The box trolls

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Movie
German title The box trolls
Original title The box trolls
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2014
length 96 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
JMK 6
Rod
Director Graham Annable ,
Anthony Stacchi
script Irena Brignull ,
Adam Pava
production Travis Knight ,
David Ichioka
music Dario Marianelli
cut Edie Bleiman
occupation
synchronization

The Boxtrolls is a stop-motion film from the year 2014 , based on the novel trilogy The Monster of Rattingen ( English Here Be Monsters! ) By Alan Snow , so far, the first two volumes have appeared in Germany only. The film was released in German cinemas on October 23, 2014.

action

In 1805, in the fictional town of Cheesebridge, there were rumors of the underground trolls called box trolls who are supposed to kidnap and kill young children. Exterminator Archibald Snatcher makes an agreement with Mayor Lord Portley-Rind that, despite his severe allergy to cheese, which causes grotesque swelling, he will get a seat on the cheese-loving city council, the White Hats, as soon as he has destroyed every single box troll.

In truth, the box trolls are peaceful creatures, they carry cardboard boxes like clothes (hence the name) and come out of the underground at night to rummage through the garbage for useful items. A human child named Eggs lives with them and is raised by a box troll named Fish. When Eggs was ten years old, he was horrified to find out that Archibald Snatcher kidnapped the box trolls.

Lord Portley-Rind's neglected daughter Winnie watches as Eggs rummages through the garbage with two box trolls. Snatcher chases the trio and catches fish. Devastated, Eggs disguises himself and sneaks back to the surface to find him. Eggs ends up in the middle of a fair that takes place annually to commemorate the "Trubshaw Baby" who disappeared eleven years ago - it is claimed that the box trolls kidnapped and killed her. Disgusted by the townspeople's inaccurate representation of the creatures, he follows Winnie as she leaves the fair. She recognizes him as the boy she saw the night before and leads him to Snatcher's headquarters, an abandoned factory.

Eggs sneaks into the factory and finds the fish locked in a cage. He frees him, but while they try to escape, they are caught again. Snatcher recognizes Eggs as the Trubshaw baby and reveals that all of the trolled box trolls are still alive and have to build a giant machine for him. Winnie followed Eggs into the factory and overheard the conversation. Fish, Eggs and Winnie can escape and hide in the box trolls' caves.

Winnie is overwhelmed when she learns the truth about the box trolls and convinces Eggs that he is human. Fish explains to Eggs that his real father entrusted him to box trolls when he was a baby to protect him from Snatcher. Winnie promises to help Eggs convince Mayor Portley-Rind of the truth. At a ball held to commemorate the purchase of a giant loaf of cheese, Eggs accidentally nudges the cheese, causing it to roll into the river. Eggs comes out as the Trubshaw baby at the party, but nobody believes him, and Lord Portley-Rind throws him out for throwing the cheese in the river.

Eggs returns to the caves and tries to convince the remaining box trolls that the only way to save themselves from Snatcher is by fleeing. Snatcher digs himself into the caves with the help of a machine built by the box trolls, he captures the entire group and brings them back to the factory. Eggs wakes up hanging in a cage, his real father, Herbert Trubshaw, who was kidnapped by Snatcher years ago and has been held captive by him since then, hangs upside down on a wall next to him. Eggs watches as the box trolls are stacked in a large press, he begs them to run away, but the press is turned on and flattens all the boxes. Snatcher drives his machine to Lord Portley-Rind's house, he shows him the empty boxes as evidence of the destroyed box trolls and demands Portley-Rind's white hat as soon as he has killed the last box troll (Eggs disguised as a box troll).

At that moment the box trolls arrive with Herbert, they had snuck out of their boxes and were able to escape before the boxes were crushed. Snatcher, blind in anger, tries to take Portley-Rind's hat by force, but Eggs, Herbert and the box trolls deactivate part of the machine. The two opponents are thrown up and land on the cheese wheel that has just been fished out of the river. The cheese-allergic snatcher swells to a terrifying giant and receives Lord Portley-Rind's hat in exchange for his daughter Winnie; He triumphantly enters the cheese tasting room. It explodes after eating the first bite of cheese.

The townspeople realize that the box trolls are not monsters and decide to live peacefully with them. Winnie tells the crowd the story of Snatcher's end. Herbert and Eggs drive off in one of Snatcher's devices.

Cast and dubbing

Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Comic-Con 2014
Elle Fanning, Comic-Con 2014
Ben Kingsley, Comic-Con 2014

The German-language dubbing was done at RC Production in Berlin. The author of the dialogue book was Oliver Rohrbeck , who also worked as a dialogue director.

role Original speaker German speaker
Lord Portley beef Jared Harris Holger Mahlich
Lady Portley Beef Toni Collette Christin Marquitan
Winnie Portley beef Elle Fanning Jodie Blank
Mr. Trout Nick Frost Olaf Reichmann
Archibald Snatcher Ben Kingsley Joachim Tennstedt
Mr. Gristle Tracy Morgan Norman Matt
Mr. Pickles Richard Ayoade Rainer Fritzsche
Herbert Trubshaw Simon Pegg Dennis Schmidt-Foss
Eggs Isaac Hempstead-Wright Patrick Baehr

production

In June 2008, Laika announced a number of projects, one of which is a literary adaptation of Alan Snow's novel Here Be Monsters! . With the animation technique still undecided, Anthony Stacchi was hired as a director. On February 7, 2013, Laika announced that the adaptation would be her next 3D movie called "The Boxtrolls". Directed by Stacci and Graham Annable , the film was due to open in the United States on September 26, 2014 . Focus Features holds the distribution rights and Universal Pictures is releasing the film outside of America.

