BoxTrolls -Hot Hot Take

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 BoxTrolls (2014 US) An orphan is raised by creatures living beneath the city of Cheesebridge. When the aristocracy comes for the creatures the boy takes action. Based on the book "Here be Monsters". Laika Studios brings you this dark but relevant story about corruption, entitlement, hypocrisy, and marginalized communities. You will remember Laika from some of their other works such as Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. I like to call the Oregon based studio a "stop motion factory". I have always despised hypocrites and used the word when I was very young, like 4 yo. Adults were well impressed. Not so impressed when I called them one. I just love stop motion. When you are making it, it's like playing with really expensive dolls. When I was a kid my dolls had quite an involved storyline and backstory so this was a very natural evolution. Don't judge me. What is so lovely about these types of films is that the puppets are hand made as is some of the sets. Although, CGI is used, it's mostly for backdrop. It does save quite a bit of money that doesnt need to spent on sets. Most of the foreground sets are built. One of my favorite comedians Richard Ayoade voices breakout character Mr. Pickles. You might remember Ayoade from the British show The IT Crowd. If you haven't seen that, it's quite good and Ayoade is brilliant. Its on Netflix right now. Anyway, BoxTrolls did OK at the box office earning it's budget back but barely. It was critically well received including a nomination for an Oscar. I did like this Kidult film (see my Rango Post referring to kidult https://tinyurl.com/yc43p5e7). The hypocrites get their comeuppance in the end. Yay! My 4 yo self jumped up and down. It's very satisfying that way. Find it on Netflix and for rent on most streaming.

Unrelated to BoxTrolls, one of my favorite animators, Jess Cope, just finished a Metalica video today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hucsz2l8AFU. It's well worth a watch. She is soooo talented as is Metalica. 

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