Netflix Removes 'Trolls,' the 2016 Animated Film That Launched a Music Phenomenon

Netflix has quietly removed Trolls, the hit 2016 animated film that launched a massive media franchise.

Trolls starred Justin Timberlake - who also served as the film's executive music producer, per IMDb - alongside Anna Kendrick. Kendrick plays Poppy, the happiest troll alive, while Timberlake plays Branch, the troll equivalent of Oscar the Grouch. Poppy and Branch go on a journey to rescue Poppy's friends from the evil Bergens.

Over the course of their journey, Poppy helps Branch rediscover his happiness, evocative of the manic pixie dream girl trope that in the 2010s was synonymous with Zooey Deschanel - who also happens to lend her voice to Trolls.

Trolls also launched Timberlake's hit song "Can't Stop the Feeling," which quickly went to No. 1. In fact, it tied Adele's "Hello" for the fastest rise to the top of Billboard's Adult Pop Songs chart. It also broke a record when it reached No. 1 on the Pop Songs chart, and Timberlake became the male artist with the most No. 1s.

To make "Can't Stop the Feeling," Timberlake reunited with an old collaborator from his 'NSync days: Swedish songwriter Max Martin. They also collaborated on the film's opening song "Hair Up" and Timberlake's duet with Gwen Stefani, "What U Workin' With?"

"Doing music and doing film, I've always said it would be amazing to do the music in a film," Timberlake told the Los Angeles Times.

Despite Timberlake's success as a global pop superstar, he was nervous about making the music for Trolls - specifically "Can't Stop the Feeling," which was to be the film's memorable closing number.

"I'd never written a song under that type of pretense, where it's specific to the scene," Timberlake said, "and yet I also wanted it to be a song that could live by itself."

Timberlake succeeded, creating one of the biggest hit songs of the last decade.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 2:34 PM.