THE BOXTROLLS – The Blu Review

“It won’t change who you are. Cheese, hats, boxes-they don’t make you who you are. You make you!”

Get ready to enjoy a masterfully crafted Dickensian world with stunningly well animated-characters and witty dialog. If you’re familiar with CORALINE and PARANORMAN, LAIKA Animation Studio’s previous works, THE BOXTROLLS will come as no surprise. As before, the visuals are worth the price of admission and as before, I was left hungry for more.

THE BOXTROLLS itself is a well-told fantasy full of silliness and whimsy, but there’s depth and meaning as well. It could be argued that this is a kids film about ethnic cleansing and genocide(!), but it’s all handled in the best possible taste. Somehow they managed to pull this off without ever being too heavy-handed, scary, or inappropriate. An example of this would be the villain’s henchmen, who spend much of the film in the mistaken belief that they’re the good guys. It’s not so much a film about good vs evil, as it is good vs foolishness. THE BOXTROLLS also presents a fantasy world with a visible class system, where aloof aristocrats are so distracted with their ridiculous hobbies that real world problems are neglected. Cheesebridge, the locale, is a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. You could easily spend another viewing just taking in the beautifully detailed sets full of crooked buildings on cobble-stoned streets, and the immaculately tailored costumes, all of it so tactile and vivid you’ll want to reach out. If you’re the kind of person that would love to interact and play around with all these props and puppets, I recommend seeing THE BOXTROLLS in 3D. It’s like having them right there in front of you. Aside from the window dressing, there’s good characterizations all round. The Box Trolls themselves are particularly adorable, and their antics are endlessly amusing. The talent involved with the stop-motion animation makes THE BOXTROLLS a joy to behold.

THE BOXTROLLS is a future classic, destined to be fondly remembered for years to come and on January 20^th , you will be able to enjoy it at home with the thrilling Blu-ray/DVD combo release from Focus Features. We Are Movie Geeks got a sneak peak at the package:

THE BOXTROLLS is presented in a flawless 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that showcases the film’s grim period wonders beautifully. I do not have a 3-D TV but the high definition image on the flat Blu-ray is as crisp and refined as any animation fan could hope for. Edges are sharp and clean and textures are incredibly revealing. Even minuscule frame-by-frame facial variations are wonderfully apparent, without any blip, blemish or significant artifact to report. Colors are striking and vibrant, primaries are rich and rewarding, black levels are suitably ominous, and contrast is dialed in perfectly. I don’t have a single complaint. This is an amazing presentation.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is just as impressive as the video with plenty of fun, demo-worthy moments throughout.

The Blu-ray 3D – Blu-ray – DVD – Digital HD package is loaded with extras:

 – DARE TO BE SQUARE:  BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE BOXTROLLS

VOICING THE BOXTROLLS: The tremendously talented cast members of The Boxtrolls discuss what it’s like to voice an animated puppet, what each actor brought to his/her role, whether their personalities were similar to their characters, and more.

INSIDE THE BOX: The directors, producers, and creative supervisor of character fabrication Georgina Hayns share the challenges of crafting characters who are inside a box.

THE BIG CHEESE:  ALLERGY SNATCHER: The directors and producers are joined by Brian McLean, director of Rapid Prototyping, to discuss how the animation studio LAIKA creates the faces for their puppets.   The big story here – literally! – is how Snatcher’s face changes shape due to his cheese allergy.

DECONSTRUCTING THE DANCE: Discover how LAIKA combined traditional stop-motion animation with visual effects in order to create the beautiful ballroom dance sequence – and  how costume designer Deborah Cook met the challenge of creating costumes that could flow during a dance scene.

THINK BIG:  THE MECHA DRILL: Standing 5 feet tall and weighing over 75 pounds, the Mecha-Drill is the largest stop motion puppet/prop ever created by LAIKA.  Follow its creation from design to completion.

  – Five featurettes that take you inside the magical world of the Boxtrolls:

THE NATURE OF CREATION

TROLLS RIGHT OFF THE TONGUE

ALLERGIC TO EASY

LET’S DANCE

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

  – FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTORS ANTHONY STACCHI AND GRAHAM ANNABLE

THE BOXTROLLS was a weird, completely original experience and the new Blu-ray is recommended for fans of this morbid animation masterpiece.