No compensation was received for this post.
My son is counting down the days until LAIKA and Focus Features’ latest film The Boxtrolls debuts in theaters. Earlier this week, we gave you a behind-the-scenes look from our set visit in Hillsboro, Oregon and today, I’m sharing 10 things you didn’t know about The Boxtrolls!
Inspired by Alan Snow’s fantasy adventure novel titled Here Be Monsters!, The Boxtrolls is a 3D stop motion-animated fantasy-comedy film and features an incredible voice cast. This week, audiences will be immersed in the posh Victorian-era town of of Cheesebridge, known for its obsession with wealth, class, and the finest, stinkiest cheeses. Beneath the intricate cobblestone streets of Cheesebridge resides the Boxtrolls. These quirky, cave-dwelling, trash-collecting monsters crawl out of the sewers at night and are believed to steal the townspeople’s children and their cheeses. But what the townspeople don’t know is that The Boxtrolls have raised orphaned boy Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) since infancy. Because of their reputation, villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) makes it his mission to eradicate The Boxtrolls and leverage his success as a way “in” to Cheesebridge society. In order to save his family, Eggs ventures above ground and meets Winnie (Elle Fanning) and together they join forces to bridge their two worlds.
If you read my previous piece detailing my set visit, you’ll remember that LAIKA aims to tell coming-of-age stories from the perspective of children. According to LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight, “The Boxtrolls is a visually dazzling mash-up of gripping detective story, absurdist comedy, and steampunk adventure with a surprisingly wholesome heart. It’s Dickens by way of Monty Python.” Directors Antony Stacchi and Graham Annable have “crafted a strange and beautiful world replete with fantastical creatures, good-for-nothing reprobates, madcap antics, and rip-roaring feats of derring-do.” Apart from the comedic fable families are about to embark on, The Boxtrolls is “a moving, human story with timelessness and powerful emotional resonance.”
Perhaps the one thing that really resonated with me after spending some time with the artists at LAIKA was the time, attention to detail, and elaborate creativity that went into making this film. If you’re as intrigued as I am about how a stop motion-animated film is created, here are 7 Things You Didn’t Know About The Boxtrolls:
- It takes about 1 week for an animator to complete 3.7 seconds of footage (approximately 90 individual frames).
- More than 20,000 props were handmade for the film.
- The film’s smallest prop was a tiny sewing thread and needle.
- The film’s smallest costumes were for Eggs as a baby. The sweater measured 3.5″ from cuff to cuff across the length of both arms and chest and the socks measured 5/8″ long.
- There are 14 different fabrics used in Lord Portley-Rind’s white hat.
- 55 different sculpts of prop cheeses were created specifically for the film.
- The stop-motion flames “burning” in the furnace of the Mecha-Drill are courtesy of an iPad displaying a loop video inside the “mouth” of the device.
With lush, lavish sets, a complex array of characters, and a deeply poignant story, The Boxtrolls is a must-see film for families this Fall.
Images: LAIKA/Focus Features
- Discover Luxury at Sonesta Irvine: Your Ideal Staycation - August 8, 2024
- CHOC Walk Returns to the Disneyland Resort – Special Events and Ways to Support - June 28, 2023
- Beastly Ball Returns to the Los Angeles Zoo - May 8, 2023
Leave a Reply