THE BOXTROLLS [2014 / 2015] [3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray + Digital HD ULTRAVIOLET]
Dare To Be Square! From The Makers of CORALINE and PARANORMAN!
‘THE BOXTROLLS’ is Academy Award® nominated stop-motion adventure. The BoxTrolls are monsters, who live underneath the charming streets of Cheesebridge, who crawl out the sewers at night to steal the town’s children and fine cheese. At least, that’s the legend the townspeople have always believed.
In truth, the BoxTrolls are a community of loveable oddballs who are raising an abandoned human boy named Eggs [Isaac Hempstead Wright] as one of their own. When the BoxTrolls are targeted by a villainous a local pest exterminator, Archibald Snatcher [Sir Ben Kingsley] who is bent on eradicating them, Eggs must venture above ground to save his unique family of BoxTrolls, where he teams up with an adventurous local rich girl Winnie [Elle Fanning] to save not only the Boxtrolls, but the soul of Cheesebridge.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: 2014 San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award: Nominated: Best Animated Feature. 2014 42nd Annual Annie Awards: Win: Production Design in an Animated Feature Production for Paul Lasaine, Tom McClure and August Hall. Win: Voice Acting in a Feature Production for Sir Ben Kingsley. Nominated: Best Animated Feature. Nominated: Animated Effects in an Animated Production for Rick Sevy, Peter Vickery, Kent Estep, Peter Stuart and Ralph Procida. Nominated: Character Animation in a Feature Production for Travis Knight, Malcolm Lamont and Jason Stalman. Nominated: Character Design in an Animated Feature Production for Mike Smith. Nominated: Directing in an Animated Feature Production for Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable. Nominated: Nominated: Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production for Emanuela Cozzi. Nominated: Voice Acting in a Feature Production for Dee Bradley Baker. Nominated: Writing in an Animated Feature Production for Irena Brignull and Adam Pava. 2014 72nd Golden Globe® Awards: Nominated: Best Animated Feature. 2015 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Animated Feature. Saturn Awards: Nominated: Best Animated Film.
Voice Cast: Steve Blum (Shoe / Sparky), Dee Bradley Baker (Fish / Wheels / Bucket), Max Mitchell (Baby Eggs), Ben Kingsley (Snatcher), Jared Harris (Lord Portley-Rind), Nick Frost (Mr. Trout), Richard Ayoade (Mr. Pickles), Tracy Morgan (Mr. Gristle), Nika Futterman (Oil Can / Knickers), Pat Fraley (Fragile /Sweets), Fred Tatasciore (Clocks / Specs), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Eggs), Elle Fanning (Winnie Portley-Rind), Maurice LaMarche (Sir Langsdale), James Urbaniak (Sir Broderick / Male Workman 1 / Male Workman 2), Brian George (Boulanger / Male Aristocrat 3), Toni Collette (Lady Cynthia Portley-Rind), Simon Pegg (Herbert Trubshaw), Lori Tritel (Female Aristocrat 1), Laraine Newman (Female Townsfolk 1 / Female Townsfolk 2), Reckless Jack (Background Boy), Ron Bottitta (Additional Voices) (uncredited), Jeremy Harrington (Tim Burton) (uncredited), Tom Kenny (Ed Vartis) (uncredited), Sam Lavagnino (Additional Voices) (uncredited) and Julian Stone (Additional Voices) (uncredited)
Directors: Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable
Producers: David Bleiman Ichioka, Matthew Fried and Travis Knight
Screenplay: Alan Snow (novel), Adam Pava (screenplay), Irena Brignull (screenplay), Anthony Stacchi (story adapted), Phil Dale (story adapted) and Vera Brosgol (additional writing)
Composer: Dario Marianelli
Cinematography: John Ashley Pratt (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
Arabic: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
Hindi: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
Dutch: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
Português: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
English: 2.0 Descriptive Audio
French: 2.0 Descriptive Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese and Dutch
Running Time: 96 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / LAIKA
Andrew’s 3D Blu-ray Review: In ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ [2014] we have a villainous troll catcher sets out to eradicate the underclass and join the cheese-eating elite in the latest from the animation people who were behind the animation films of 'Coraline' and ‘ParaNorman’ before it, the film was hatched out of artisanal Oregon-based animation studio LAIKA, where Travis Knight serves as CEO President. And like those earlier animation features, which managed more successfully to juggle dark with light, this one appears unafraid to target a more limited audience than most wide-release CGI animated films. Its demographic seems likely to mirror a younger age range of the source material, especially related to the British children’s author Alan Snow’s fantasy adventure novel entitled, “Here Be Monsters!” Who not only wrote it but also did over 500 black-and-white illustrations for it as well and the book was published in 2005 in the UK and in the US the following year.
