Imaginative adventure has lots of peril, nasty villain.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
(Spoiler alert!) Snatcher is very creepy and intimidating; his glee in capturing the boxtrolls -- and threatening anyone who gets in his way -- makes him seem unhinged. The scary extermination machine he invents is big, loud, fiery, smoky, and relentless; it causes chaos and destruction wherever it goes. The boxtrolls are at first presented in a way that might scare little viewers -- yellow eyes, hissing noises -- but they soon become much friendlier. Boxtrolls, including the ones Eggs is closest to, are captured and presumed dead on a few different occasions; most disturbing is a scene in which it appears that they've all been smashed flat. In their own home, some of the boxtrolls are electrocuted as they work on their gadgets, with no apparent harm. The film opens on a dark and stormy night, with a crying baby being carried away by boxtrolls (a scene that could upset younger kids until they realize the baby is OK). At the end of the movie, a key character explodes after ignoring a dangerous allergy that causes disturbing swelling, visions, and angry outbursts (an earlier episode is treated with leeches). Madame Frou Frou sings a strident song about killing the boxtrolls that gets the crowd worked up. Winnie is rather bloodthirsty, fixated on imagining -- and describing -- all the things the boxtrolls might do to her if they caught her. Lots of chases, falls, bonks, and bangs as characters flee, etc. Eggs and the boxtrolls eat live bugs with relish.
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Well-to-do characters are obsessed with cheese, which seems to be the most valuable substance in town. Also lots of off-screen marketing/promotional tie-ins with a wide range of products, from eggs and raisins to fast food and toys.
Language
a little
One "oh my God." Sparing use of rude words like "brat" and a few stand-in words/expressions such as "mother of sausages!"
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Popular performer Madame Frou Frou wears a lot of make-up, fishnet stockings, and a low-cut gown (though she isn't all she appears to be); her performance includes some flirty gestures and suggestive shimmying. Some lines about cheese are delivered in a way that sounds lascivious ("I like a raw brie"). Eggs scratches his privates in public (nothing graphic shown). He also kisses ladies' hands and licks one. The boxtrolls' naked behinds are shown in a couple of scenes near the end of the movie.
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The movie's central message revolves around the danger of making assumptions about what someone is like based on how they appear -- i.e. just because the boxtrolls look like "monsters" doesn't mean that they're evil or dangerous; the real monsters are those who set out to exterminate them because they're different. You are what you make of yourself. Characters also learn the importance of standing up for yourself and fighting back against injustice, changing/taking risks when to do otherwise puts yourself and others in peril, and embracing family wherever you find it. The fact that the central villain is motivated by envy and becomes even more resentful when he's snubbed by his "betters" illustrates why it's not a good idea to consider anyone "beneath" you. Snatcher's assistants raise a thorny (but thought-provoking!) moral issue when they debate the rightness of their actions helping Snatcher capture the boxtrolls -- are they good guys because they're following their boss' orders or villains because they're hurting potentially innocent creatures?
Positive Role Models
some
Eggs is brave and loyal; he cares deeply for his boxtroll family and will do whatever it takes to save them. He doesn't understand the nuances of polite human behavior (he bites and licks people inappropriately), but it's understandable -- and played for laughs. The trolls themselves are smart, caring, and resourceful; their natural pacifism puts them in danger from Snatcher and his minions, but they eventually learn to fight back when it counts. Winnie starts out as an imperious snob but gradually warms to Eggs, the boxtrolls, and their cause; she doesn't let anything get in her way when she's made a decision. Her father, Lord Portley-Rind, is totally oblivious to his daughter's needs (and pretty much everything else except tasting cheese...) but starts to see the error of his ways by the end of the movie. Snatcher is a creepy, bloodthirsty villain, but even his misdeeds are motivated by feelings that many people will understand: envy and the pain of being left out of something you desperately want to be part of.
