Saturday, January 10, 2015

Blu-ray Review - The BoxTrolls


The BoxTrolls
Directors: Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
Voice Cast: Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Elle Fanning, Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Retail: $49.98
ASIN: B00NFZ367Q
Running Time: 97 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on January 20th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment is last year  3D stop motion animated fantasy-comedy film "The BoxTrolls." Bonus Features include Dare to the Square: Behind the Scenes of the Boxtrolls, 5 Featurettes that Take You Inside the Magical World of The Boxtrolls, Feature Commentary with Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi and the Blu-ray Exclusive - Preliminary Animatics Sequences.

Based on the children book  Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow, The BoxTrolls is set in 1809 in the fictional town of Cheesebridge and centers on a group of subterranean trolls whom live underneath the streets. The outside word believes that the trolls kidnaps and kills little children, but in reality they are kind and shy creatures that wouldn't hurt a fly. They wear boxes and draw pictures on the boxes to represent their name.

Years ago, the trolls came across a human baby and they have been raising him ever since, naming him Eggs. Like the trolls, Eggs wheres a box and crawls out of the sewers at night to find goodies  that humans leave behind in their trash cans and on the street.

The Pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (voiced by Ben Kingsley) has been obsessed with getting a white hat as only a member of the high society receives one. He finally makes a deal with the mayor that he will receive a white hat if  he catches all of the Boxtrolls, so one by one he begins catching the trolls, including Fish, the gentle troll who is Egg's best friend.

Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) is now a young boy and begins to explore the outside world, which is where he befriends the mayor's daughter, Winnie (voiced by Elle Fanning). He unravels Snatcher's plans on destroying the trolls and sets out to find where Snatcher is keeping Fish and the other Trolls at. Somehow Eggs is going to come up with a plan to save the trolls and show the town that trolls are not the villains.


I could have sworn that I saw a trailer for this film over two years ago, which I probably did as the theatrical date had been changed several times before being released back in September. At first glance, I would have guessed that Tim Burton was somehow involved with film's production as the stop-motion-animation reminds of the Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, The Nightmare Before Christmas and James & the Giant Peach. Similar to these other animated films, The Boxtrolls may be a kid's film, but the story will appeal to adult viewers as well.

The use of 3D-stop-motion-animation really brings the characters to life, especially all of the Boxtrolls. Cleverly adapted to screen by Irena Brignull & Adam Pava and wonderfully directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, The BoxTrolls is a charming fantasy animated film that will certainly entertain both children and adults.



*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

2 comments:

  1. Tim Burton was not involved in "James and the Giant Peach," and he didn't direct "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Both of those films were made by Henry Selick, who also directed "Coraline." And "Coraline" was the first full length feature film from LAIKA Studios, the company that also made "The Boxtrolls."

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    1. Tim Burton produced The Nightmare Before Christmas and he co-wrote the story that Caroline Thompson and Michael McDowell used to write the screenplay. He also produced James and the Giant Peach. I never mentioned in my review that he directed those movies.

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