The Boxtrolls (2014)

A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator.

Directors:

Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi

Writers:

Irena Brignull (screenplay), Adam Pava (screenplay)

Stars:

Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 60 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Blum	...	Shoe / Sparky (voice)
Dee Bradley Baker	...	Fish / Wheels / Bucket (voice)
Max Mitchell	...	Baby Eggs (voice)
Ben Kingsley	...	Snatcher (voice)
Jared Harris	...	Lord Portley-Rind (voice)
Nick Frost	...	Mr. Trout (voice)
Richard Ayoade	...	Mr. Pickles (voice)
Tracy Morgan	...	Mr. Gristle (voice)
Nika Futterman	...	Oil Can / Knickers (voice)
Pat Fraley	...	Fragile / Sweets (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Clocks / Specs (voice)
Isaac Hempstead Wright	...	Eggs (voice)
Elle Fanning	...	Winnie Portley-Rind (voice)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Sir Langsdale (voice)
James Urbaniak	...	Sir Broderick / Male Workman 1 / Male Workman 2 (voice)

Storyline

THE BOXTROLLS are a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs in the amazing cavernous home they've built beneath the streets of a city called Cheesebridge. The story is about a young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors who tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator, the town's villain, Archibald Snatcher. When Snatcher comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls. Eggs decides to venture above ground and "into the light," where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie. Together, they devise a daring plan to save The BoxTrolls family. The film is based upon the children's novel 'Here Be Monsters' by Alan Snow.

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Plot Keywords:

stop motion animation | chase | boy hero | cheese allergy | genocide | 

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Taglines:

Dare to be square.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for action, some peril and mild rude humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because all of the actors and actresses recorded their parts separately, Simon Pegg was initially unaware of best friend Nick Frost's participation in the project, and vice versa.

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Goofs

When the teddy bear's music box runs down, Baby Eggs hands the mechanism to Fish who gives the key only two half-turns. The music box then plays again, with its key somehow able to unwind for many revolutions. Later on after the Boxtrolls wake up, this impossibility is repeated, but is even worse since now the key winds/unwinds in the opposite direction.

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Quotes

Winnie: [explaining to Eggs, who has been raised as a Boxtroll since he was a baby, how to act around humans] When you meet someone, you must look them in the eye, and shake hands.
[a confused Eggs does jazz hands]
Winnie: What are you doing?

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Crazy Credits

After the first part of the credits, Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles have a philosophical discussion about their place in the world while, around them, that world carries on.

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Alternate Versions

In the Latin American Spanish dubbing, Madam Fru Fru speaks in an Argentinean accent instead of a French one, and her song becomes a tango.

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Connections

Referenced in RebelTaxi: Top 10 WORST Animated CARTOON Moments of 2016 (RebelTaxi) (2017)

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Soundtracks

Some Kids
Written by Jessie Donaldson, Ritchie Young
Performed by Loch Lomond

User Reviews

Not cute but clever

There are cute children's films - like "Frozen, the first movie to which I ever took my granddaughter (then just under three) - and then there is the more challenging kind - like "The Boxtrolls" to which I took her nine months later. We haven't read the source material, the novel "Here Be Monsters!" by Alan Snow, but she knows all about trolls from "Frozen" and other stories and these are very cleverly represented through stop- motion capture by the specialist production company Laika. But it's a little bit scary for young ones, so my granddaughter held on to my hand most of the film and sat on my lap for the final third.

For British adults of a certain age, the characters of the town of Cheesebridge look like people from a Gerald Scarfe cartoon and the subterranean habitat of the boxtrolls themselves is like a cross between the worlds of Heath Robinson and Hieronymus Bosch. The voices are very well-done and for me the best of comes from Ben Kingsley as a hard bad guy and Richard Ayoade as a soft bad guy. Stay for the credits when early on there is a little bit of existential angst on display from two of the stop motion characters.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Here Be Monsters

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,275,239, 28 September 2014

Gross USA:

$50,837,305

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$108,255,770

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Laika Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1