The Boxtrolls
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Graham Annable Anthony Stacchi
Written by	Irena Brignull Adam Pava
Produced by	Travis Knight David Ichioka
Starring	Isaac Hempstead-Wright Elle Fanning Ben Kingsley Toni Collette Jared Harris Simon Pegg Nick Frost Richard Ayoade Tracy Morgan
Edited by	Edie Bleiman
Music by	Dario Marianelli[1]
Production company	Laika
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release dates	August 31, 2014 (2014-08-31) (Venice Film Festival) September 26, 2014 (2014-09-26) (United States)
Running time	96 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million[3]
Box office	$35 million[4]

The Boxtrolls is a 2014 American 3D stop motion animated fantasy-comedy film based on the novel Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow. Produced by Laika, it was directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi. The Boxtrolls follows the adventures of Eggs, a human boy raised by trash-collecting trolls, as he attempts to save them from Archibald Snatcher, a pest exterminator. The film stars Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade and Tracy Morgan.^[5] It was released on September 26, 2014, to generally positive reviews.^[6]

Ten years ago, Archibald Snatcher visits Lord Portley-Rind, informing him that the Boxtrolls have kidnapped a baby boy. Snatcher strikes a deal with Portley-Rind; if he exterminates the Boxtrolls, Snatcher will become a member of the White Hats, an elite club of cheese lovers that serves as Cheesebridge’s city council. That same night, the Boxtrolls come out and scavenge through trash cans looking for things they can use in their inventions. Some of them get cornered by Snatcher and his henchmen, Mr. Trout, Mr. Pickles, and Mr. Gristle. Only Fish and Shoe manage to escape to the underground cavern where the Boxtrolls live, where Fish is a father figure to Eggs, a baby boy living there. As the years pass, Eggs grows up and the number of Boxtrolls dwindles as Snatcher and his men capture more and more of them.

In the present day, very few Boxtrolls remain. One night Eggs, Fish, and Shoe go looking for trash. Meanwhile, Winnie, the neglected daughter of Lord Portley-Rind, throws her father’s white hat out the window in frustration at constantly being ignored by him. She steps outside to retrieve it and sees Eggs with two Boxtrolls. Suddenly Snatcher and his men show up and begin pursuing Eggs, Fish, and Shoe. After an extended chase, Fish is captured. Eggs is devastated and decides to go looking for Fish. He dons a disguise, sneaks out of the cavern, and stumbles upon the annual commemoration for the Trubshaw Baby, who was kidnapped and allegedly murdered by the Boxtrolls ten years ago. Disgusted by the event’s inaccurate portrayal of Boxtrolls as people-eating monsters, he follows Winnie away from the crowd. She mistakes him for a pickpocket, but then realizes that he is the boy she saw with the Boxtrolls the previous night. Winnie tells him where to find Snatcher's headquarters.

Eggs makes his way to the abandoned factory where Snatcher and his minions have Fish locked in a cage. Eggs climbs into the factory, sees Fish, and frees him. Meanwhile, Snatcher holds a practice cheese tasting session to prepare himself to be a member of the White Hats. However, Snatcher proves to be allergic to cheese and his whole body swells up, forcing his henchmen to use leeches as an antidote. Snatcher goes looking for Fish, only to see that Eggs has almost snuck out of the factory with him. Mr. Gristle corners Eggs, and Snatcher informs him that he is the Trubshaw Baby. Snatcher also reveals that all the captured Boxtrolls are still alive. Winnie overhears everything but is captured. Eggs frees Winnie, and Eggs, Winnie, and Fish escape to the Boxtrolls' cavern. Winnie is surprised to find that the Boxtrolls are not monsters, and she convinces Eggs that he is a boy, not a Boxtroll. Fish tells Eggs that Mr. Trubshaw gave him to the Boxtrolls after being threatened by Snatcher. Winnie agrees to help Eggs tell her father the truth and make things right.

At a ball that night Eggs makes his way to Lord Portley-Rind, but only after Snatcher pushes him into Portley-Rind’s giant roll of cheese, causing it to roll into the river. Eggs tells everyone that he is the Trubshaw Baby. Furious over losing his beloved cheese, Portley-Rind does not believe him and throws him out. Angry and disappointed, Eggs returns to the cavern. While Eggs is trying to convince the remaining Boxtrolls that they need to leave immediately, Snatcher digs into the cavern using his new machine. The Boxtrolls are petrified by fear, and Snatcher captures them and Eggs, who then awakes in a cage beneath the abandoned factory. He sees the Boxtrolls about to be crushed to death and tells them to run. Their boxes are flattened, seemingly killing them all.

