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Let's Talk About "The BoxTrolls"

Laika's greatly anticipated third feature in association with Focus Features, The BoxTrolls, rolls into U.S. and Canadian theaters tomorrow (or tonight if you're a die hard fan), so I think there's no better time to talk about it than now.

With every great movie, there's a one or two sentence emotional journey that your main character goes through and/or struggles with during the film that's surrounded by a fantastical world, real or imagined.   No doubt that the fantastical Victorian/Dickinson world that we've seen in so many of The BoxTrolls trailers and Instagram photos is utterly gorgeous.  Little has to be said about how grand of a scale and the shocking amount of detail that's put into The BoxTrolls, this goes for the sets and puppets that even goes beyond the stunning feat Laika pulled off with ParaNorman.  We have Eggs as the main character in The BoxTrolls, an adventurous, curious, and slightly crude in his mannerisms little boy.  Though I am as of now not yet seeing the film, unsure of the emotional tagline that he has. This is a note that usually goes unnoticed by reviewers and critics but certainly plays a role in the film's quality.  Let me stage this for you, in ParaNorman the emotional tagline was friendship.  In Disney's Frozen it was a relationship story of two sisters.  This is the thing that ties a film together.  Though something that is not shown in a movie's trailer.

The BoxTrolls (How To Prepare Fish): http://youtu.be/yLpCErNXaus?list=UUv6Q5GVAMEQe15E4Tz5X3Vw

So I'm very curious to see what BoxTrolls have to offer here.  Whatever that [emotional tagline] may be, a strong story surrounding the tagline is just as important.  And I am certain that this is an element The BoxTrolls has, it can be seen in the trailers and clips and synopsis.

Trailer: http://youtu.be/z3eHd87dx6M?list=UUv6Q5GVAMEQe15E4Tz5X3Vw


I consider Laika, as I've stated before, the Pixar of Stop Motion.  So there is definitely an emotional journey and certainly a good story.  One thing can be said about BoxTrolls is that it's a stroke of artistic genius.  The puppets are the most incredible and I could just drool all day over their 3D printed faces.  In case you're unfamiliar, Laika has a rapid prototype printer where they print off hundreds of thousands of replacement animation faces.  This adds a since of realism that cannot be replicated in any other medium.  This film feels a bit lighter in tone and family-friendlyness compared to Coraline or ParaNorman.  So I believe that, equipped with that, I wouldn't be surprised if this is Laika's biggest success box-officewise so far.  Also, I think their release date and timing is very good.  Just look at Marvel's The Guardian's of the Galaxy, which hasn't even hit the cheap theaters yet and it's been out for two months because it was such a hit.  As a final line, if you can't tell I am extremely excited to see this and I'm sure it'll be great.  Though of course the true acid test will come out tomorrow, fingers crossed guys and gals!


If you want more BoxTrolls goodness and BTS go visit their Website, Tumblr, and Instagram.

More BTS: http://youtu.be/Pt-4LoIAIxQ?list=UUv6Q5GVAMEQe15E4Tz5X3Vw

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