Trollz (TV series)
Animated television series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trollz is an American children's animated television series produced by DIC Entertainment. The trolls were based on the troll doll created by Thomas Dam in the 1950s.[1] A single season was produced with a total of 27 episodes. A second season was planned, but was later cancelled.[2]
| Trollz | |
|---|---|
The main characters (left to right): Sapphire, Topaz, Amethyst, Ruby, and Onyx. | |
| Genre | Fantasy Comedy Action Adventure |
| Created by | Andy Heyward |
| Based on | Troll doll by Thomas Dam |
| Developed by | Eric Lewald John Loy |
| Directed by | Karen Hyden |
| Starring | Britt McKillip Chiara Zanni Alexandra Carter Leah Juel Anna Van Hooft Samuel Vincent Reece Thompson Jesse Moss Matt Hill |
| Theme music composer | Ron Wasserman |
| Opening theme | "It's a Hair Thing" by Valli Girls |
| Ending theme | "It's a Hair Thing" (Reprise) |
| Composers | Jean-Michel Guirao L.A. Piccirillo Ron Wasserman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Andy Heyward Michael Maliani |
| Running time | 21–22 minutes |
| Production companies | Studio DAM DIC Entertainment Corporation[a] Melusine Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndication (DIC Kids Network) |
| Release | October 3 – November 8, 2005 |
Premise
The show centers the adventures of five teenaged female trolls (with gems on their belly buttons), who call themselves the Best Friends For Life, who use magic every day to help them with their everyday life as well as battling whatever magical creatures and issues they may find themselves up against in their everyday lives.
Characters
Main
The main characters in the series are collectively known as the "Best Friends For Life".
- Amethyst van der Troll (voiced by Britt McKillip): She is the leader of the BFFL. She is a young and naive girl who loves her friends and would do anything for them. Amethyst is also considerate and gives good advice to her friends. Her gem is a pinkish-purple heart.
- Ruby Trollman (voiced by Chiara Zanni): She is the bossy girl and second-in-command of the BFFL, and, as such, is really pushy and passionately cares about her looks. If she really wants something, she will do anything to get it. Her gem is a red star.
- Sapphire Trollzawa (voiced by Alexandra Carter): She is the smartest girl of the BFFL. When the friends have slumber parties, Sapphire just wants to study. Her gem is a blue flower.
- Topaz Trollhopper (voiced by Leah Juel): She is a troll who is a bit of an airhead with a big heart. She loves shopping, is a fashion expert. Her gem is a yellow diamond.
- Onyx Von Trollenberg (voiced by Anna Van Hooft): She is a goth girl and has a liking for poetry. She acts aloof but she cares deeply about her friends. She may not be the toughest member of the BFFL, but she is confirmed as the heart of the BFFL. Her gem is a purplish-black moon.
Villains
- Simon (voiced by Reece Thompson): Simon is a gremlin and the main antagonist of the series. His primary goal is to take over Trollzopolis and get revenge against the Best Friends For Life.
- Snarf (voiced by Janyse Jaud): A dog-like creature and Simon's loyal henchman who sticks by his side despite enduring endless abuse. He is able to change from a cute-looking puppy to a larger bestial form at will.
Supporting
Boys
- Coal Trollwell (voiced by Jesse Moss): Coal is Amethyst's boyfriend. He is a very clumsy troll who often gets into trouble.
- Rock Trollhammer (voiced by Matt Hill): Rock is a muscular troll and Ruby's boyfriend. He is very dimwitted and forgetful.
- Alabaster Trollington III (voiced by Samuel Vincent): Alabaster is a mild-mannered troll and Sapphire's boyfriend. He is a multi-millionaire whose father owns many of the companies in Trollzopolis.
- Jasper Trollhound (voiced by Armen Weitzman): Jasper is Topaz's boyfriend. He accidentally lost his hair to a spell cast by Amethyst, but becomes used to his new appearance and comes to not mind.
