“The movie about Troll dolls has been shelved and will be forgotten about by everyone for all of eternity.” That’s what I would be saying if the world were not a place where Hell was allowed to exist. But all it takes is a quick glance at newspapers or the local news to see the naivety behind that. And so, the film has taken its biggest leap forward in gaining creative guidance, which is my way of saying that the film has a director and a screenwriter. Hoora…(cough cough).
DreamWorks Animation (via Coming Soon) has announced Mike Mitchell signed on as director for Trolls, while Emmy Award-winner Erica Rivinoja will write the screenplay. Not only is this an instance where the writer completely outshines the director, but if it wouldn’t be for the lame duck spoof flick Extreme Movie, even her worst work is of a relative higher quality than Mitchell’s best work.
Mitchell’s directorial debut was 1999’s class act Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, and he then moved up to directing diminishing return sequels Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked andShrek Forever After. His shining light was probably 2005’s superhero family film Sky High.
Rivinoja, meanwhile, won two Emmys for her work on the staff of South Park, and she’s also written for sitcoms such as Grounded for Life and most recently Up All Night. She gets geek cred for being a writer on MTV’s animated sitcom Clone High. She actually got her start writing for several MTV Movie Awards.
"Mike's pedigree in shaping stories with already beloved characters is second to none,” said DreamWorks Animation Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke, “and Erica's amazing sense of comedy will introduce the Trolls to a new generation of fans while keeping the spirit and appeal audiences have loved for years." We wish his optimism was contagious.
Twentieth Century Fox will be releasing Trolls on November 4, 2016.
