The Boxtrolls [Blu-ray]

Director: Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable, Aaron Sorenson Anthony Stacchi

Overview

Subterranean trolls raise an orphaned boy, who helps them fight back against an evil exterminator and make peace with the fearful residents of an upper-crust Victorian-era town known for its world-class cheeses. The two things the people of this posh town treasure most are their children and their cheeses; unfortunately, those are also the things that the Boxtrools - a race of unsightly, sewer-dwelling creatures - covet most. Clad in cast-off cardboard boxes as they scuttle about underground, the Boxtrolls may look like a fearsome bunch, they're actually quite friendly. Having previously adopted an orphaned infant named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright), the diminutive tinkerers raise him as one of their own. Meanwhile, Eggs may be the Boxtrolls' only hope for survival when scheming exterminator Archibald Snatcher (voiced by Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley) seeks to earn his entry into the ultra-exclusive Cheesebridge society by eradicating the misunderstood creatures once and for all. Little does the villainous Snatcher realize that Eggs has a wealthy friend named Winnie (voiced by Ellie Fanning), and that Winnie may be the key to solving the longstanding feud between the people above, and the benevolent creatures below.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/31/2021
UPC:	0826663218060
Original Release:	2014
Rating:	PG
Source:	Shout Factory
Language:	English
Time:	1:36:00
Sales rank:	25,590

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Julian Stone	Actor
Sam Lavagnino	Actor
Ron Bottitta	Actor
Kingsley	Actor,Archibald Snatcher
Joachim Tennstedt	Actor
Norman Matt	Actor
Olaf Reichmann	Actor
Toni Collette	Lady Portley-Rind
Elle Fanning	Winnie
Jared Harris	Lord Portley-Rind
Richard Ayoade	Mr. Pickles
Pat Fraley	Fragile/Sweets
Max Mitchell	Baby Eggs
James Urbaniak	Sir Broderick/Male Workman 1 and 2
Brian George	Boulanger/Male Aristocrat
Lori Tritel	Female Aristocrat 1
Laraine Newman	Female Townsfolk 1 and 2
Reckless Jack	Background Boy
Isaac Hempstead-Wright	Eggs
Isaac Hempstead Wright	Voices

Technical Credits

Anthony Stacchi

Adam Pava

Irena Brignull

Phil Dale

Anthony Stacchi	Director,Screenwriter
Graham Annable	Director
Aaron Sorenson	Director
David Bleiman	Producer
Rebecca Bowen	Producer
Adam Pava	Screenwriter
Irena Brignull	Screenwriter
Phil Dale	Screenwriter
Travis Knight	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Based on Alan Snow's novel Here Be Monsters!, The Boxtrolls takes place in the network of sewers beneath the city of Cheesebridge, where a society of trolls, naked but for the tattered boxes they wear, tinker with the objects they find during their brief nighttime journeys to the upper world. They are gentle creatures -- even when their own lives at stake -- but when a baby boy is "stolen" from his father, the boxtrolls earn a murderous reputation. Curfews are enforced, and the boxtroll-extermination service led by the evil Archibald Snatcher (voice of Ben Kingsley), who was actually responsible for the child's disappearance, threatens the continued survival of the species. Eventually, the baby, christened "Eggs" (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) due to the picture of an egg on his box, leaves the sewers to save the boxtrolls and confirm if his true identity is troll, boy, or something in-between. Cheesebridge, seemingly composed of equal parts cobblestone and dairy products, is the kind of town one would expect from a tryst between prerevolutionary France and Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film was developed by Laika, the same studio responsible for Coraline and ParaNorman, and the stop-motion style here is as visually inspired -- fanciful, yet macabre -- as anything they've put out. It's the perfect backdrop for the movie's atmosphere; however, this setting muddies the message of The Boxtrolls a bit. The Snatcher, for all his villainy, is a product of poverty, while Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris) is preoccupied with wealth and the rest of the population are all too eager to form a mob and don their pitchforks at a moment's notice. Although it's admirable for a picture to acknowledge the complicated nature of social injustice and economic disparity, this theme is delivered too haphazardly to make much of an impact. Luckily, the film eventually corrects itself and focuses on a target rarely mentioned in movies intended for children: complacency. The townsfolk are complacent in their false beliefs; the rich and poor are complacent in their societal roles; Snatcher's men stay complacently by his side despite their growing discomfort about his plans; and the gentle boxtrolls are complacent to maintain the status quo, even at the cost of their lives. It's because of this complacency that Snatcher's evil plans are allowed to grow and thrive. It is a sign of respect for the young audience of The Boxtrolls that the film manages to make a statement about the conditions needed to create monsters out of men -- and it does so without losing its whimsy and sense of humor along the way.