What a surprise! Today LAIKA unexpectedly released a teaser trailer and poster for its newest stop-motion film The Boxtrolls, giving us our first glimpse at the beautiful stop-motion animation we’ve come to love from the studio.
The teaser trailer (below) shows a little baby playing in a cobblestone street, as a narrator talks about how there are many different types of families out there (one mother, one father; two mother; two dads; or even one mother, one father, plus a crazy amount of extended family). The hook of the trailer is that “some families come in all shapes and sizes…even rectangles,” which briefly shows the stars of the film: a family of Boxtrolls, which are trolls that live in, you guessed it, boxes.
The animation is beautiful and quirky, evoking the emotion we’re used to from LAIKA’s stop motion. The character design is dark and Gothic. It seems The Boxtrolls will be set in a Victorian era, much like The Corpse Bride, which will be a nice change of pace from the more modern tales of Coraline and ParaNorman.
While the trailer focuses a bit more on the human characters, the teaser poster (below) puts the family of Boxtrolls completely in the spotlight (literally). We get to see a handful of various Boxtrolls who are out of their box and exploring. What I thought was cool about this poster was that the whole back wall of the poster is lined with Boxtrolls still hiding in their boxes. It will definitely be fun to jump into the world of The Boxtrolls when this movie comes out.
The film comes out in little over a year from now, so this trailer and poster were a real unexpected treat. We did get an official announcement a few months ago that production had started on the film, but now my interest really has really been piqued, having seen the first bit of animation and promotion.
The Boxtrolls features a diverse voice cast. Notably are Ben Kingsley, , Elle Fanning, Tracy Morgan, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade and Isaac Hempstead-Wright. The film is directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable.
For those who are new to The Boxtrolls, here is the official synopsis:
The new 3D animated feature from Laika Studios tells the tale of the Boxtrolls, monsters who live underneath the charming streets of Cheesebridge, who crawl out of the sewers at night to steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that’s the legend the townspeople have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are a community of lovable oddballs who are raising as one of their own an abandoned and orphaned human boy named Eggs. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by a villainous exterminator who is bent on eradicating them, Eggs must venture aboveground to save them, where he teams with an adventurous young girl to save not only the Boxtrolls but the soul of Cheesebridge.
The Boxtrolls hits theatres September 26, 2014.
How do you feel about the first look at The Boxtrolls?
[youtube=http://youtu.be/MMCSXHEFtx8]
via Collider
