The joy and insanity of stop motion animation! Possibly the ultimate culmination of craft and technology. The folks at Laika Animation Studios (Coraline, Paranorman) have made a stunning looking piece of art.
The Boxtrolls is the tale of a boy raised by underground creatures that people call, you guessed it, BoxTrolls. They’re considered to be like vultures, monsters who come out only at night to scavenge and steal babies to eat. The whole town is terrified of them and Archibald Snatcher has taken it upon himself to exterminate the whole lot of them…for a price. He wants a white hat, the signifying accessory of the ultra elite. With that he’ll be a real class act, able to join the town leaders in the cheese tasting room in Lord Portley-Rind’s mansion.
The BoxTrolls are far from monsters though. Rumors and lies have painted them as such. They’re actually very smart and caring creatures. When Eggs is orphaned as an infant (named after the writing on the box he was left in), they take him in and raise him. With Snatcher trapping every BoxTroll he can, the already small population of BoxTrolls gets smaller and smaller. Soon Eggs must stand up for them all, with the help of Lord Portley-Rind’s daughter, Winnie.
The BoxTrolls reminded me of a Ronald Dahl story a bit. It is a kid’s story/movie but there’s a lot of grown up themes and scary imagery (it’s rated PG for good reason). The cast of characters is great, most notably the character design.
My main adoration for this movie is how amazing it looks. It’s the highest quality stop motion animation around the just dazzles at every turn. The backgrounds don’t look like their props on elevated tables, but full scale stages. The lighting and effects are incredible. One of the first scenes where Snatcher first shows up with his cronies in his extermination vehicle is mind boggling. The depth added by the lighting and shadows from the headlights coupled with the fantastic character animation is unparalleled. There’s many scenes like this. The set pieces are gorgeous and varied, the town of Cheesebridge is greatly realized.
With a large cast of humans and various BoxTrolls (who all have distinct designs and personalities with animation to match so you can easily tell them apart), the stand out is Archibald Snatcher. He stands up there along side of Disney’s greatest villains. He looks like the living, breathing relative of Cruella de Ville. His long, skinny legs, rotund gut, gaunt face, busted smile and stringy hair make him an imposing figure. His spindly fingers and ultra detailed costume (look at his boots!) make him pop in every single frame he’s in. He’s just a rotten SOB, bad news down to the marrow of his bones. The perfect antagonist if there ever was one, I love him.
On the other side, Eggs is a great protagonist. Really likable kid, heart of gold and many of his interactions with Winnie bring much needed laughs to the movie  (her interrogation of him being a boy, not a BoxTroll and teaching him how to shake hands when greeting people in particular).
I’m a sucker for stop motion animation (among a few other types of movies) and I liked The BoxTrolls more than I thought I would. Had everything I wanted, I recommend it.