As The Boxtrolls opens we are obviously in the middle of the story. Events escalate quickly before the studio titles are over. It could be easy to miss these early developments which are integral to the entire story. An exterminator strikes up a deal with the authorities to eliminate the underground menace. After eliminating all the Boxtrolls he would earn a (literal) white hat which symbolizes stature – apparently a place in the city’s ruling council (and seat in the cheese tasting room). As the film really begins we see the community of Boxtrolls dwindling as they are caught over time. Subsequently a young human is living as one of them and grows from infancy to boyhood.
Presented in stop-motion animation (and in 3D) The Boxtrolls has a great look that fits the setting of “somewhere in England” a little over a hundred years ago. Making things even better is how the story is reminiscent of Roald Dahl. The children in this story are the ones who know the truth and are trying to make things right with the adults either completely (and willingly) oblivious or they are the antagonists.
The voice cast is pretty stellar. We have Sir Ben Kingsley, Tracy Morgan, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, and more (if you are familiar with the names of voice actors). You might recognize the young boy who voices the main protagonist from “Game Of Thrones” – Isaac Hempstead-Wright.
While there are some humorous moments and a couple of groan inducing jokes The Boxtrolls is more of a dramatic film. And that’s a good thing. This is a solid story about who is and isn’t a monster, human nature, being true to yourself and the such. I didn’t expect to like The Boxtrolls as much as I did. It’s a solid fairy-tale sort of story, one that often gets attempted but doesn’t quite work out. This time it does.
A few special features show up, starting with the film in 2D and 3D. Frankly this is how stop motion should be enjoyed. There is an audio commentary with co-directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi which covers a lot of ground from adapting the book to the look of the film to the voice cast, well, it’s a satisfying listen. We also get about 45 minutes of featurettes chopped up into 10 different segments. I really don’t like how these thing are chopped up, but such as it is. Taken together we get a good look at the making of The Boxtrolls.
Additionally we get about 15 minutes of storyboard animatics with or without commentary from the co-directors. I would have liked to have seen the whole of the film presented this way, perhaps as a picture in picture option.
Overall we get a good film in a decent Blu-ray package. And yes, it does come packed in with a DVD copy.