Educational Value
very little
While the film is intended to entertain rather than educate, it does have worthy lessons about tolerance and fighting for what's right.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that while The Boxtrolls isn't quite as supernaturally creepy as the filmmakers' previous movies, Coraline and ParaNorman, it still has a lot of peril, tense moments, and a very unpleasant villain. Sympathetic characters are presumed dead at different points, a crying baby is carried away in the middle of the night, and the bad guy is bent on total extermination of the boxtrolls, painting them as bloodthirsty monsters, even though they're really peace-loving tinkerers. His extermination machine is loud, scary, fiery, and destructive, and he looks positively unhinged when he gets riled up. The movie may be animated (stop-motion), but it's really too intense for younger kids (especially when seen in 3-D). Characters are constantly in danger, whether from their own or others' actions, and there are some upsetting separations. One character has a significant food allergy that plays a key role in the plot; his reaction is very exaggerated, but it could strike a chord for kids and families who deal with allergies. There's not much in the way of language (one "oh my God"), but a character does wear a low-cut gown and fishnet stockings. All of that said, the movie offers a brave main character in the form of loyal, inventive Eggs, as well as positive messages about tolerance, family, standing up for yourself, and fighting for what's right. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I first saw this film When I was 5 and I didn’t really watch it in the theatre, I watched it again just now at age 12 and this film contains Material that I think should not unsettle a child aged around seven or older, parents of Young Children are Cautioned.
If your kids liked Coraline and Nightmare before Christmas and Hotel Transylvania, they'll enjoy this film. Sure, it was a bit creepy but that's the point people! Its okay to show kids plots that aren't Dora. They'll be okay. Reminds me of the films I watched as a kid in the eighties. Doesn't talk down to kids. Doesn't shy away from a bit scary but my daughter was glued to the screen. Appeals and encourages wild imagination. My daughter made her stuffies into boxtrolls. They seem grotesque but are lveable and sweet. It has a kind mmessage. The bad guys struggle with right and wrong and learn what is right. Come on how great is that? Cute film. Cute story.
What's the Story?
In the Victorian-esque town of Cheesebridge, the well-to-do citizens obsess over exotic cheeses and fret about the boxtrolls -- mysterious creatures who come out at night and are believed to be bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters. Their reputation is cemented when they carry off a crying baby one dark and stormy night, an incident that leads snobby, white-hatted Lord Portley-Rind (voiced by Jared Harris) to promise devious Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) his own white hat -- a symbol of town leadership -- if he exterminates the boxtrolls once and for all. Ten years later, the boxtrolls' numbers are dwindling rapidly, much to the dismay of Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) ... aka the baby the trolls "ate" so long ago. Rather than make a meal out of the tot, the boxtrolls lovingly raised him as their own, teaching him their peaceful, scavenging, tinkering ways. Before the last of his adopted family falls victim to Snatcher and his minions, it's up to Eggs -- with the help of Portley-Rind's imperious, somewhat macabre daughter, Winnie (Elle Fanning) -- to save the day.
From the creators of Coraline and ParaNorman, THE BOXTROLLS follows in its predecessors' impressive stop-motion footsteps. The animation is quite simply amazing, with incredible details coming together to form a rich, fully realized world. The filmmakers have said that each second of the finished movie took four days to film, and that's easy to believe; it's all so seamless that you actually forget it was created incrementally tiny movement by incrementally tiny movement. Which makes it even easier to get caught up in The Boxtrolls' fast-paced, exciting story (based on the novel Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow).
The Boxtrolls trades Coraline and ParaNorman's supernatural chills for a story that's not quite as creepy but is still full of peril and danger -- there's no sugar-coating or hand-holding in Eggs' world. The evil Snatcher is exceptionally nasty, with a look that may remind some of the frightening Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He's maniacal and relentless, and his just desserts, when they come, are as unpleasant as he is. But both Eggs and Winnie are up to the challenge of facing him; they have gumption and pluck aplenty. And the boxtrolls themselves are charming: Their cheerful approach to life and general good humor provide most of the movie's warmer, more upbeat moments. Like the Victorian era it seems to take place in, The Boxtrolls has a gritty, sinister side lurking just beneath its polished exterior; for kids who like their movies with a bit of edge, that may make it a perfect pick.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Eggs' statement that "Cheese, hats, boxes -- they don't make you. You make you!" What does that mean? How do people hide their true selves behind things -- perhaps not literally, as the boxtrolls do, but more figuratively?
What audience do you think The Boxtrolls is intended for? Is it too scary for younger kids? What aspects of the movie make it more mature than the average animated flick?
Snatcher's henchmen are conflicted about their role in his work/plan; they wonder whether they're good guys because they're following their boss' orders or villains because they're hurting potentially innocent creatures. What do you think? Is it always easy to tell what's right and what's wrong?
Winnie talks a lot about what a father is supposed to do -- most of which her own father doesn't. Who are the good dads in The Boxtrolls? How can you tell?
MPAA explanation:
action, some peril and mild rude humor
Last updated:
August 5, 2024
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