Here we have a family event with a totally brilliant and inventive animated film that introduces audiences to a new breed of family called “The BoxTrolls,” which is a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs [Isaac Hempstead-Wrigh]) in the amazing cavernous home they've built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town's villain, Archibald Snatcher [Sir Ben Kingsley], comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnifred [Elle Fanning]. Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs' family.
The people of Cheesebridge live in fear of the BoxTrolls ever since that day that Baby Trubshaw was believed to be taken by the Boxtrolls in the dead of night. Ever since then, come night fall the town of Cheesebridge becomes completely deserted as a curfew takes place and the people of Cheesebridge hide in their homes. This curfew of course is perfect for the BoxTrolls as it means that they can roam the streets and alleys searching through bins and boxes for clocks, gears and other bits of machines that the folks of Cheesebridge throw away. The BoxTrolls you see are sort of tinkerers and engineers; they love to put things together, making new things out of the things that others throw away.
Between the stinky, the gross, the wretched, and the evil sits the adorable Boxtrolls, an anti-Pinocchio set in a snooty British-ish town obsessed with the extravagance of cheese. Underneath them in a mechanical sewer are the BoxTrolls, timid, tame, and thieving. They love garbage. The BoxTrolls teaches plenty in this scenario. Income gaps, the endlessly imbecility of politicians, the superficiality of wealth, the complexities of being a good person; it’s a loaded gun of entertainment metaphors and as unusually modest with colour as to set an unusually glum tone for a feature destined to be more aimed at younger fare, but I still enjoyed with an older out look of this animated film.
With the BoxTrolls, their joy, bugs and boogers are their delicacy. Elegant cheese is nostril harming and prone to causing allergies. The BoxTrolls is much in its own world where kids shout, “Eww!” and adults wonder what happened to their gentle animated delights and probably without realising a prior generation grew up on the bliss of people being slimed on national TV. So that’s where we are: Worms and flies, sewers and stench, with a dash of mould. The Boxtrolls are friendly critters, but they love all that rotten stinky stuff. They hide in boxes and name themselves after the products screened onto the front of their comfy cardboard clothes, names like Fish and Shoe. In their company too is a child, who to the outside world is dead. The child was allegedly ripped apart and mauled by the snivelling maws of the sewer troll beasts, or so they say. Or rather, they’re told. This town, known as Cheesebridge, even holds a celebration to honour the supposedly lost child as a warning of the BoxTroll’s threat and then add in a little propaganda metaphor too.
Where the BoxTrolls is headed is inevitable, as the BoxTrolls wish for their freedom and Eggs [Isaac Hempstead Wright], a young human changeling, as one of their own beneath the city streets and this boy will eventually become a hero, but it becomes more complex and rich than something so droll on its surface. The BoxTrolls villain, blatantly named Archibald Snatcher [Sir Ben Kingsley], brings with him three thugs to every night of the BoxTrolls snatching. Two of them are uneasily conflicted about their current status as bad guys, adding depth to an otherwise pale fairy tale with simple battle lines. There’s more humour than heart to ‘THE BOXTROLLS,’ but there are a couple of poignant moments thanks to the bond between Eggs and Winnie, charmingly voiced by Elle Fanning, who honed a reasonable English accent in the film ‘Maleficent.’ Winnie is a true scene-stealer, ghoulishly revelling in the legend of the child-snatching Boxtrolls.
All is told via the brilliant production studio LAIKA and their exquisite stop motion artistry, building a miniaturised world of unbelievable craftsmanship by hand. It’s so often meticulously detailed and ridiculously complex as to challenge what we once knew of the animation form. Their solutions are genius, their form is flawless, and their style is unmatched. It’s so often meticulously detailed and ridiculously complex as to challenge what we once knew of the animation form. Their solutions are genius, their form is flawless, and their style is unmatched. The visuals are totally awesome and dazzling at the same time, the voices are very expressive, and the end-credits sequence offers a laugh-out-loud appraisal of the madness of the animators’ labour-intensive craft.
