Laika are making a name for themselves as a really brave, boundary-pushing, outside-the-norm animation studio. With two acclaimed films - Coraline and ParaNorman - under their belt, and a desire to tell personal, spooky stories, in an animation medium that has proven less than popular at the box-office. Yet that's exactly what they're pushing in the new teaser for their next film, The BoxTrolls.
The studio are certainly pushing the envelope of animated feature advertisement with the teasers for The BoxTrolls; the first one that we got back in July focused on equality and acceptance; this second one puts the stop-motion animation front and centre. "From the hands that made Coraline and ParaNorman," says the trailer's tagline, after focusing on the assembling of character and set models, and the framing of a scene. The trailer then launches into 30+ seconds of new footage from the film - all of which, by the way, looks phenomenally charming. (If you can't watch the above YouTube embed above for whatever reason, check the trailer out on iTunes Movie Trailers.)
The trailer probably isn't going to sell the film to the masses, but I think Laika/Focus Features/Universal (who distribute the film overseas) have come to terms with the fact that their films are never going to be box-office behemoths. What the trailer does do, however, is appeal to its key target audience: fans of animation as an art form.
The BoxTrolls is directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, and stars the voices of Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Toni Collette and Game of Thrones' Isaac Hempstead-Wright, amongst others. It opens on 12th September, 2014 (UK)/26th September (US).
Looks great! I loved the behind-the-scenes look at the beginning, and I'm excited to see more of the film :D
ReplyDeleteVideo not available in the US???
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry about that. See the bracketed bit at the end of the second paragraph - head to iTunes Movie Trailers!
ReplyDelete