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nThe Box Trolls (2014)
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nDirectors: Graham Anabelle, Anthony Stacchi
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nVoice Actors: Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, TracynMorgan, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, Simon Pegg, Isaac Hempstead Wright
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nI’ve always enjoyed the films that the guys at Laika produce because they pride themselves in making children’s films that opposed ton95% of children’s films made these days, actually have something to say. They havena brain to them. They don’t make empty crap, they actually make films that have substance. Take for examplenCoraline (2009), a film about a little girl who is unhappy with her familynlife, so she escapes to an alternate universe with alternate versions of mommynand daddy. They appear to be better, but are they? I’m still finding new themesnevery time I watch Coraline. For a children’s film it’s extremely layered, it’sna film that both parents and children can enjoy. Same can be said fornParanorman (2012), a film about a little boy who is having a hard timenadjusting to the fact that he is just a little bit different than the rest ofnthe kids in town; he can talk to the dead! And so, here comes The Boxtrolls;ndoes it deliver the depth in themes that we’ve come to expect from Laika films?n
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nOf course it does! This production company’s mission is tonenlighten young minds; and so this time around the film takes place in anfictional town called Cheesebridge, a town where everybody loves cheese. Thentownspeople believe in these creatures called The Boxtrolls and according tontown legend these Boxtrolls are murderous creatures that come out at night to steal andneat your children. We soon learn that these creatures aren’t evil at all; theynsimply live on other people’s garbage. Whatever humans throw away, thenBoxtrolls can find a use for. The Boxtrolls have raised a human boy amongstnthem whom they call ‘Eggs’ because the box he wears is a box of eggs. When Eggsngrows into a teenager, he wants to see the world above. Will he ever learn thatnhe is a human and not a Boxtroll? Will he ever meet his real parents? On top ofnthings, the rich and powerful elite are scheming to eradicate the Boxtrollsnforever! Will they achieve their goal? Or will the Boxtroll’s fight for theirnright to exist?
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nSo yes, once again we get a deep, heavy themed movie fromnLaika. This time around they’ve decided to address class issues. You see, in this film thenBoxtrolls represent the poor, the underclass, those struggling to survive innthe world and ‘The White Hats’ are members of high society whose onlynworry in life is eating the finest cheese and wearing finest clothes, the concerns of the people don’t really matter to them. These White Hatsnsee The Boxtrolls as a menace, a plague that should be eliminated. Not sondifferent from what goes on in the world today, where the rich and powerful seenthe masses as a hindrance, as ‘monsters’ so to speak, as people they don’t evennwant to associate themselves with. This is why in the film The Boxtrolls arenseen as hideous, but only because this is a myth that is propagated amongst thenpeople. In reality, The Boxtrolls are harmless, even lovable. They all liveninside their little boxes, which they hide in as soon as they sense danger. Thensymbolisms are quite clear when we look at it. The poor live inside “the box”, theynhide from society, looking for their own comfort. But we learn through the filmnthat what they need to do is think outside the box and fight for their right toncoexist in this world. In this sense the film is extremely similar to FritznLang’s Metropolis (1927), the poor who live in the underworld and the rich whonlive above must find a way to understand each other. If I’m to draw comparison’snto other films, Little Monsters (1989), would be another one, in that one, thenmonsters also lived in some kind of underground alternate universe. Anothernsimilar one would be City of Ember (2008), which played with similar ideas.
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nAnd this is why I love Laika films. They address themes thatnkids should be exposed to and rarely are. I mean, I’m all for “believe innyourself” and “follow your dreams” (and there is some of that in this film) butnthere’s other themes that can be addressed to children, especially when we takenin consideration the kind of complex world we live in, a world in which children deal with more diverse matters than the ones presented in what passes for children’s films these days. This is why I alwaysnapplaud children’s films that go a little further and don’t take our childrennfor granted. Films like Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) or Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are (2009), films that don’t treat children like idiots, which Inthink is something that modern society tends to do just a little too much. Itnis my opinion that children are very capable of grasping and learning conceptsnand ideas a whole lot faster than they are given credit for, so I’m all fornchildren movies with brains, especiallynones that are as artful and as interesting to look at as the films that Laikanis producing.
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nThe cherry on the cake is the amazing stop motion animation which I justnlove to look at, to me stop motion animation, when done right, is eye candy. And trust me; these films are a truenwonder! I still bow down to stop motion artist and I am glad thisnfilm making technique refuses to die. It works wonders in films of this kind,nand I honestly hope that the folks at Laika never stop making their films, though I know these films are an endangered species.nStill, I’m happy that every now and again a stop motion animated film pops up and I’m happy that they have not completely disappeared. To me the films that Laika isnproducing are as amazing as the films that Studio Ghibli produces, unique because not everybody is making them. Unique because they are old school and that makes them all the more special, true gems.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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