Snatcher makes his way to Lord Portley-Rind’s house in his machine, shows him the flattened boxes as proof that the Boxtrolls are all dead, and demands Portley-Rind’s white hat. Faced with a mob that believes Snatcher to be a hero, he prepares to give Snatcher his hat as soon as Snatcher kills the last "Boxtroll", who is really Eggs dressed up as one. Winnie sees this and convinces Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles to redeem themselves by not dropping Eggs into the machine’s engine. The Boxtrolls arrive and untie Eggs; they had survived their apparent deaths by slipping out of their boxes unnoticed. Infuriated, Snatcher tries to take the hat by force using his machine. Eggs and the Boxtrolls work at disassembling the machine while Winnie, Mr. Trout, and Mr. Pickles distract Snatcher. They turn the machine off by flooding the engine with water, making it fall over and throwing Eggs and Snatcher into the giant roll of cheese. Snatcher, now horribly swollen, takes Winnie hostage and demands her father's white hat, which he receives. Snatcher, Winnie, her father, Eggs, and Fish go to the cheese tasting room. Winnie escapes Snatcher by biting him on the arm. The others fail to dissuade Snatcher from eating cheese, causing him to explode. Afterwards the townspeople live peacefully with the Boxtrolls. Winnie tells the tale of Archibald Snatcher to a crowd of people, while Eggs and Fish drive off in one of his father’s contraptions.

During the credits, Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles (who are doing community service to redeem themselves) discuss their role in the world as the camera slowly pans out to reveal the stop-motion process being undertaken (albeit played at full-speed)

Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Elle Fanning and Ben Kingsley promoting the film at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International

• Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Eggs,^[5] an orphaned human boy raised by the Boxtrolls.^[7]
• Elle Fanning as Winnie Portley-Rind, Eggs's first human friend.^[5]
• Ben Kingsley as Archibald Snatcher, a pest exterminator^[5][7]
• Toni Collette as Lady Portley-Rind,^[5][8] Winnie's mother.^[9]
• Jared Harris as Lord Portley-Rind,^[5] Winnie's father and leader of the White Hats.^[9]
• Nick Frost as Mr. Trout,^[5] Snatcher's henchman.^[9]
• Richard Ayoade as Mr. Pickles,^[5] Snatcher's henchman.^[9]
• Tracy Morgan as Mr. Gristle^[5], Snatcher's henchman.
• Simon Pegg as Herbert Trubshaw^[5], Eggs's father.
• Dee Bradley Baker as Fish, Wheels, and Bucket^[8], three Boxtrolls.
• Steve Blum as Shoe and Sparky^[8], two Boxtrolls.
• Nika Futterman as Oil Can, and Knickers, two Boxtrolls.
• Fred Tatasciore as Clocks and Specs, two Boxtrolls.
• Maurice LaMarche as Sir Langsdale
• James Urbaniak as Sir Broderick
• Brian George as Boulanger
• Laraine Newman as Mother
• Sam Lavagnino

In June 2008, 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!. Animation technique not yet decided, Anthony Stacchi was set to direct the film.^[10] Laika announced on February 7, 2013, that the adaptation will be their next 3D stop motion feature under the title The Boxtrolls. Directed by Stacchi and Graham Annable, it was scheduled to be released on October 17, 2014,^[5] before it moved up in May 2013 to September 26, 2014.^[6] Focus Features will hold worldwide distribution rights to The Boxtrolls, and Universal Pictures International released the movie overseas (with eOne Distribution handling Canada).^[5]

On June 11, 2014, two new trailers, one for US and one for UK were released by the studio.^[11] The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2014.^[12]

On December 4, 2013, composer Dario Marianelli was hired to score the first animated feature film of his career.^[1] On August 30, 2014, it was announced that Back Lot Music would release a soundtrack album for the film on September 23, 2014.^[13]

Track listing

North America

The film was released on September 26, 2014 in the United States and earned $17,250,000 ($4,980 average) from 3,436 theaters during its opening weekend, debuting at number three at the box office behind The Equalizer ($35 million) and The Maze Runner ($17.5 million).^[14][15] It is the biggest opening weekend for Laika surprassing 2009's Coraline ($16.8 million) opening weekend gross.^[16] It's opening weekend gross is the second biggest for stop-motion animation film behind Corpse Bride ^[17]

Outside North America

Overseas, The Boxtrolls earned $5.1 million from 1,806 screens in 16 territories.^[18][19][20]

The Boxtrolls received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 72%, based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's 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."^[21] On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 63 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[22]

Alonso Duralde of The Wrap 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."^[23] 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."^[24] Amy Nicholson of LA Weekly 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."^[25] James Rocchi of Film.com 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."^[26] Jake Coyle of the Associated Press 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."^[27] Kyle Smith of the New York Post 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!"^[28]

A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club 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."^[29] John Hartl of The Seattle Times 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."^[30] Brian Truitt of USA Today 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."^[31] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle 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."^[32] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune 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."^[33] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post 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."^[34] Richard Corliss of Time 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."^[35]

Ethan Gilsdorf of The Boston Globe 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."^[36] Bruce Demara of the Toronto Star 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."^[37] Rafer Guzman of Newsday 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."^[38] A.O. Scott of The New York Times 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."^[39] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter 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."^[40] Steve Persall of the Tampa Bay Times 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."^[41] Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News 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."^[42]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Boxtrolls.

• Official website
• The Boxtrolls at Focus Features
• The Boxtrolls at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb title
• The Boxtrolls at Box Office Mojo
• The Boxtrolls at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Boxtrolls at Metacritic