Graham Annable
, perhaps best known in these parts from his Grickle and Hickee comics and the Puzzle Agent video game series from Telltale Games, has just been officially announced as the co-director of Laika's next feature-length film, The Boxtrolls, alongside Anthony Stacci (Open Season). This will be Annable's first feature co-directing gig, after working as a story artist on LAIKA's Coraline and ParaNorman. The new film will be based on Alan Snow's fantasy novel, Here Be Monsters!, and will be animated using the CG/stop-motion hybrid style seen in recent LAIKA releases.From LAIKA's official press release:

The Boxtrolls is a comedic fable that unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that's the legend residents have always believed.

In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells. The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy, Eggs (voiced by Mr. Hempstead-Wright), since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Mr. Kingsley), who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kindhearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and adventurous rich girl Winnie (Ms. Fanning) to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese.

The film will feature voice talent from Ben Kingsley (Bloodrayne), Nick Frost (Attack The Block), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), Jared Harris (Mad Men), Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), Toni Collette (Mary and Max), and is planned for release on October 17, 2014.


[Via LAIKA]

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