Laika Announces Third Feature Film: The Boxtrolls!

If you’re a fan of us here at Animation Fascination, than you know that we have a deep love  and appreciation for Laika; the animation company who, along with Focus Features, brought us 2009’s Coraline and last year’s amazing ParaNorman. Well, it looks like the two companies are coming together again for a third collaboration with The Boxtrolls.

The Boxtrolls, based on Here Be Monsters, a fantasy novel written by Alan Snow, is said to be 3D Stop-Motion and CG Hybrid. It will be directed by Anthony Stacchi (a co-director on Open Season) and Graham Annable (a story artist on ParaNorman) and will feature a wonderful cast including Toni Collette, Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris and, much to my fanboy delight, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

The following is a synopsis of the film provided by Laika:

The Boxtrolls is a comedic fable that unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that’s the legend residents have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells. The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy, Eggs (voiced by Issac Hempstead-Wright), since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Mr. Kingsley), who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kindhearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and adventurous rich girl Winnie (Ms. Fanning) to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese.

So, animation lovers out there, what say you? All we needed to hear was Laika was making a new film to get us excited. Let us know what you think in the comments below!