Following acclaimed stop-motion studio Laika's success with Coraline and ParaNorman, their next feature film was a loose adaptation of Alan Snow's children's novel, Here Be Monsters! Released in September 2014 as The Boxtrolls, the film was released to moderately positive reviews and decent financial returns, on top of being nominated at the Oscars and Golden Globes for Best Animated Feature. As of today, the film is regarded as one of the studio's weaker efforts compared to their otherwise strong filmography, which can be understood as its narrative needed a better focus than what we got.
Set in the fictional European village of Cheesebridge, the trash-collecting Boxtrolls raise a human boy named Eggs. However, the villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher seeks to kill all Boxtrolls in exchange for royal membership and cheese tasting, so Eggs must protect the creatures at all costs. With the established fantasy world of the Boxtrolls compared to the cheese obsessed town up above, the themes of prejudice towards lowly creatures is well set in stone, especially with how cheese tasting and hat wearing matter more than anything else. Unfortunately, the biggest downside of the feature lies in its story focusing primarily on Eggs as a Tarzan inspired human rather than the titular Boxtrolls themselves. Outside of his origin story and the clever ways the animators and Isaac Hempstead Wright delivered his mannerisms, Eggs is nothing more than a generic fish out of water that moves the story in a predictable fashion. Even with the aid of Cheesebridge's Lord Portley-Rind's fed up daughter by his side, we can already sense how the film will play out.
However, had the film focused more on the aforementioned Archibald Snatcher, then it might have actually worked out better. Although Snatcher's goals of exterminating the Boxtrolls are fairly basic, his genuine determination to sit amongst the Cheesebridge hierarchy stands out with raw passion and sadness. Despite him being fatally allergic to cheese, his entire motivation is built around sitting in a place he will never achieve. Since the people of Cheesebridge are obsessed with cheese to the point of being utterly foolish, including the simple minded Lord Portley-Rind, Snatcher's perception of the otherwise peaceful Boxtrolls make sense in their worlds, outside of Snatcher's questioning henchmen Mr. Pickles and Trout. So much development went into Snatcher as a character, including Ben Kingsley's award winning performance, that one wonders why the battle of good and evil was not centered primarily around him and the Boxtrolls themselves. In other words, had the filmmakers just ditched Eggs all together, then they'd probably have a more engaging story.
Like Snatcher himself, the artists at Laika honed their craft by bringing both Cheesebridge and the Boxtrolls' method of functioning to life. Compared to the 19th century European aesthetic throughout Cheesebridge, the underground burrows where the Boxtrolls reside operates as somewhat of a mechanical world based on their love of inventions. The amount of detail put into the machinery and engineering equipment cannot be understated, as one can see all the blood, sweat and tears composited together from a studio that goes beyond stop-motion's own limitations. As for the characters, next to Mike Smith's appropriately grotesque design work, the animators showcased a lot of fine motion, expressions and acting that already came from the likes of Wright, Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Dee Bradley Baker, Richard Ayoade and many more. It also helps that a lot of experimental computer generated work and traditional animation were used to plus certain sequences, with many standouts showcasing Snatcher. Not often has a world this gross looked this appealing.
It's easy to see why The Boxtrolls is often regarded as the weaker entry in Laika's roster. While it does offer a lot of highly imaginative world-building and a sympathetically memorable villain, it is otherwise bogged down by a predictably weak story and the wrong lead character focus. Despite its narrative shortcomings, its creativity might appeal to die hard Laika fanatics and curious family audiences, so it wouldn't hurt at least one viewing. After all, with creatures like these who are so deeply misunderstood, there's much to unravel in a world featuring odd specimens like those peculiar trolls.
Set in the fictional European village of Cheesebridge, the trash-collecting Boxtrolls raise a human boy named Eggs. However, the villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher seeks to kill all Boxtrolls in exchange for royal membership and cheese tasting, so Eggs must protect the creatures at all costs. With the established fantasy world of the Boxtrolls compared to the cheese obsessed town up above, the themes of prejudice towards lowly creatures is well set in stone, especially with how cheese tasting and hat wearing matter more than anything else. Unfortunately, the biggest downside of the feature lies in its story focusing primarily on Eggs as a Tarzan inspired human rather than the titular Boxtrolls themselves. Outside of his origin story and the clever ways the animators and Isaac Hempstead Wright delivered his mannerisms, Eggs is nothing more than a generic fish out of water that moves the story in a predictable fashion. Even with the aid of Cheesebridge's Lord Portley-Rind's fed up daughter by his side, we can already sense how the film will play out.
However, had the film focused more on the aforementioned Archibald Snatcher, then it might have actually worked out better. Although Snatcher's goals of exterminating the Boxtrolls are fairly basic, his genuine determination to sit amongst the Cheesebridge hierarchy stands out with raw passion and sadness. Despite him being fatally allergic to cheese, his entire motivation is built around sitting in a place he will never achieve. Since the people of Cheesebridge are obsessed with cheese to the point of being utterly foolish, including the simple minded Lord Portley-Rind, Snatcher's perception of the otherwise peaceful Boxtrolls make sense in their worlds, outside of Snatcher's questioning henchmen Mr. Pickles and Trout. So much development went into Snatcher as a character, including Ben Kingsley's award winning performance, that one wonders why the battle of good and evil was not centered primarily around him and the Boxtrolls themselves. In other words, had the filmmakers just ditched Eggs all together, then they'd probably have a more engaging story.
Like Snatcher himself, the artists at Laika honed their craft by bringing both Cheesebridge and the Boxtrolls' method of functioning to life. Compared to the 19th century European aesthetic throughout Cheesebridge, the underground burrows where the Boxtrolls reside operates as somewhat of a mechanical world based on their love of inventions. The amount of detail put into the machinery and engineering equipment cannot be understated, as one can see all the blood, sweat and tears composited together from a studio that goes beyond stop-motion's own limitations. As for the characters, next to Mike Smith's appropriately grotesque design work, the animators showcased a lot of fine motion, expressions and acting that already came from the likes of Wright, Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Dee Bradley Baker, Richard Ayoade and many more. It also helps that a lot of experimental computer generated work and traditional animation were used to plus certain sequences, with many standouts showcasing Snatcher. Not often has a world this gross looked this appealing.
It's easy to see why The Boxtrolls is often regarded as the weaker entry in Laika's roster. While it does offer a lot of highly imaginative world-building and a sympathetically memorable villain, it is otherwise bogged down by a predictably weak story and the wrong lead character focus. Despite its narrative shortcomings, its creativity might appeal to die hard Laika fanatics and curious family audiences, so it wouldn't hurt at least one viewing. After all, with creatures like these who are so deeply misunderstood, there's much to unravel in a world featuring odd specimens like those peculiar trolls.