The disparate narrative and the theories surrounding it.
Unlike other stop-motion films released for the first time back in 2014, The Boxtrolls felt like it built an entire world – which may sound odd to some given how it was built from the ground using grime, gears and tenderness. Over the years and even beyond the credits, The Boxtrolls grew from a simple and unique stop-motion film storyline to a film encapsulated in speculation, alternate endings, hidden metaphors, and even insight from the voice actors. Laika’s unparalleled charm and storytelling, even from other stop-motion films, grew from their emotional storytelling style.
But, it turns out, a lot was going on, not only in the storyline, but in the film’s production as well, behind the cobbled streets of Cheesebridge.
The simple production of the story for The Boxtrolls, as was mentioned before, was unique – but for an underlying reason. While The Boxtrolls centered around a human boy named Eggs, who was adopted by a tribe of Boxtrolls (a tribe of underground tinkerers who wore cardboard boxes as skin) and was raised underground, there was also an above-ground storyline. In this storyline, Snatcher, an antagonist, painted the Boxtrolls as baby-eating monsters, which was a way to get a white hat and get a seat on the cheesebridge council and, thus, was feared by many. Snatcher’s ultimate goal was to gain social elitism, as the cheesebridge council was a council of the elite that was obsessed with cheese.
However, fans started uncovering the nuanced details of the story. Eggs figures out his identity, Snatcher deals with his weird cheese allergy, and the Boxtrolls act innocently, all of these story elements act like an allegory. It did not take long for many viewers to to address potential themes for class struggle, communication and social price. In numerous interviews, directors and producers Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi said that they were positively shocked how adult viewers interpreted the movie and the social allegory, especially the Snatcher character, as a social climber, which they described as a potential political satire.
Focus on the fan doc theory that keeps on coming back. Is it true that the Boxtrolls do represent a Hardcore Marginalized Community? Is it true that the Boxtrolls are a Hardcore Marginalized Community?
One of the most popular and earliest fan theories surrounding the Boxtrolls that they were never a menace and are not Dangerous. However, the Boxtrolls were framed as monsters by the ruling elites. After the rise of global populism, fans of the Boxtrolls are feared the discourse that the White Hats had constructed as captivity and a political supremacy based on fear.
The Boxtrolls are a metaphor for many fans. They are a socially marginalized community that lives in the margins of society with the shadow of the elites. The social media community is split about the message Eggs conveys as a “Bridge figure” of the social and “Boxtroll” community.
In regard to this reference, directors endorsing such metaphors shows their acknowledgment of such flexibility in depth. Stacchi, during press junkets, would describe stop-motion as a style that permits the manipulation of reality to a degree whereby it is contorted beyond retention, hinting towards their consideration of the various layers even if the story was politically neutral.
Fan Theorized Alternative Endings
Some audience members believed that a Snatcher redemption (or karmic collapse) conclusion was not enough. The internet is still home to countless alternate endings; a few of the more trending ones include:
- Snatcher Survives and Becomes a Boxtroll
A strange, uncommon, but somewhat popular theory implies that Snatcher melted, but also survived and was transformed. Some fans suggested that Snatcher mutated into a rotten Boxtroll and would collapse into grotesque cheese, and even join the living, and grotesque creature he once hunted.
This theory gained popularity due to twilights dark nature, specifically in regard to Laika’s previous films, all of which contain darkly thematic twists.
Snatcher’s voice actor Ben Kingsley downplayed fans’ theories with jokes, saying, “If Snatcher became a Boxtroll, he’d still find a way to demand a white hat.”
Fans of the film speculated the bold daughter of the mayor would be the one to wear the white hat. Questioning the authority of her father, Winnie’s rebellious spirit, in the eyes of the fans, portrayed a future revolutionary.
Elle Fanning fully endorsed the theory with a statement at a Comic-Con panel saying, “Winnie Absolutely grows up to run Cheesebridge — probably end up scaring the everyone to be honest.”
The fans predicted another ending saying Eggs would choose to stay with the Boxtrolls underground permanently. It could be argued that Eggs’ character didn’t quite fit with the “neat” ending.
Fans were excited when storyboards were revealed in a Laika special feature that supported the theory. Eggs stays above ground just a little bit longer. The tiny detail added to the theory as confirmation of Laika’s intention with the story.
Added Dimensions to Actor Interactions
Eggs’ voice actor, Isaac Hempstead Wright, acknowledged perusing online discussions after the movie came out. He came across the logic-defying conjecture that the Box trolls are “inventors who purposefully conceal their intellect.” Fans believed the creatures play complacently to avoid disproving the theories, them being in conflict with the humans, a notion echoed in the way many storytellers construct animal characters overall.
Wright maintained that the Box trolls’ ability to construct machines “far more advanced than anything cheesemakers built [that] were above ground” does lend evidence to the notion that those stereotypes are, in fact, more intelligent than they are given credit for.
Among the Directors’ praises for the audience interpretations, perhaps most interesting was that, in the audience’s eyes, Eggs was an adopted child, or a child who was raised in a different culture. Throughout a number of featurettes, they explained that many audience members contacted them to express their vision of the film as “a metaphor for hybrid identities” and, although they would never have thought that, they fully embraced the idea.
Production’s Untold Facts That Add Dimensionality
Not all that fans were able to speculate was disregarded. Some thoughtful, intentional, albeit unnoticed, intricate details of production are showcased in the story’s production as being pivotal to understanding the story’s depth:
Snatcher’s design was purposefully made to represent the real-life sadistic Victorian butchers with huge, sweaty faces and protruding bellies.
Over 20,000 hand sculpted unique props were made, including tiny cheeses that were sculpted with tweezers.
The faux cardboard textures were made from scanned cardboard boxes that were found in the recycling dumpster of Laika’s studio.
The choice to assign a stuttered pattern to Eggs’ movements early on was intended to show his disconnection from humans, which was a rather nuanced form of physical storytelling.
The original English syllables that made up the da Ponte scripts that represent the Boxtroll language were re ordered to create the sense of having a vague memory that is almost forgotten.
The results show that contrary to the preconceived notion that the film was going to be a light-hearted children’s story, a lot of thought, intentionality, and even measurement went into constructing what would ultimately be animated folklore.
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