- Flint Trollentino (voiced by Mike Antonakos): Flint is Onyx's boyfriend. He is in a rock band, and loves writing poetry.
Ancients
- Grandma Van Der Troll: Amethyst's grandmother.
- Obsidian: The owner of Obsidian's Spell Shop.
- Mr. Slate Trollheimer (voiced by Jason Connery): The girls' teacher.
- Zirconia (voiced by Jane Mortifee): Spinell's wife. She was transformed into a tree by Simon 3,000 years prior before being restored to normal in the present.
- Spinell: Zirconia's husband. 3,000 years prior, he was transformed into a dragon by Simon and forced to serve him. In the present day, Spinell is restored to normal.
Rivals
- Coral Trollarwise (voiced by Ashleigh Ball): Coral is the senior captain of the cheerleaders. She is in constant rivalry with Ruby, usually for a cute boy's attention. Her gem is a maroon ace of spades.
- Opal Trollangel: Opal is Coral's friend. She has light pink hair and an oval gem.
- Jade Trollcroft: Jade is Coral's friend. She has spiky lime green hair and a diamond gem.
Other
- Kaboom: A dim-witted but friendly volunteer at Obsidian's shop who tends to be the subject of spell experiments.
Additional voices
- Mike Antonakos
- Ashleigh Ball
- Molly Bolt
- Maria Dimon
- Ben Einstein
- Brian George
- Michael Heyward
- Matt Hill
- Janyse Jaud
- Ellen Kennedy
- Connor Lee McGuire
- Vincent Maliani
- Blu Mankuma
- Christine Moore
- Jane Mortifee
- Jesse Moss
- Richard Newman
- Christina Pazsitzky
- Alan Young
- Ellie Stenehjem
- Alexandra Thompoulos
- Reece Thompson
- Lee Tockar
- Stevie Vallance
- Samuel Vincent
- Lizzy Walker
- Janet Wells
- Dale Wilson
Episodes
| Episode No. | Episode Title | Written by | Air Date | Description | Story Arc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best Friends for Life | Eric Lewald John Loy |
October 3, 2005 | Amethyst returns from a summer away to find that she can now cast spells. When crew "leader" Ruby is upstaged by Amethyst, she gets angry and gives Amethyst the boot from the group. The remaining BFFL take it upon themselves to scare the feuding friends back together by transforming Topaz into an ogre. | Best Friends for Life |
| 2 | Five Spells Trouble | John Loy | October 4, 2005 | When the five Trollz try casting a spell together to make Coal less of a klutz, they accidentally freeze Coal in ice and cause an earthquake to hit Trollzopolis. The girls meet the mysterious Obsidian, who introduces them to the lore of the Trolls. Obsidian takes them to the Ancient World, where the girls overcome obstacles and set things right in the world above. | |
| 3 | First Day of School | Carter Crocker | October 5, 2005 | In an effort to solve their own problems, without asking for assistance, the girls perform a spell that has disastrous results! Evil Snarf is released from the Ancient World and the girls do not know how to return him. Mr. Slate and wise Obsidian come to their aid just in time to save the crew from Snarf. | |
| 4 | Onyx's Gem | Cliff MacGillivray Kelly Ward |
October 6, 2005 | The BFFL girls discover that their Gems are dimming. A quick fix they try is revealed to be a trick by Snarf, who lures them into the Shadow World to free his master Simon. Only by working together can the girls escape Simon and bring the glow back to their gems. | The Magic of the Five |
| 5 | Topaz Possessed | Len Uhley | October 7, 2005 | Simon takes advantage of Topaz's weak will and possesses her body. | |
| 6 | The Big Test | Sean Roche | October 10, 2005 | The girls try to use a list of chemistry ingredients to send Simon back to the Shadow World. | |
| 7 | Troll Fast, Troll Furious | Paul Diamond | October 11, 2005 | Sapphire falls for a skootz-racing senior, who is using her to build a superskoot. | Hair Over Heels |
| 8 | The Great Race | Jim Fisher Jim Staahl |
October 12, 2005 | Mica returns and challenges Onyx to a skootz race rematch. | |
| 9 | Into the Woodz | Jan Strnad | October 13, 2005 | The BFFL fight past mud monsters and stone ogres in the Haunted Woodz. | |
| 10 | The Dating Game | Martha Moran | October 14, 2005 | Topaz wants to use spells to change herself but accidentally turns Jasper into a sneaky geek. | You Glow Girls |
