There are a group of mysterious creatures, trolls, who wear boxes, live underground, come out at night and scavenge through the small town they live beneath. And they have a boy, Fish (Dee Bradley Baker) who has ended up with them. Above the surface, a rumour has spread that they kidnap and kill children during the night, and evil Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), a lowly trashman with aspirations to join the elite of the town, vows to get rid of them all in return for a place at the cheese eating table. Then Fish meets Winnie (Elle Fanning) the daughter of one of the elite and she wants to use to him to finally get some attention from her father. Will evil destroy good and do we really care?
I loved the style of the animation, the dirty, ugly appearance of all characters and the gadgets and things involved. Yet I didn’t care for the story. I didn’t care about Fish, I didn’t like anyone else in the whole thing, I think I was supposed to like the Boxtrolls but I didn’t and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. No, that is a bit harsh. I didn’t like it, but I most definitely can see how other people would, and I did appreciate that it is not your usual, tedious, sweet kids story. A bit of grit is good.
The Boxtrolls was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature of the Year.
ireckonthat 