Organized by the Museum of Pop Culture in collaboration with LAIKA.
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Boxtrolls Film Still

The Technology

Digital Boosts

With The Boxtrolls, LAIKA expanded its use of computer generated (CG) effects to extend sets and create crowds

  • Mixing puppets and CG, the ballroom scene hosts 150 Cheesebridgeians
  • CG humans are in 185 shots of the movie
  • CG Boxtrolls are in 131 shots of the movie
  • An animator takes 1 week to complete 3.7 seconds worth of footage, which is just under 90 individual frames

Armature Test Video, Boxtrolls, 2014.

Boxtrolls Concept Art
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Boxtrolls Behind the Scenes

Stacked boxes, The Boxtrolls, 2014.

The Costumes

All in the Details

Although small (and sometimes tiny!), puppet costumes contain a surprising amount of material and detail

  • 200 costumes were made for the movie
  • There are 14 different fabrics in Lord Portley-Rind’s hat
  • Eggs’ sweater uses 233 yards of thread hand-dyed in varying color tones
  • The movie’s smallest costumes are for Eggs as a toddler: a sweater measuring 3.5” from cuff to cuff across the length of both arms and chest, and his socks measuring just 5/8” long
  • Winnie’s dress ruffle requires 37 yards bias-cut chiffon ribbon
  • The White Hat ladies’ ballroom dresses each have 8-10 hoops linked together by concertina wires, which sounds musical and ethereal but is actually barbed and dangerous
    Boxtrolls Behind the Scenes

    Behind the scenes, The Boxtrolls, 2014.

    THE PROPS

    Tiny objects that you may barely notice all contribute to creating a rich, believable world

    • More than 20,000 props were handmade for the movie
    • 55 different prop cheeses were created for The Boxtrolls
    • 24 different types of plants were manufactured by greens artists
    • The movie’s smallest prop is the tiny sewing thread and needle
    • The vinyl record is approximately 2 inches across, with its label being approximately 0.25 inches
    • The name of the musical group on the label on the vinyl record is Quattro Sabatinos, named after The Boxtrolls director Anthony Stacchi’s young son, Sabatino  
    • The river running through the sewer scene where Eggs climbs the ladder is made from a 4 x 2 foot pane of shower stall glass that is passed over a nest of white aluminum fishing-line wire, tiny pieces of mirror and mylar, and colored masking tape. This creates a rippling liquid without actual liquid.
    Boxtrolls Behind the Scenes

    Ballroom Set, The Boxtrolls, 2014.

    Boxtrolls Behind the Scenes
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    THE PUPPETS

    Engineering Challenges

    The artists, technicians, and craftspeople at LAIKA strive to constantly push their creativity and craft to new heights.

    The Boxtrolls team initially thought getting the Boxtrolls’ limbs and head to completely retract inside their boxes would be fairly simple, but it turned out to be a complex challenge. When the designers were unable to fit all the body parts into the boxes, the Replacement Animation department fabricated half-heads and different-sized arms to create the illusion of the heads and arms being pulled inside.
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    With each LAIKA film, replacement faces become more numerous and complex

    • 190 puppets were built for the film
    • Over 53,000 individual face parts were 3D printed; of those, 15,000 belong to Eggs
    • Snatcher has over 1,180,000 possible facial expressions
    • Winnie has over 600,000 possible facial expressions
    • Eggs had over 1,400,000 possible facial expressions

    Mechanical Terror

    The Boxtrolls called for one of the most complex stop-motion puppet rigs yet built by LAIKA, the menacing Mecha Drill.

    • The Mecha Drill stands five feet tall, weighs over 75 pounds, and is made of over 600 metal, plastic, and steel pieces
    • Five complete Mech-Drills were created, along with three incomplete one
    Boxtrolls Behind the Scenes

    On the Set, The BoxTrolls, 2014.

    Organized by the Museum of Pop Culture in collaboration with LAIKA.