''The Boxtrolls'' is a 2014 American
stop-motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Graham Annable
Graham Annable (born June 1, 1970) is a Canadian cartoonist and animator. He is the creator of ''Grickle'', published by Alternative Comics, and one of the founders of the ''Hickee'' humor anthology (also published by Alternative Comics). Annable ...
and
Anthony Stacchi
Anthony Francis Stacchi (born August 21, 1961) is an American effects animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and film director.
Stacchi graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Film then went on to be an Animator and Co ...
(in their feature directorial debuts) loosely based on the 2005 novel ''
Here Be Monsters!'' by
Alan Snow. It is produced by
Laika
Laika (russian: link=no, Лайка; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecra ...
. Set in the fictional European country of Norvenia in the late-19th century, the film tells the story of Eggs, a human boy raised by trash-collecting trolls, known as "Boxtrolls", as he attempts to save them from Archibald Snatcher, a pest exterminator. This film was the animated film debut of
Isaac Hempstead-Wright
Isaac Hempstead Wright is a British actor. He is best known for his role as Bran Stark in the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), which earned him a Young Artist Award nomination as Best Young Supporting Actor in a TV Seri ...
, who voices Eggs, the main protagonist and features the voices of
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...
,
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film '' I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, i ...
,
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
,
Steve Blum
Steven Jay Blum (; born April 29, 1960) is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his most well-known roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series '' Cowboy Bebop'', Garazeb Orrelios from the animated series ''St ...
,
Toni Collette
Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...
,
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the AMC television drama series ''Mad Men'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Serie ...
,
Nick Frost
Nicholas Jonathan Frost (born 28 March 1972) is a British actor, author, comedian, painter, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz ...
,
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he ...
,
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...
, and
Simon Pegg
Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...
.
Laika unveiled a slate of projects in development, among which was also an animated feature film adaptation of the Alan Snow novel ''Here Be Monsters!'' in June 2008. While the animation technique wasn't yet decided upon, Stacchi was set to direct the film. On February 7, 2013, Laika announced that it would be released in October 2014, which later changed to September 2014 in May 2013. Originally focused on all five species of creatures found in the original book, Knight noted that the script ultimately was hollow with all the monsters noting that didn't really have anything to say. As the result, the team ended up focusing on the Boxtrolls as Knight thought there was something that was really compelling about that group of characters.
Dario Marianelli
Dario Marianelli (born 21 June 1963) is an Italian composer known for his frequent collaborations with director Joe Wright.
Early life, education
Marianelli was born in Pisa, Italy. He came from a musically inclined family and learned the piano ...
compose the film's musical score.
The film was released in the United States on September 26, 2014, by
Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...
, and received generally positive reviews from critics.
It earned $108 million
on a $60 million budget.
It was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...
, a
Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time at the 64th Golden Globe Awards in 2007. It was the first time that the Golden Globe Awards had created a separate category for anim ...
and a
BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film
This is a list of the winners and nominees of the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.
Winners and nominees 2000s
2010s
2020s
See also
* Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
* Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film
* Annie Award ...
, but lost to ''
Big Hero 6'', ''
How to Train Your Dragon 2
''How to Train Your Dragon 2'' is a 2014 American computer-animated action fantasy film loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel ...
'' and ''
The LEGO Movie
''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story by Lord, Miller, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, its story focu ...
'', respectively.
Plot
In the summer of 1896, in the hill-top
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
town of Cheesebridge, Norvenia, rumors abound that subterranean
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
s (known as Boxtrolls for the cardboard boxes they wear) have kidnapped a baby.
Pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher strikes a deal with the city's leader Lord Portley-Rind to exterminate every Boxtroll in exchange for membership in the city's cheese-loving council called the White Hats, despite the fact that he himself is
severely allergic to cheese.
In actuality, the Boxtrolls are peaceful and emerge from underground at night to scavenge for discarded items with which to make useful inventions. A human boy named Eggs lives among them, cared for by a Boxtroll named Fish. As Eggs grows up, he becomes dismayed by the disappearing Boxtrolls, such as Wheels and Oil Can, seized by Snatcher. After Lord Portley-Rind's daughter Winnie sees Eggs with two Boxtrolls, Snatcher captures Fish. Eggs sneaks to the surface to find Fish and emerges in an annual fair to commemorate the disappearance of the "Trubshaw Baby" who was allegedly killed by Boxtrolls.