| 11 | Mirror, Mirror | Michael Edens | October 17, 2005 | Sapphire buys a magic mirror pendant, which elevates her ego. | |
| 12 | Ruby's Rules of Partying | Phil Harnage (story) Brian Swenlin (script) |
October 18, 2005 | Disguised as a cute troll, Snarf makes a guest appearance at Jasper's party. | |
| 13 | Forever Amber | Carter Crocker | October 19, 2005 | Ruby loses an ancient ring that belonged to Amethyst's grandma. | A Hair A-Faire |
| 14 | Not-So-Good Old Days | Sean Roche | October 20, 2005 | Simon casts Trollzopolis back into the Middle Ages. | |
| 15 | Simply Simon | Brooks Wachtel | October 21, 2005 | The girls come upon a way to sneak into King Simon's castle to stop Simon from sucking the magic out of Olde Worlde Trollzopolis. | |
| 16 | The Tree and the Dragon | Cliff MacGillvray Kelly Ward |
October 24, 2005 | Onyx and Topaz go on a midnight mission to unmask the mysterious missing Ancients. | Spellbound |
| 17 | Homecoming | Jay Abramowitz | October 25, 2005 | Simon almost ruins homecoming. | |
| 18 | A Dragon's Tale | John Ludin (story) John Loy (script) |
October 26, 2005 | Onyx returns to the Haunted Woodz, where she falls into Simon's hands and is transformed into a tree. | |
| 19 | Field Trip | Len Uhley | October 27, 2005 | Rock's jealousy of the girls' magic starts a foolish fight that strands the Trollz in the woods. | Boys Spell Trouble |
| 20 | The Day the Magic Died | Michael Edens | October 28, 2005 | The guys sneak into the Amber Caves to acquire magic amber for themselves, but it is a trap set by Simon. | |
| 21 | Bringing Back the Magic | Richard Stanley | October 31, 2005 | The Trollz must replace the Sacred Altar in order to restore their lost magic. | |
| 22 | New Girl in Town | Carter Crocker | November 1, 2005 | There's a new girl on the block who tries to break up friendships. | Fuzzy Logic |
| 23 | When Good Girlz Go Bad | Carlos Aragon | November 2, 2005 | Ruby wants to know why the Trollz are behaving so badly. | |
| 24 | Boyz and Girlz Together | Don Gillies | November 3, 2005 | Ruby travels to Simon's home to defeat him. | |
| 25 | Where the Trollz Are | Craig Miller | November 4, 2005 | Simon follows the Trollz to a tropical island. | Surfin' BFFL |
| 26 | Surf Monster a Go Go | John Loy | November 7, 2005 | Sapphire has to confront her fears. | |
| 27 | Krakatrolla Needs Some Java | Julia Lewald | November 8, 2005 | The girls lose control of their tempers, causing Mt. Krakatrolla to erupt. |
Development and merchandising
During development of the property, DIC announced that the series would mostly see "tech"-related products to match the theme of the show.[3] Fifty-two episodes were originally planned for the series.[4]
In November 2004, DIC appointed BBC Worldwide as the UK license holder for the property.[5][6]
Broadcast
United States
The "Best Friends for Life" movie originally premiered on Disney Channel on August 27, 2005 (later reairing on Toon Disney in the next month)[7] and then began its regular series run on the syndicated DIC Kids Network E/I block in 2005. [citation needed] The series would later re-air on the Cookie Jar TV block on CBS.[citation needed]
As of 2022, the series is currently streaming on Tubi.[citation needed]
International
On October 8, 2004, DIC announced that CBBC and TF1 acquired broadcast rights to the series in the United Kingdom and France, respectively, and that the BBC and TF1 Groupe would also serve as the local consumer products agents for the property.[8]
On June 6, 2005, Nickelodeon acquired the exclusive cable, satellite and pay TV rights to the series in sixty-nine territories. The series aired on Nickelodeon channels in countries such as Spain, Holland, Belgium, Scandivania (including Denmark) Israel, Latin America, Asian territories (including Japan), India, Australia and New Zealand.[9] On the same day, it was announced that free-TV rights had been picked up by Mediaset (Italy), RTVE (Spain), RTL Club (Belgium), Alter Channel (Greece), Televisa (Mexico), Saran (Turkey), RTÉ (Ireland), TVI (Poland) and TVNZ (New Zealand).