Certainly, the challenges of stop motion can supersede story and it’s all too easy to fall under the trance of such beauty in motion. But not for BoxTrolls which carries exuberant personality as it gives life to indifferent citizens and playfully enjoyable critters. Often, there are no words. Unknowingly adopted by the BoxTroll human Eggs [Isaac Hempstead Wright] is introduced without dialog, merely some indecipherable mumbling known as “Trollese.” They party, they laugh. And, they enjoy their existence for what, and who they are. In between everything else, that is the Boxtrolls kindest message and The BoxTrolls has more humour than heart, but should please adults and children alike.
There is a totally captivating sequence during the end credits of ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ that’s more or less a hand-drawn capsule version of the entire story, accompanied by an airy cover of the Pete Seeger hit “Little Boxes” performed by the Loch Lomond band [Loch Lomond is a band based in Portland, Oregon, United States that was started as a solo recording project of Ritchie Young in 2003]. That’s followed by two characters who share an existentialist bent and amusingly voiced by Richard Ayoade and Nick Frost, imagining a world in which their every movement is manipulated by unseen giants, before cameras pan back to show producer and lead animator Travis Knight tinkering away. Those few playful minutes are packed with charm, wit and an infectious enthusiasm for the magic of animation and all the qualities that makes this brilliant 3D animation film a delight and a joy to view.
LAIKA has never made a poor looking animated film. Their output includes ‘Coraline’ and the 2012 gem ‘ParaNorman,’ although ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ is so very different, this is a much bleaker picture, but have fun and frolics on the way. While their previous work often exploded in tremendous colour, short of an orange-ish heavy third act finale, much of ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ is slightly muted and hues are weakened into a dusty pattern without the intention of depth. Black levels are sprayed with a bit of London fog.
And of course, that is okay. In terms of tonalities, the look is where it should be despite lacking the powerhouse “pop” now expected of animation. Instead, the BoxTrolls earns itself praise for resolution. Mini clothes, dirty floors, hair; they’re flawless. Digital photography and literally they use high-end Canon still cameras, not video and captures the nuance of each puppet. Background details, especially town buildings which recall the exaggerated forms of German expressionism very lightly anyway, stretch vertically. Each brick or weed is fully visible. Universal Pictures encoding work is doubly astonishing. Any fine lines maintain their integrity without aliasing. But seeing ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ in 3D makes watching this animated film well worth it and all in all will be perfect viewing for all the family, so give it a try, you will not be disappointed. The humour in this film is distinctly British in nature, so be prepared not to have the same sort of laughs you'd usually get from a PIXAR or Disney animated films. So ultimately what I'm saying is that ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ was a really wonderful lovely surprise, a thoroughly entertaining animated film with endearing characters that you'll learn to love as the film progresses. Also stay for the end credits, you'll be rewarded with a neat look at how stop-motion animation is done all the while two of the goons Richard Ayoade and Simon Pegg has an existential moment. It's really cool and silly at the same time.
