To help promote the forthcoming new
3D animated feature from
Portland-based
Laika Studios, The Boxtrolls, Universal Studios Hollywood had an extensive display of character concepts, costumes, faces and stop-motion figures on display at the
NBC Universal Experience exhibit on April 15, 2014.
Original stop-moption character figures
and concept designs from The Boxtrolls
The movie is based on
Alan Snow's fantasy adventure novel
Here Be Monsters! and follows past
Laika stop-motion animation movies,
Coraline and
ParaNorman, but is a hybrid of stop-motion and computer-generated effects.
The Boxtrolls movie poster
The story follows a young orphaned boy named
'Eggs' in a
Victorian-Era town
who has been raised by a race of subterranean cavern-dwelling trash-collecting creatures, who must be saved by their human ward when they are targeted by an evil pest exterminator named
'Archibald Snatcher'.
The Boxtrolls stop-motion character figures
I'm always amazed at the sheer detail that goes into stop-motion creations, from the miniature costumes and faces, to the intricate sets these puppets inhabit, just look at the elaborate detail of the
'Lord and Lady Portley-Rind' characters.
Underground cave set from The Boxtrolls
The Boxtrolls who
wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells, live beneath the town of
Cheesebridge and exist by dumpster-diving and collecting the junk left behind by the town's residents, although the townspeople believe they emerge from the sewers to steal their cheese and children at night.
If you like this
Laika Studios exhibit, be sure to also check out these
stop-motion puppets and sets from ParaNorman and from the world of
Coraline.
The Boxtrolls stop-motion facial expression and components
Plus if you're a stop-motion animation fan, be sure to also check out these
stop-motion maquettes and models from Frankenweenie and this
Fantastic Mr. Fox movie set on display.
The Boxtrolls in cinemas September 2014
Buy the book the movie is based on:
Here Be Monsters! (The Ratbridge Chronicles)
