The Boxtrolls **** (2014, voices Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost) – Movie Review

Cute and deliciously quirky animation in which Eggs (voice of Isaac Hempstead Wright), a young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors, tries to save his friends from the evil exterminator Archibald Snatcher. It remains winsome and charming despite its gothic visuals and dark spin in the Roald Dahl vein.

Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi’s total labour of love is based on the children’s novel Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow, adapted here by Irena Brignull and Adam Pava.

Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris and Nick Frost seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as the voices of Archibald Snatcher, Lord Portley-Rind and Mr Trout. Elle Fanning is the other key voice as Lord Portley’s precocious daughter Winifred (Winnie), who discovers Eggs, and points out to him the disappointing news that he’s a real boy not a real Boxtroll, despite being in a box marked ‘eggs’.

There’s lots of grown-up appeal in this exceedingly stylish children-friendly animation, made in 3D, which neither helps nor hinders. With glorious production designs, it’s a total art object, and completes a hit trick as the third brilliant feature from Oregon-based studio Laika Animation, using the same stop-motion techniques, with some CGI and hand-drawn work, following Coraline and ParaNorman.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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