And LAIKA’s New Project Is…’The Boxtrolls’

LAIKA, the Oregon-based stop-motion studio, has announced its upcoming animated film: The Boxtrolls.

The Boxtrolls will be a hybrid animated feature, combining 3D stop-motion and CGI, and is based on the book Here Be Monsters, a fantasy adventure novel by Alan Snow.

In the press release, LAIKA revealed the official synopsis:

The Boxtrolls is a comedic fable that unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least that’s the legend residents have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells. The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by a villainous pest exterminator who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kind-hearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and an adventurous rich girl to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese.

Sounds like it will be a pretty cheesy film (get it?). All jokes aside, it’s great to see the small LAIKA back in production so soon after releasing ParaNorman. In typical LAIKA fashion, the film is monster-centric and has a creepy vibe. LAIKA is a great up-and-coming studio already with two fantastic films under its belt–Coraline and ParaNorman–so the bar is definitely set high for this one.

The Boxtrolls features voice talent from Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade and Tracy Morgan. It is directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, with David Ichioka and Travis Knight producing.

The new film hits theatres October 17, 2014.

Are you excited for The Boxtrolls?