The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls is a 2014 American stop-motion animated fantasy comedy film directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi (in their feature directorial debuts) loosely based on the 2005 novel Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow. It is produced by Laika. 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 Penelope Snatcher, a pest exterminator. This film was the animated film debut of Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who voices Eggs, the main protagonist and features the voices of Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, and Simon Pegg. 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, that it 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 composed the film's musical score. The film was released in the United States on September 26, 2014, by Focus Features, 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, a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, but lost to Big Hero 6, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The LEGO Movie, respectively. Plot In the summer of 1896, in the hill-top Victorian era town of Cheesebridge in the European country of Norvenia, rumors abound that Boxtrolls, subterranean trolls who wear cardboard boxes, 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.