THE BOXTROLLS MUSIC TRACK LIST
THE BOXTROLLS SONG (Words and Music by Eric Idle) (Demo music arranged by Marc Mann) [Performed by Mark Orton and Loch Lomond] [Vocalist Sean Patrick Doyle]
QUATTRO SABATINO (Music and Lyrics by Dario Marianelli) [Performed by Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy and Edmund Saddington]
LITTLE BOXES (Composed by Malvina Reynolds) [Performed by Loch Lomond]
SOME KIDS (Written by Jessie Donaldson and Ritchie Young) [Performed by Loch Lomond]
3D Blu-ray Image Quality – As we have come to expect from a LAIKA stop-motion production of ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ and seeing the Boxtrolls roaming the dark streets and alleys of this 3D Blu-ray disc that has a magnificent and stunning first-rate 1080p encode image that will have viewers believing in this a real fantasy world. One of the presentation's better aspects is surprisingly the lack of gimmick shots, but a couple action sequences break through the screen with the occasional trick effect, but the real focus and attention is placed on creating a realistic 3D world, which it does really admirably. The dark streets of the fictional Cheesebridge penetrate deep into image, forming an awesome sense of depth, an elongated passageway that one can actually feel turns the corner. Separation between buildings and objects is superb while characters have a nice roundness to them and their noses in particular protrude and extend from the faces of each character. Presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the video is also razor sharp with excellent detailing in every scene, even those with a thick, hovering fog, of which there are several. The stitching on the clothes is plainly visible; we can make out every thread and seam is precise and evident, allowing viewers to really appreciate the level of work that went into designing this elaborate world. The primary colours are vibrant and sumptuous while cleanly-rendered secondary hues provide warmth and vigour to the comedy, making this stop-motion flick an outstanding watch. Interestingly this Blu-ray of ‘THE BOXTROLLS,’ especially in the 2D version, actually detracts from the extensive stop-motion animation, as the purity of the high definition image actually, at times, makes LAIKA’s hard work CGI look absolutely stunning in 3D. Whereas I think it’s the first time I have felt seeing it in 2D Blu-ray hinders rather than help this brilliant animated film, so maybe if you are not into 3D animation, then maybe the best option is to only purchase and watch the inferior DVD, as it is pointless to get the 3D Blu-ray disc? Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
3D Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ has an excellent 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix, that has a grand time filling the home cinema space with music and atmospheric effects. The subwoofer gets a surprising good amount of work here, particularly from ideas like the Snatcher’s giant robot or an impossibly large wheel of Brie. However, the rear speakers are employed on several occasions, primarily and most notably during action sequences where effects enjoy discrete directionality and excellent panning. Dynamic range is distinct with clean definition of the tiniest object clanging and ringing across a very well-balanced soundstage. The low-end is ample and robust, providing adequate weight and rumble to certain scenes, and dialogue is intelligible with clean intonation in the conversations, making this an excellent sound mix.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Preliminary Animatic Sequences [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [17:28] Here we have six separate animated sequences we view mainly animated sketches in Black-and-White and some colour, with the music score from the film in the background. We get to see in great detail what the filmmakers were initially thinking about various parts of the story. There’s actually an alternate opening here, with a different view of how Eggs was taken by the Boxtrolls. The actual six separate animated sequences are as follows: “Baby In The trash;” “Eggs In The Underworld;” “Man On A Horse;” “Trubshaw’s Inventorium;” “Cheese Shop” and “Tea and Cheese.” You have three choices, one you play with the audio commentary by Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, secondly without the audio commentary or thirdly Play All.
Special Feature: Dare To Be Square: Behind the Scenes of ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [32:48] This is a collection of five features: “Voicing The Boxtrolls;” “Inside The Box;” “The Big Cheese: Allergy Snatcher;” “Deconstructing the Dance” and “Think Big: The Mecha Drill.” The first of these obviously focuses on the actors voicing the characters, with an interesting revelation that Sir Ben Kingsley likes to read his lines while lying on the chair vertically to get that guttural quality. The other four features cover the work of the brilliant animators working behind-the-scenes and seeing how the little boxes work, particularly what relates to major sequences like Snatcher’s allergy attack, the virtuoso ballroom dance scene and the final battle with Snatcher’s monster Mecha Drill robot, all in all this is a truly wonderful feature. But as you go through all five features, you get contributions from the following people: Travis Knight [Producer, Lead Animator]; Grahame Annable [Director]; Anthony Stacchi [Director]; Isaac Hempstead Wright [Voice of “Eggs”]; Elle Fanning [Voice of “Winnie”]; Jared Harris [Voice of “Lord Portley-Rind]; Sir Ben Kingsley [Voice of Snatcher”]; Richard Ayode [Voice of “Mr. Pickles”]; Nick Frost [Voice of “Mr. Trout”]; Tracy Morgan [Voice of “Mr. Gristle”]; David Bleiman Ichioka, P.G.A. [Producer]; Toni Collette [Voice of “Lady Portley-Rind”]; Steve Blum [Voice of “Shoe”]; Dee Bradley [Voice of “Fish”]; Simon Pegg [Voice of “Herbert Trubshaw”]; Brian McLean [Replacement Animation & Engineer]; Georgina Hayns [Character Fabrication Supervisor]; Brad Schiff [Animation Supervisor]; Oliver Jones [Animation Rigging]; David Vandervoort [Story Artist]; Jeff Croke [CG Facial Animator]; Tim Yates [Lead Replacement Animation Specialist]; Edie Ichioka, A.C.E. [Editor]; Dario Marianelli [Music Composer]; Deborah Cook [Costume Designer]; Brian Van’t Hul [Visual Effects Supervisor]; Gerald Svoboda [Animation Rigging]; Paul Martinez [Model Builder] and Curt Enderle [Art Director].