Disgusted by the town's inaccurate portrayal of the creatures, Eggs follows Winnie. After a brief exchange, he asks her for directions to Snatcher's headquarters, located at an abandoned factory, where Eggs rescues Fish. They are caught in the escape. Snatcher recognizes Eggs as the Trubshaw Baby and reveals that all the captured Boxtrolls are building him a machine. Winnie, who covertly followed Eggs, overhears this exchange. She then helps Fish and Eggs escape from Snatcher and they take shelter in the Boxtrolls' caves, where Fish explains that Eggs' father had given him to them to protect him from Snatcher. Winnie agrees to help Eggs tell Portley-Rind the truth.
At a ball held to commemorate the purchase of a giant cheese wheel called the Briehemoth, which was foolishly made using the funds for a children's hospital, Eggs tries to confront Portley-Rind, but is confronted by Snatcher (disguised as a woman named "Madame Frou-Frou"). Whilst trying to avoid Snatcher, Eggs inadvertently knocks the cheese wheel into a river. Eggs announces himself to the party as the Trubshaw Baby, but no one believes him, including Portley-Rind, who is too upset about losing the cheese wheel.
Eggs tries to persuade the remaining Boxtrolls to flee for their own safety, but unknowingly demoralises them. Snatcher digs into the caves and captures them all. Eggs awakens to find his father Herbert Trubshaw a prisoner beside him. He sees the Boxtrolls stacked in a crusher and begs them to leave their boxes and run, but they are seemingly killed by the crusher.
Snatcher drives his machine to Lord Portley-Rind's house, shows him the flattened boxes as proof of the Boxtrolls' extinction, and demands Portley-Rind's white hat in exchange for killing the last Boxtroll, which is actually Eggs disguised. The Boxtrolls, who have escaped from the crusher, free Eggs while Herbert reveals himself, causing Portley-Rind and the citizens to realize that Snatcher lied to them. With his plot exposed, Snatcher tries to take Portley-Rind's hat by force; two of his henchmen, Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles, turn against him and help the Boxtrolls disable the machine, which falls on Snatcher's right-hand man Mr. Gristle and crushes him to death. Eggs and Snatcher are thrown clear and land on the recovered Briehemoth, which triggers Snatcher's cheese allergy and causes him to swell to a grotesque size. He seizes Winnie and forces Lord Portley-Rind to give up his hat in exchange for her safety, but after tasting an aged cheese sample, his cheese allergy finally sets off and he
explodes into pieces, killing him.
With Snatcher's plot foiled, the townspeople and Boxtrolls agree to form a peaceful coexistence with each other. Winnie tells the tale of Snatcher's end to a crowd while Fish, Eggs and Herbert drive off in one of Herbert's contraptions.
Voice cast
*
Isaac Hempstead Wright
Isaac Hempstead Wright is a British actor. He is best known for his role as Bran Stark in the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), which earned him a Young Artist Award nomination as Best Young Supporting Actor in a TV Se ...
as Eggs,
an orphaned 11-year-old human boy raised by the Boxtrolls, the adoptive son of Fish.
** Max Mitchell as Baby Eggs
*
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...
as Archibald Snatcher, a ruthless, arrogant, antagonistic and cunning pest exterminator who also cross-dresses as Madame Frou-Frou.
*
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film '' I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, i ...
as Winifred "Winnie" Portley-Rind, Eggs's first human friend and the 10-year-old daughter of Lord and Lady Portley-Rind.
*
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
as Fish, Wheels, and Bucket,
three Boxtrolls. Fish is the gentle, but skittish adoptive father of Eggs.
*
Steve Blum
Steven Jay Blum (; born April 29, 1960) is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his most well-known roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series '' Cowboy Bebop'', Garazeb Orrelios from the animated series ''St ...
as Shoe and Sparky,
two Boxtrolls.
*
Toni Collette
Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...
as Lady Cynthia Portley-Rind,
[ - Cast & Crew] Winnie's mother and Lord Portley-Rind's snobbish wife.
*
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the AMC television drama series ''Mad Men'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Serie ...
as Lord Charles Portley-Rind,
Winnie's father, the cheese-obsessed leader of the White Hats, and the leader of Cheesebridge.
*
Nick Frost
Nicholas Jonathan Frost (born 28 March 1972) is a British actor, author, comedian, painter, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz ...
as Mr. Trout,
Snatcher's corpulent, bumbling, yet intellectual employee.
*
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he ...
as Mr. Pickles,
Snatcher's tall, spindly, well-meaning but misguided employee.
*
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...
as Mr. Gristle,
Snatcher's diminutive and maniacal second-in-command and best friend.
*
Simon Pegg
Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...
as Herbert Trubshaw,
an inventor and Eggs's biological father.
