknowledged that her first thought was, “I think you’ve got the wrong girl.” Anna then added with a big smile, “We wanted to make her really happy, but not like the kind of thing you couldn’t stand for a 90-minute movie … She’s got layers. She’s messed up. It’s the kind of tiny troll that I like.”
Justin and Anna then confessed that they both rushed to watch the footage after doing the voiceover scenes because they loved the movie so much. Justin added, “I think it says a lot about this epidemic of happiness that this movie can spread.”
The panel then took a selfie with the 6,500+ fans in Hall H wearing a rainbow of troll wigs that were handed out to everyone at the door. Look for this “Best Animated Film” Oscar contender in theaters this November 4, 2016, and follow our Comic-Con coverage @LizHKelly.