‘The Boxtrolls’ Soundtrack is Now Available

LAIKA‘s new animated feature The Boxtrolls opens this weekend on September 26th. The official soundtrack to the film became available on CD and digital download yesterday on September 23rd and it’s rather cool.

The Boxtrolls soundtrack features original music by Academy Award-winning composer Dario Marianelli, who won the Oscar for Best Original Score for the film Atonement in 2008. In addition to the score, the soundtrack features an original song written by actor and comedy legend Eric Idle. Additional tracks are by the Portland, Oregon-based band Loch Lomond.

This is the first animated feature that Dario Marianelli has scored, and he began his work early in the production process. “That was a huge benefit for us,” said co-director Graham Annable. “Dario started work when most of the movie was still in the storyboard phase, and he was able to ask for a few more seconds here and there to let his score breathe – and truly support key moments in the movie. Later, he would also adapt the waltz that he wrote to fit finished shots.”

About Eric Idle’s contribution, he stated that:

“I do like telling a story in song. From the artwork that the production sent me, I saw that this movie would have fresh and original characters. In context, this would be a song that the people of Cheesebridge sort of knew. So the song had to have a catchy hook to anchor it as well as quite a strong chorus. I started writing, and playing on my guitar, and came up with something that aimed for a Kurt Weill feel.”

“He just nailed it,” said Annable. “When you hear the song, the devilish wit in the lyrics marks it as Eric’s work. Monty Python was definitely an influence on The Boxtrolls, so we’re thrilled to have Eric be part of our movie.”

Here’s a complete track listing:

1. The Unspeakable Has Happened
2. The Scavengers
3. The Boxtrolls Cavern
4. Eggs’ Music Box
5. Quattro Sabatinos – Dario Marianelli featuring Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy, Edmund Saddington Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy, Edmund Saddington
6. One Busy Night
7. Rooftop Chase
8. Broken Eggs
9. Cheesebridge Funfair
10. The Boxtrolls Song – Words & Music by Eric Idle; performed by Mark Orton & Loch Lomond
11. Snatcher and His Stooges
12. Allergic
13. To the Rescue
14. I’m Sure I Am Delicious
15. I Was Given to Them
16. What’s a Father
17. Slap Waltz
18. Snatcher’s ‘Dramatical’ Entrance
19. Look What You Did
20. Jelly!
21. Last Battle
22. Say Cheese
23. Little Boxes – performed by Loch Lomond
24. Some Kids – performed by Loch Lomond
25. Whole World – performed by Loch Lomond

And for your vinyl fans, we’ve been told that a vinyl edition of the soundtrack will be available near the end of 2014!

Here’s the official synopsis of the film:

From LAIKA, the creators of ‘Coraline’ and ‘ParaNorman,’ comes a family event movie that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.

The Boxtrolls opens in U.S. theaters on September 26th.