Review: The Art of “The Boxtrolls” by Philip Brotherton - Chronicle Books
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| Here Be Monsters! Indeed! (photo source: Amazon) |
Here’s
a brief little switch up for all you NGP fans! Recently released to bookstores
by Chronicle Books, The Art of The Boxtrolls by Philip Brotherton. If you’re a
fan of animation and its art like I am, I can’t recommend a book more. Having
picked up the “Art of” books for both Coraline and ParaNorman when they
released, I was beyond excited for this book to hit the shelf. Detailing much
of the production of the latest stopmotion feature from animation powerhouse
Laika, the book showcases insight into their world from concept to finished
product. Also included are a preface from Laika CEO and
animator Travis Knight, and a foreword by director Anthony Stacchi, who both offer a bit of
their personal insight for the project before we finally dig in.
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| Eggs: our main character (photo source: CinemaBlend) |
Based
on Alan Snow’s 2005 full-length illustrated children’s novel, Here Be Monsters!, The Art of… charts
the nine-year slow-cooked production that would become The Boxtrolls. Following
the prefaces, the introduction gives a brief background on the story and the
design of the feature. Then, this book is broken into four parts to better
dissect the production at large; “Roaming the Streets,’ a look at building and
filming the city environment; “The World Below,” the underground sewer
homeworld of the boxtrolls and everything within, from the environment to our
title characters and protagonist; “Snatcher’s Realm,” everything on designing
the antagonists and their wares; and finally, “Life at the Top” focuses on
dressing the animation puppets from armature to cloth to hair, and also
includes a brief look at the 3D printing process used to control the smoothness
of the animation to reduce “jitter.”
From
cover to cover, this book is filled with images from sketches and doodles to
maquettes and photos of the final puppets and props used throughout the feature,
and all ranging from those on the production staff to original illustrations
from author Alan Snow. (Who even offered his own works to be used as art in the
sets for the film!) The detail in the book alone only further builds excitement
for what awaits the big screen. Check this one out as a primer to seeing the
movie, or after to catch details of your favorite characters and scenes!
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| It must be almost time… (photo source: cgmeetup.com) |
The
Boxtrolls opens in movie theatres nationwide on Friday, September, 26
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