The Boxtrolls 4K 2014

In a small town on a mountain there are not only people who work during the day and rest at night, but also korobyaks, who do the opposite and live underground. One day, one very bad man who wants to make his way into high society comes up with a "wonderful idea", he accuses korobiak in the kidnapping of a baby boy and the murder of his father. And from that moment the monsters in the boxes become illegal, a curfew is introduced in the city, and the most terrible tales of korobyaks are invented for children.

The duo of directors created a real horror project for children. They managed to create a puppet cartoon capable of competing with drawn animation.

The screenwriters brutally treated the fairy tale of Alan Snow. They removed all the creatures except for the key crooks, simplified the plot by making him another Mowgli, animated the film a million references to the book and invented a dormant friendship line, which in the possible extensions could easily be turned into a love story. By reducing Snow's moralizing to a minimum, the writers replaced it with standard norms of social behavior, self-awareness and another reflection on the poor and the rich. The scriptwriters managed to find a humor that was appropriate for the project, but overdid it with dialogues about guts, blood and human remains, too much for the 0+ age bracket.

The creators managed to make clichéd, classic characters on the one hand, but at the same time easily distinguishable and unlike one another. Since they didn't have to come up with cabbageheads, mice, and other inhabitants of Snow's book, they devoted themselves entirely to the town's inhabitants and the crooks, each of whom requires an individual mention. Everything is done and filmed in such a way that you unreservedly believe in the existence of the invented world.

With the help of the soundtrack, the creators were able to enhance the depth and emotionality of the project.

"The Monster Family" is a one-off puppet product in today's world, where animation is ruled by drawn cartoons. The project is worth watching, but you have to understand that it is not as childish as they are trying to present it.