Special Feature: Featurettes [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [13:00] This is a shorter collection of five separate features and consists of the following: “The Nature of Creation;” “Trolls Right Off The Tongue;” “Allergic to Easy;” “Let’s Dance” and “On the Shoulders of Giants.” These cover some of the same ground as the longer previous features, and appear to be the promotional video that was posted on the internet when the animated film hit the cinemas in 2014 and is a FOCUS Features / LAIKA Production. As before, we get lots of contributions from people like: Travis Knight [CEO + Lead Animator, LAIKA]; Graham Annable [Director, “THE BOXROLLS”], Anthony Stacchi [Director, “THE BOXROLLS”], Ollie Jones [Rigging Supervisor, “THE BOXROLLS”], Curt Enderle [Art Director, “THE BOXROLLS”], Steve Emerson [VFX Supervisor, “THE BOXROLLS”], Steve Blum [Voice of “Shoe”]; Dee Baker [Voice of “Fish”]; David Vandervoort [Facial Animation Designer, LAIKA]; Peg Serena [Facial Animation Supervisor, LAIKA]; Brian McLean [Rapid Prototype, LAIKA] and Georgina Hayns [Creative Supervisor of Puppet Fabrication, LAIKA].
Audio Commentary Commentary with Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi: Here Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi introduce themselves and talk about the famous British children’s author Alan Snow’s fantasy adventure novel entitled, “Here Be Monsters!” that they based the animation film on, but they point out that the start of the animation film is totally different to the start of novel and they call it the “Prologue” and was the last sequence to be filmed, on top of that in the book they had thousands of characters, which could not of been conceived in the film, as the logistics would have been a nightmare to create for this animation film. But what they did want to do is to make the film look like the French Graphic Illustrations of Nicolas de Crécy, that they felt were inspirational art and if you want to know what they are on about, then check out his web site, as you will see why the buildings in the animation film are like they are and are of such brilliant interpretation and they both praise the LAIKA Art Department in bringing the French Graphic Illustrations of Nicolas de Crécy to life for this LAIKA animated film. This scene-specific commentary finds both directors in a happy mood as they go through the animated film you are viewing. They each take a fair amount of time to discuss the specifics of each character, as well as the evolution of the animated film’s story. When we first get to see the baby Boxtrolls named “Eggs,” you hear him hiccup, and the voice of the small boy was done by Max Mitchell, and at the time of the recording of the voice Max had a hiccup fit, so they decided to keep it in, as it gave the baby Boxtrolls a more human characteristics. When we get to the ballroom scene, they both comment on what a difficult scene it was to animated and a total logistic nightmare, with so many elements into the technicalities of producing something totally seamless and realistic. But when we come to seeing the Mecha Drill in daylight, it was an even more logistic nightmare to animate, but they praise the animation crew for all their hard work in making it look really good and realistic. As we get to the end of the animated film, especially the Credits, Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi praise most of the people you see mentioned in the credits and what a wonderful professional job they did on ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ and to find out that over 400 people work their heart out in producing such a brilliant animated film. So all in all the audio commentary was fascinating and you can hear how much Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi in making ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ and they hope you have enjoyed their audio commentary.
BONUS: Exclusive to this 3D Blu-ray UK Release it has a beautiful designed 3D printed slip cover.
Finally, ‘THE BOXTROLLS’ is another smart contribution from the stop-motion dream factory at LAIKA. It is really good work all the way around and a pleasure to watch. It starts slow, but it gets better and better as it moves along, ending with a virtuoso display of animation and a lovely final parting gag before things fade out. The 3D Blu-ray offers this animated film in both 3D and 2D high definition, and of course as I have already stated that my ultimate preference being the 3D Blu-ray without doubt that arrives with spectacular video and an excellent audio presentation. There is a generous amount of special features are also included. This brilliant animated 3D film gives great pleasure and is a brilliant all round family entertainment. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