Film music

Dario Marianelli composed the music for the film. In addition to the (instrumental) musical accompaniment to film scenes, the film also contains four songs. One of them ( Quattro Sabatinos ) has an Italian text and is also from the pen of Marianelli. The other three are in English and were recorded for the film by the Loch Lomond band . The text and music of the title track The Boxtrolls Song are provided by Monty Python member Eric Idle . The song Little Boxes was written by the songwriter Malvina Reynolds back in 1962 and its original lyrics have been slightly changed in some places to make a direct reference to the film. The third English language song, Some Kids , was written by Jessie Donaldson with Loch Lomond member Ritchie Young. Only The Boxtrolls Song and Quattro Sabatinos appear in the actual film, the other two songs can only be heard in the credits. The Boxtrolls Song is sung by Archibald Snatcher in the film, while Quattro Sabatinos is played on a turntable and the boxing roles play along in self-made instruments.

reception

English speaking area

In the United States, box trolls received mostly positive reviews. The film portal Rotten Tomatoes comes to an overall rating of 75%. For this purpose, 153 reviews were evaluated, of which 115 were more positive and 38 were more negative.

German-speaking area

The film was also largely received positively in German-speaking countries. Almost all reviews praise the visual design, while the assessment of the plot is slightly different and some critics criticize weaknesses in the script.

A criticism by the German press agency describes Die Boxtrolls as an animated film with cult potential. She is impressed by the “visual brilliance” and praises the “many wonderfully crazy ideas” of the film, which tells a story of “rousing intensity” with “wit and charm”. The emerging social and philosophical references give it an additional dimension and make it a parable against the persecution of minorities. However, they do not overwhelm the film, which can also simply be enjoyed as an entertaining fairy tale.

A criticism in Bayerischer Rundfunk speaks of a "coherent parable" with "coherent details" but doubts the understandability of the references for children. Nevertheless, they should delight in the many imaginative details with which the film is stuffed. The film is rated 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.

A review in the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation came to a similar assessment, awarding 7 out of 10 stars. She describes The Boxtrolls as an "extravagant family cartoon" with an "educationally valuable message" and an "original story".

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung said in a short review that the film was able to operate with the "charm of the ugly" and gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The Swiss film site Outnow awards 4 out of 6 stars. She thinks the visual trick technique and the bizarre ideas are good, but criticizes weaknesses in the script. This neglects to work out various subplots cleanly or can not decide correctly which plot lines it wants to develop.

One of the few rather negative reviews in German-speaking countries comes from Rupert Sommer and was published by Radio Cologne and Weser Kurier, among others. He thinks that the visual impression is quite remarkable for connoisseurs, but that it tends to overwhelm children and possibly make them insecure. The portrayal of the box trolls does not look cozy and the film does not offer children any identification figures. Weaknesses in the script led to a sluggish dramaturgy, which ultimately also makes the moral appear "too flat" or not really convincing. Overall, he rates the film as "acceptable".

The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) writes in its press release on the film that it is “wonderfully eccentric and detailed animation fun for the whole family”. The film is characterized by many small creative ideas, playful music and a fast-paced plot and also conveys an important message in an entertaining way. The FBW awards the film the title “particularly valuable”.

Awards (selection)

The film was nominated for various film awards in 2014 and 2015 and has won several awards. In 2015, he was nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature film, as well as for the Golden Globe Award and the Saturn Award . The African-American Film Critics Association named it Best Animated Feature. He received an Annie Award in two categories .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Boxtrolls . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2014 (PDF; test number: 147 016 V).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Die Boxtrolls . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Cinema release in Germany on Filmstarts.de
  4. ^ Synchronous database : The Boxtrolls. In: German synchronous card index . Retrieved March 23, 2020 .
  5. ^ Laika unveils development slate . In: Variety , June 23, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2013. 
  6. ↑ Adam Chitwood: First Teaser Trailer and Poster for THE BOXTROLLS, from the Makers of CORALINE and PARANORMAN . In: Collider.com , July 2, 2013. 
  7. ^ LAIKA Announces Third Animated Feature, The Boxtrolls . In: ComingSoon.net , February 7, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2013. 
  8. ↑ The song only includes the first three stanzas of the four-stanza original and in the second and third stanzas deviates significantly from the exact wording of the original. In particular, in the second stanza the text “And there's doctors and there's lawyers” is replaced by “And there's white hats and there's red hats”, alluding to the red and white hats in the film.
  9. ↑ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_boxtrolls/ (accessed November 23, 2016)
  10. ↑ DPA : Animated film with cult potential: "The Boxtrolls" . Focus, October 20, 2014
  11. ↑ DPA : Animated film with cult potential: “Die Boxtrolls” ( Memento from December 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on shz.de on October 20, 2014
  12. ↑ Daniel Robel: Cute Inventor Monsters - The Boxtrolls ( Memento from January 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on www.br.de on October 20, 2014
  13. ↑ PA Straubinger: "Die Boxtrolls": Masterful hunt for trolls on oe3.orf.at on October 23, 2014
  14. ↑ Animated film - "The Boxtrolls" . Neue Zürcher Zeitung, October 21, 2014
  15. ↑ The Boxtrolls (2014) on outnow.ch (accessed December 21, 2014)
  16. ↑ Rupert Sommer: The Boxtrolls - Under Our City . Weser Kurier, October 23, 2014
  17. ↑ http://www.radiokoeln.de/koeln/rk/13978/kino/kritik?item=291663 (accessed December 21, 2014)
  18. ↑ Die Boxtrolls - press release on the FBW website (accessed December 21, 2014)