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The Boxtrolls

2014 film by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ12103758
Source-derived summary

The Boxtrolls is a 2014 American stop-motion animated fantasy comedy film produced by Laika. Loosely based on Alan Snow's 2005 novel Here Be Monsters!, the film was directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi. It features the voices of Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, and Simon Pegg. Set in the fictional European country of Norvenia, the film tells the story of Eggs (Wright), a human boy raised by Boxtrolls—subterranean trolls who wear cardboard boxes—as he attempts to save them from being exterminated.

In 2008, Laika unveiled a slate of projects in development, including an animated feature film adaptation of Here Be Monsters!. While the animation technique was not yet decided upon, Stacchi was set to direct the film. Originally focused on all five species of creatures found in the original book, producer Travis Knight noted that the script ultimately was hollow with all the monsters. As the result, the team ended up focusing on the Boxtrolls as Knight thought there was something that was really compelling about that group of characters. Dario Marianelli composed the film's musical score.

The film was released in the United States on September 26, 2014, by Focus Features, and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the humor and animation.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Boxtrolls” as 2014 film by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Boxtrolls, film and Graham.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2014, 2005, 2008—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Boxtrolls, film and Graham providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Boxtrolls”, the useful work is to connect “2014 film by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12103758. The first chronological checks are 2014, 2005 and 2008.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Boxtrolls”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Boxtrolls primary sources, The Boxtrolls archive and Boxtrolls research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Boxtrolls”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Boxtrolls” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.