Production
In June 2008,
Laika
Laika (russian: link=no, Лайка; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecra ...
unveiled a slate of projects in development, among which was also an animated feature film adaptation of the Alan Snow novel ''
Here Be Monsters!'', eventually to become ''The Boxtrolls''. The animation technique wasn't yet decided upon, but
Anthony Stacchi
Anthony Francis Stacchi (born August 21, 1961) is an American effects animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and film director.
Stacchi graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Film then went on to be an Animator and Co ...
was set to direct the film. Laika announced on February 7, 2013, that the adaptation would be their next
3D stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
feature, under the title ''The Boxtrolls''. Directed by Stacchi and
Graham Annable
Graham Annable (born June 1, 1970) is a Canadian cartoonist and animator. He is the creator of ''Grickle'', published by Alternative Comics, and one of the founders of the ''Hickee'' humor anthology (also published by Alternative Comics). Annable ...
,
Laika CEO Travis Knight noted that the biggest challenge of the film was to condense a 550-page novel down to a 90-minute film.
Initially the film focused on all five species of creatures found in the original book, but Knight noted that the script "ultimately was hollow" with all the monsters noting "It didn't really have anything to say."
The team ended up focusing on the Boxtrolls as Knight thought "there was something that was really compelling about that group of characters".
On February 7, 2013,
Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...
originally set the film for an October 17, 2014, release,
In May 2013, the release date was changed to September 26, 2014.
Focus Features holds worldwide distribution rights to ''The Boxtrolls'', and
Universal Pictures International
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
released the movie overseas (with
eOne Distribution
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...
handling Canada).
Release
On June 11, 2014, two new
trailers, one for the US and one for the UK, were released by the studio. The film
premiered
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
on August 31, 2014.
Home media
''The Boxtrolls'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on January 20, 2015, by
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
, a new edition from
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
under license from Universal was released on August 31, 2021.
Other media
A game named ''The Boxtrolls: Slide N' Sneak'' was made for iOS.
Music
On December 4, 2013, composer
Dario Marianelli
Dario Marianelli (born 21 June 1963) is an Italian composer known for his frequent collaborations with director Joe Wright.
Early life, education
Marianelli was born in Pisa, Italy. He came from a musically inclined family and learned the piano ...
was hired to score ''The Boxtrolls'', the first animated feature film of his career.
On August 30, 2014, it was announced that WaterTower Music would release a soundtrack album for the film on September 23, 2014.
;Track listing
Reception
Box office
''The Boxtrolls'' grossed $50.8 million in North America and $57.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $108.2 million, against a budget of $60 million.
In the United States and Canada, it earned $17.2 million in its opening weekend from 3,464 theaters, debuting at number three at the box office behind ''
The Equalizer'' and ''
The Maze Runner
''The Maze Runner'' is a 2009 young adult dystopian science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner and the first book released in ''The Maze Runner'' series. The novel was published on October 6, 2009, by Delacorte Press, an ...
''.
It had a strong 3.5x weekend multiplier off its $4.9 million opening day, which is more front-loaded than ''
Coraline
''Coraline'' () is a dark fantasy horror children's novella by British author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman started writing ''Coraline'' in 1990, and it was published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best ...
'' (3.8x) but played much less front-loaded than ''
ParaNorman
''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American stop-motion animated comedy horror film directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, J ...
'' (3.11x).
It set the record for the biggest opening weekend for Laika surpassing 2009's ''Coraline'' ($16.8 million), and the second-biggest for a stop-motion animation film behind Laika's 2005 co-production, ''
Corpse Bride
''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based o ...
'' ($19.1 million).
In other territories, ''The Boxtrolls'' earned $5.1 million from 1,806 screens in 16 countries in its opening weekend. In terms of total earnings, its largest markets are the United Kingdom and Ireland ($13.8 million), Australia ($5.8 million), and Mexico ($5 million). It is Laika's highest-grossing film overseas, surpassing ''ParaNorman''s $51.1 million.
Critical response
On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 176 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The site's critical consensus states: "While it's far from Laika's best offering, ''The Boxtrolls'' is still packed with enough offbeat wit and visual splendor to offer a healthy dose of all-ages entertainment." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 61 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while
PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
reported filmgoers gave it a 77% overall positive score and a 61% "definite recommend".
Tom Huddleston of ''
Time Out'' gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Breathlessly paced and surreally funny, ''The Boxtrolls'' fizzes with visual invention and wild slapstick. But the grotesquerie is overbearing." Alonso Duralde of ''
The Wrap
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' gave the film a negative review, saying "A surprisingly charmless and aimless movie from Laika Studios, who previously crafted the wonderfully dark ''Coraline'' and ''ParaNorman'', this latest venture seems destined to disturb young viewers while thoroughly boring their parents." Amy Nicholson of ''
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...
