VIDEO INTERVIEW : 'The Boxtrolls' Directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable

Photo Credit: Focus Features

– By Beau Behan, Film Critic & Entertainment Reporter

Originally published at 1:27 p.m. Sept 25, 2014. Edited to move video to top of the page.

• The Boxtrolls (2014), PG, 97 min, Animation, Adventure, Comedy
• Opening (USA), Sept 26, 2014
• Stars: Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Tracy Morgan
• Directors: Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
• Writers: Irena Brignull, Adam Pava

Based on Alan Snow’s bestselling fantasy adventure book, Here Be Monsters, The Boxtrolls is a family event movie from the creators of Coraline and ParaNorman that introduces audiences to a new breed of family. It is about a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) beneath the charming cobblestone streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s pest exterminator, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), plots to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground and teams up with the feisty rich girl, Winnie (Elle Fanning), to save his family.

Co-directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, The Boxtrolls was shot on-site in 3D at the Oregon-based animation studio LAIKA. Furthermore, it is a stop-motion animation film.

Comparable to a live-action feature, a stop-motion film requires that physical sets be built and dressed. Performers, the puppets, must be properly coiffed, clothed and lit with proper direction.

“For us (LAIKA),the fact that these are actual puppets on real sets, every child has the memory of growing up and playing with dolls or model train set, or trucks and toys, it’s instilled deep in your memory”, Stacchi explains. “I think every time somebody looks up at a stop-motion film that memory comes back because they know these are not generated by computer. They’re real things.”

“Stop-motion animation has its own very interesting peculiar look. It’s almost older than cinema itself, the technique of doing it. It hasn’t changed much since those days of the original King Kong movie. The Boxtrolls doesn’t look quite like any other animated feature out there right now,” adds Annable.

The Box Trolls is a period film. It was in development for approximately over 6 years, and with 350 people working tirelessly, the actual production took 18 months to complete. In addition, LAIKA had to create 200 puppets for the film.

Make sure to watch the video for more inside stories and insights into the making of The Boxtrolls from directors Stacchi and Annable. We also demonstrate how a stop-motion animation technology works.

Go see The Boxtrolls! It is an excellent fun film!