In the world of animated film, few techniques lend themselves to the world of the gothic quite the way stop-motion does. There is something about the jerky, jagged motion of the action that is instantly as off-putting as it is appealing. It is also a format that lends itself to stylistic experimentation – where the characters involved can be hyper-stylized into grotesques in a way that is less acceptable in CGIor hand-drawn animation. Without a doubt, the animation studio that is doing the most original work in the stop-motion format is Laika. Based in Oregon and independent of the Hollywood studio system, Laika has been quietly churning out one terrific stop-motion tale of the macabre after another – and in 2014, they continued trend with the release of THE BOXTROLLS.
One night, an infant boy is taken from his home and spirited away by a race of strange, subterranean creatures. These creatures wear discarded boxes as clothes and name each other based on what those boxes once held. The Boxtrolls take the baby to their underground home and raise him as their own – giving him a box to wear and calling him “Eggs”. Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) grows up among the Boxtrolls and sees them as his family – never having laid eyes on the surface world. The Boxtrolls emerge from their lair every night and scavenge odds and ends around the town – finding their treasure in the trash of humans. When a group of Boxtroll hunters led by Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) abducts Eggs’ family, Eggs heads to the surface city of Cheesebridge to find them. There he discovers that the Boxtrolls are regarded as horrible, child-abducting monsters. Eggs, with the help of a girl named Winnie (Elle Fanning) sets out to set the record straight and save his family.
Although the Boxtrolls are regarded as monsters in Cheesebridge, the real monster in THE BOXTROLLS is Archibald Snatcher. Snatcher is obsessed with moving into the elite circle of gentlemen that govern Cheesebridge; men who wear white hats and have nightly cheese-tastings. Snatcher gleefully portrays the Boxtrolls as a murderous menace and uses his status as Boxtroll-catcher to elevate his status in the town. His machinations are complex and odious, and the character himself is utterly slimy and repulsive. Ben Kingsley plays him perfectly – capturing his obsessive drive to such a degree that Archibald Snatcher becomes pathetic as much as evil. His performance takes us just to the point of sympathy, but never crosses the line – retaining Snatcher’s irredeemability in a masterful way.
With “Coraline”, “ParaNorman”, and now THE BOXTROLLS, Laika continues their extraordinary winning streak in stop-motion animation. The studio is unique in the way it can tell a tale of the macabre and grotesque, yet still retain its family-friendliness. Using time-tested animation techniques, intelligent screenwriting, and employing a signature design style, Laika gives us gothic animation in a way other animation studios simply are not.
THE BOXTROLLS fun facts – Production lasted 72 weeks.
The character of Eggs is played by Isaac Hempstead Wright, who is better known for his role as Bran on “Game of Thrones”.
This was Elle Fanning’s second role with Laika. Her first was the titular lead in “Coraline”.
The town of Cheesebridge was based on the real town of Trowbridge, which is located in Wiltshire, England.
Archibald Snatcher - “For a white hat, I will destroy every last Boxtroll in this town!”
Herbert Trubshaw - “Look what you did!”
Winnie – “Did they drag you down to their hideous caves? Were there mountains of baby bones and rivers of blood? Did they eat your family? Did they let you watch?”
Eggs – “What?”
Winnie – “I mean… MAKE you watch?”
Winnie – “Where are the rivers of blood and the mountains of bones? I was promised rivers of blood!