'' gave the film a B+, saying "''The Boxtrolls'' is a kiddie charmer that makes you laugh, cower and think of Hitler. That's an unusual trifecta, but then again, this is an unusual film." James Rocchi of
Film.com
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of artificial intelligence and computer vision based products. RealNetworks was a pioneer in Internet streaming software and services. They are based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The company also p ...
gave the film a 5.8 out of 10, saying "''The Boxtrolls'' is a swing-and-miss for Laika; when you move forward with revolutionary techniques while standing still in terms of your themes, stories and settings, no amount of technical trickery or animation genius can bring the boring to vivid life." Jake Coyle of the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
gave the film a positive review, saying "''The Boxtrolls'', despite a rather uncertainly structured story by screenwriters Irena Brignull and Adam Pava, has its pleasantly demented charms." Kyle Smith of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Engaging as it is to look at, this stop-motion animation film from the young Oregon studio Laika seems to have been masterminded by people thinking, "Everyone loves Pixar. So let's do everything the opposite!""
A. A. Dowd of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the film a B+, saying "In an age when most cartoon companies have traded pens for pixels, the magicians at Laika continue to create fantastically elaborate universes out of pure elbow grease." John Hartl of ''
The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Visually the film is a feast, stuffed with little jokes and surprises and the kind of black humor that Alfred Hitchcock heartily enjoyed."
[ Brian Truitt of '']USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars, saying "A delectable treat that balances themes of identity and class warfare with Monty Python-style political skewering, quirky humor and dairy jokes." Mick LaSalle of the ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying "One gets the sense that directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable have their hearts in the action sequences and not in the characters, and that's a problem." Michael Phillips of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying "''The Boxtrolls'' remains relentlessly busy up through its final credits, and it's clever in a nattering way. But it's virtually charmless." Michael O'Sullivan of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars, saying "The story of ''The Boxtrolls'', in lesser hands, might have turned out only so-so. Under Laika's loving, labor-intensive touch, it takes on a kind of magic." Richard Corliss of ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' gave the film a positive review, saying "''The Boxtrolls'' has its penny-dreadful moments, but it's mostly a larkish stroll through a cemetery where the monsters are the good guys."
Ethan Gilsdorf of ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' gave the film a positive review, saying "Like one of its wondrously designed steampunky contraptions, ''The Boxtrolls'' is a marvelous thing to behold, and watch spin, even if it doesn't go anywhere terribly interesting." Bruce Demara of the ''Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "From Laika, the animation studio that brought you such memorably quirky classics as ''Coraline'' and ''ParaNorman'' comes another totally offbeat and original tale for kids (and adults) looking for something a little more challenging and completely off the wall." Rafer Guzman of ''Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "''The Boxtrolls'' has moments of humor and imagination, but American children may not be its ideal audience." A. O. Scott of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave the film a positive review, saying "In ''The Boxtrolls'', old-fashioned stop-motion animation is combined with new-style 3-D cinematography to charming effect." David Rooney of ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave the film a mixed review, saying "There's a crucial shortage of heart here, from the messy storytelling to the hit-or-miss humor and unattractive visuals." Steve Persall of the ''Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
'' gave the film a D, saying "''The Boxtrolls'' is a visually repellent pile of stop-motion animation, populated by grotesques and filmed in the palette of an exhumed casket's interior. It can frighten small children and bore anyone, with its cracked, cackled British wit." Joe Neumaier of the ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Kids who get a kick out of the macabre will enjoy this exquisitely crafted but tedious film."
Accolades
See also
*'' Here Be Monsters!''
* List of American films of 2014
References
External links
*
* at Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boxtrolls
2014 films
2014 3D films
2014 animated films
2010s adventure films
2010s American animated films
2010s fantasy comedy films
American 3D films
American adventure comedy films
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated comedy films
American children's animated fantasy films
American fantasy adventure films
American fantasy comedy films
Animated adventure films
Animated films about orphans
Annie Award winners
Focus Features films
Focus Features animated films
Films scored by Dario Marianelli
Films about trolls
Films based on British novels
Films scored by Mark Orton
Films set in Europe
Films set in a fictional country
Films set in the 19th century
Films set in the Victorian era
Films shot in Portland, Oregon
Laika (company) animated films
2010s stop-motion animated films
2010s monster movies
2014 comedy films
2014 directorial debut films
American animated feature films
2010s English-language films