It’s that time of year again when parents are dragged kicking and screaming (well, silently anyway) to cinemas to watch the latest kiddie movie with their brood. Well, thankfully this year’s holiday season offering of Trolls is one both kids and adults can feel satisfyingly happy about.

While the little ones will undoubtedly be over the moon with the spectacular splash of colours on screen (these Trolls are a colourful lot), adults will enjoy the soundtrack that borrows from popular ballads of the 80s, given an updated version with the exception of a few new songs.

The storyline is simple enough – after all, the movie is catering to a young audience. The Trolls, who are over-the-top happy minute creatures with ridiculously cute, gravity-defying hairdos are in danger of being eaten alive by the ogre-like monsters called Bergens.

Bergens are naturally sad and despondent monsters, who have found that the only means to a somewhat happy life lies in eating a happiness-filled Troll. So the Trollstice was invented, a special time of the year when Troll-hunting went on full swing.

Having lost many loved ones to past Troll-fests, King Peppy (Jeffrey Tambor) leads his kingdom of Trolls to safety but perishes himself in the escape, leaving his beloved daughter Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrik) to watch over his subjects.

Poppy is pink, loveable and sings every chance she gets, at least when she’s not updating her endless string of scrapbooks. Under her watch, the Trolls live a happy existence for 20 years, hugging each other at every opportunity and breaking out into song and dance, safely tucked away in a forest far from the evil Bergens.

The only wet blanket among them is Branch (Justin Timberlake) – a grey, pessimistic, constantly frowning Troll, too scarred by a past experience to ever believe he is safe from the clutches of the Bergens.

And he is right. After a spectacularly loud bash that Poppy hosts on night, complete with colourful fireworks blasting in the air, one particularly nasty Bergen, a chef (Christine Baranski), spots the Trolls and pounces on the party, kidnapping a handful to offer her despondent Crown Prince Gristle Jr (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), whose only dream is to eat a Troll and experience happiness for once in his life.

Therein begins the real adventure as Poppy and Branch (who was vehemently against the loud party from the start) gather their courage and try to make it into Bergen-land to save their friends from the upcoming Trollstice feast.

There are loads of excitement and danger in store for the duo – great escapes, harrowing journeys down impossibly long and narrow tunnels, and a wide array of funny characters they meet along the way.

Of course there’s the relationship between the preposterously happy Poppy and down-in-the-dumps Branch that ends in both undergoing a character change of sorts with Poppy learning that life can be sad and dangerous at times and Branch, that love and happiness is possible.

The ultimate message in the movie is that happiness cannot be manufactured, or purchased or in the case of the Bergens, eaten. Happiness comes from within, as Poppy shows the Crown Prince and his new love interest, a scullery maid named Bridget (Zooey Deschanel), who works at the palace.

While the story by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, is predictable, to an adult anyway, it will thrill many a kid, for the characters of Poppy, Branch and their friends are endearing. The felt-like appearance of the 3D computer-animated Trolls is also something not seen before on screen and in that respect is memorable.

If you’re looking to be deeply satisfied from watching the Trolls, you will leave disappointed. Best to go with an open mind (it’s an animated movie after all), enjoy the soundtrack and let the kiddies squeal with glee at the antics on screen.

Timberlake’s Can’t Stop The Feeling as the movie wraps up, does make it all worthwhile and will leave you feeling wondrously happy in the end.

Trolls, a DreamWorks Animation production, is brought by 20th Century Fox and is playing in cinemas now.

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