This is the story of podcasters Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, and their quest to make a simple, yet seemingly impossible dream—being cast in their favorite film franchise—come true. It’s a story about how they used a podcast to make it happen. But above all, this is a story about trolls.

Yes: after a year of toiling away behind their microphones, the McElroy brothers have landed roles in the upcoming 2020 epic, Trolls World Tour—the sequel to 2016’s Trolls, which starred Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick. In fairness, the McElroys are not exactly no-names; they’re prolific, wildly popular podcasters who frequently tour with My Brother, My Brother and Me—an advice show in which the brothers field both personal questions from viewers and queries culled from Yahoo! Answers. The show has become notable for the McElroys’ wild, comic tangents and wealth of inside jokes. There’s also their graphic novel, The Adventure Zone, based on their podcast of the same name—which topped the New York Times’s trade-fiction best-seller list earlier this summer. The brothers’ mischievous rapport was on full display as the three chatted with V.F. about how, exactly, they parlayed their small media empire into a trio of Trolls roles.

But sadly, despite their résumé, the brothers have not been deemed important enough to voice actual trolls. Instead, their parts are a little more . . . creative: according to the brothers, they will be playing characters called Techno Beat Drop Button, Country Music Tear (as in, a teardrop that does country music), and Hard Rock Tear.

How did this happen? Well, it began the way you might expect: with edibles.

Or maybe it was Justin’s three-year-old daughter, who was obsessed with the movie Trolls. As he, Travis, and Griffin recounted in a recent phone interview, after learning that Universal had cast a handful of YouTube stars in the first film—and getting stoned in a hotel room—the brothers had a brilliant idea. They recorded the pilot for what would become a long-term project, a joke-y-but-sort-of-serious podcast all about getting themselves cast in Trolls World Tour. They’ve been documenting their progress—along with expert interviews with guests including Archer creator Adam Reed—since May 2017.

Happily for the McElroy brothers, they also had an ace in the hole. Their agent, Joel Begleiter, happened to have a contact at DreamWorks Animation, and was able to get them an interview about a month after their first episode. Unfortunately, Travis showed up 45 minutes late—wearing a T-shirt that said the word “piss” on it. “That was the exact moment that I was like, ‘Oh, we’re definitely not getting into this flick,” Justin said.

Somehow, though, they ended the meeting believing they had a chance: “In our incredible hubris, we decided, ‘Well, I guess we got in the movie, so there’s not much to document,’” explained Justin. “So we kinda got half-assed with it . . . Then, flash forward to 12 months after that, and absolutely nothing had happened! It was almost like they sort of soothed us into submission.”

So the brothers pressed on with a renewed sense of urgency—and eventually, their perseverance worked. In June, they were in San Francisco getting ready for a show, when their reps at CAA gave them a call: “They’re like, ‘Hey, we have to tell you guys something, and you should record it.’” They snuck into a dressing room, got the good news, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Why make it your mission to get cast in Trolls, of all franchises? Well, Justin estimates he’s watched the film upwards of 40 times. Travis has seen it 30 times himself. Griffin is a huge proponent of the Blu-ray’s “party mode,” which only plays the songs: “Kind of get your party off to a real Trolls-y start,” he explained. Yes, all three men have small children—but this is about more than simply falling asleep as their kids stare mesmerized at a screen. For the McElroys, Trolls has become a philosophy—a way of life.

Plus, the brothers’ quest means they’ve managed to secure roles in something their kids will actually care about. “It’s sort of like how Frank Sinatra did an appearance on this Soupy Sales show, and took a pie in the face, because his nieces and nephews thought it would be really cool for him to be on Soupy Sales,” Justin said. “Trying to impress children is extremely difficult. Trying to impress your own children is extremely challenging.”

That said, their mission is not totally complete yet. The McElroy brothers are currently engaged in phase two: doing everything they can to avoid being cut from the film. As Travis put it, “As of right now, we are set to be in Trolls 2—if we don’t fuck it up.” They believe that by drumming up publicity, they’ll secure their spots: “If we are cut from the film, we need a fucking riot,” Justin said. “It needs to be the biggest deal on Earth, if we were removed from the movie.”

Assuming no one mucks anything up, the third and final phase of their plan is, of course, an Oscar campaign. Just in case they’re somehow foiled by the Academy, I asked the McElroys whom they’d each like to thank from the podium.

“I’d like to thank my daughter for crying when she found out I wasn’t playing a troll in the movie—because that really helped to ground me,” Justin said.

Said Travis, “I just wanna thank myself for my support of myself, and all the hard work that I've done for me—and everything that I’ve done for Justin and Griffin to get them here. I’m just so grateful for everything I’ve done.”

And rather than issue a message of gratitude, Griffin chose instead to voice a concern: “I’m worried we’ve said a lot of fun things on this telephone call that, when they are printed, are gonna make us sound like complete knobs.”

This post has been updated.