In Canada, YTV aired the "Best Friends for Life" movie on September 4, 2005, but they did not air any other episodes.
In Ireland, the series aired on RTÉ Two from 28 September 2005 to 2006.[10]
In the UK, the series would re-air on Pop Girl.
Home video and streaming
On July 28, 2004, DIC announced they had signed a deal with Warner Home Video for the series in North America, where the episodes would all be combined into nine feature-length movies.[11] On September 21, 2005, DIC announced that the deal with Warner Home Video would be extended to all major territories across the world under a five-year deal, except for the United Kingdom, France, and Portugal.,[12] where the series would be released by BBC DVD, TF1 Video and LNK respectively.
These story-arc versions of the Trollz episodes would later see a release on Netflix, including the rest of the scrapped ones.
North America
The first two releases - "Best Friends for Life - The Movie" and "The Magic of the Five", were released in North America on September 6, 2005.[13] Each movie combined the story arcs of Episodes 1-3 and 4-6 respectively in a feature-length format, with additional footage not seen on the TV airings and replaced by "Spell Moments".
Two additional releases - "Hair Over Heels - The Movie" and "You Glow Girls - The Movie", which would combine the arcs of Episodes 7-9 and 10-12 respectively, were planned for a Spring 2006 release but no such release occurred.
On August 8, 2007, NCircle Entertainment, who already held a then-new home video with DIC, announced they had obtained the rights to release Trollz DVDs and announced they would reissue "Best Friends for Life - The Movie" and "The Magic of the Five - The Movie" on August 14, 2007.[14] In December 2007, the previously-canceled third DVD release - "Hair Over Heels - The Movie" was finally released. NCircle then announced they would release "Hair Over Heels - The Movie" and "A Hair A-Fair - The Movie" in June 2008, the latter containing the story arcs of episodes 13-15, but both DVDs were never released.
International
Warner Home Video released "Best Friends for Life - The Movie" and "The Magic of the Five - The Movie" across the world in various regions beginning in 2006.
On February 6, 2006, BBC DVD released "Best Friends for Life - The Movie" on DVD.[6]
In France TF1 Video, released "La Magie des Cinq" in October 2009 through their TFOU Video label, which contained both "Best Friends for Life" and "The Magic of the Five" on one disc. The company IDP later released a 5-disc boxset containing all 27 episodes in November 2015.[15]
Lawsuit
On October 25, 2007, it was announced that DIC was filing a $20 million lawsuit against DAM, certifying that they had alleged claims of fraud in the inducement and negligent misrepresentation of the Trollz property and their licensing deal with the original troll dolls. DIC also claimed that DAM had failed to halt sales of counterfeit Troll Dolls appearing in the market.[16] DAM counter-sued DIC a week later, claiming that DIC Entertainment financially misrepresented its ability to create and market a modern troll doll toy campaign and destroyed the image and goodwill of the doll.[17]