Travel consideration provided for the purposes of this set visit.
One of the most amazing parts of my recent tour of The Boxtrolls set was seeing all of the puppets and their world up close and personal. We toured the puppet and prop departments, meeting the ingenious individuals who create every single detail you can imagine – plus many more that you can’t imagine.
Our tour began by speaking with Georgina Hayns, the Creative Supervisor of Puppet Fabrication. She showed us the puppets used in the filming of The Boxtrolls and walked us through the process of how they are created. These Boxtrolls first came to life through sketches by character designer Mike Smith, which Georgina then used to develop maquettes, which are essentially a puppet prototype model.
Once the maquette is sculpted out of clay, it is then molded and cast in resin. The casts are then handed off to the art department, and go through another stage of sculpting, which the skeleton (AKA the armature) is built into. The puppet department consults with the film’s directors and head of animation to find out how they will need the puppet to move, behave, appear, and so on. Based on these needs, the puppet department creates skeletons which will be able to bend and move as they are animated – many of the puppets are poseable on their own, but depending on the size of the character they will also use rigs in order to hold it up during filming, which are removed in post-production.
LAIKA is dedicated to preserving the art and warmth of handmade characters while also embracing new technology, so their puppets are a fascinating mixture of handcrafted and 3D printed. LAIKA were the first company to use 3D printing for stop motion feature films, and this technology has enabled them to create very expressive character faces. Brian McLean, the Director of Rapid Prototype, gave us a tour of the 3D printing department and it was incredible to see it in action. In this department, you will find huge cabinets holding drawer after drawer of character faces created via 3D printing. The whole face is designed to come off, so that during animation, they can simply refer to their “Library of faces” and pick out the exact one they need. Each character has thousands of faces – think of it as a little like Mr. Potato Head, but on a much larger scale!
From there, the Director of Costume Design, Deborah Cook, spearheads the creation of all the characters’ clothing. We got to peek at her inspiration boards on the walls, where she pasted collages of photos that she used to draw ideas for the design and look of the characters, sourcing everything from Victorian era clothing to Mick Jagger’s costumes. The level of attention to detail is mind-blowing, since everything must be done on a tiny scale and be able to move along with the characters in a believable way, even going so far as to wire the puppet’s skirts so that they have fluid motion. In order to capture fine detail on the big screen, they created tiny little lace dresses on a sewing machine, made to scale. The smallest costume seen in The Boxtrolls was for the main character Eggs when he is shown as a baby. These miniature baby clothes included a sweater measuring 3.5″ across both arms and the chest, as well as socks measuring 5/8″ long. Incredible!!
Another area of mind-blowing minutia was the movie’s props. We got to see and even feel all of these tiny items in the flesh, from tiny loaves of bread to the landscapes. Over 20,000 props were made by hand for this film, with 25 different kinds of weeds alone. Seeing this translate on the sets – which looked like the world’s most elaborate dollhouses – was really breathtaking. The amount of painstaking details that have been labored over to fully immerse the viewer in the Boxtrolls’ world is amazing. And just think – all of this work is just to create the characters and their world; that’s not even getting into the actual animation, which I will be detailing in my next article in August!
Learn more about The Boxtrolls by visiting the official site. Connect with The Boxtrolls on Facebook and Twitter!
Michelle F. says
Those are some great props. It is amazing how real they look.
Gabrielle says
How fun! I think I would have really enjoyed this part of your tour. I would love to see the props up close.
Joy Diaz says
Look pretty fun! I’d love to see that work, very talented people! I admire the dedication and patience I lack.
R U S S says
WOW! 20,000 props is a lot. I have so much respect and admiration the skills, talents, and patience of the people who tirelessly work on these puppets because I’m pretty sure, it’s not an easy task.
Danielle says
So much work has to go into that type of stop motion animation. My hat goes off to all those that do that work because its so detailed.
Ronda Ogilvie @ogilvieronda says
What a cool tour! My kids would love this!
Emma T says
I always think puppets are a little bit creepy, but these are amazing the way they’re made. Really interesting to see them in action.
Risa says
I’ve never heard of this show, but it would be really cool to see how the puppets are made and how the show is put on.
Dawn says
That is so cool! I love puppets. These puppets in particular look amazing!
Katie Harding says
Awesome, this is so interesting, loving the photos, the puppets are so cool!
Jessica Peeling says
This is really cool to see all the detail that is put into creating the puppets! What an art. You never realize how much detail it takes.
Touristmeetstraveler says
That must have been an amazing tour, wish I could have gone through it.
Kungphoo says
That had to be a really cool tour! I would definitely take it and probably not want to leave..
Elizabeth Copeland says
What an amazing tour! I love the name BoxTrolls. The detailed artistry that goes into each piece is clear from your pictures.
maria @ close to home says
I am always amazed at what people can create out of clay. What a cool expereince to see it up close.
Lisa J. Jones says
How Cool Is This So Amazing How They Create Them!
Bonnie @ wemake7 says
How neat! I never realized how much went into making puppets and props and all that. Would love to see something like this someday.
Margarita Ibbott says
What a great adventure! Still in disbelief with all the work that goes into stop motion animated films like these. So beautiful and magical!
Christie says
I’ve never even heard of this show! But how neat to get such an up close tour!
Mary Ann says
What an awesome opportunity! We really want to see this movie!
Angela Johnson says
The Boxtrolls: Puppets, Props & More looks so cool! I have never heard of them before. I’d love to check it out!
Rach @ EazyPeazyMealz says
Your photos are awesome. I can’t wait for this movie to come out. My kids are going to LOVE it. What cool props.
HauteFrugalista says
Such creativity and talent! I would deff love to visit that place!
xo,
Dee T
https://HauteFrugalista.com
@HauteFrugalista
Britney says
Wow! That is so awesome! I’ve never heard of this movie but I will watch for it to come out!
Ann Bacciaglia says
That is so interesting. I can not imagine how much patience it would take to make those carrots. Very cool.
Rosey says
That’s an amazing lot of props. What a fun visit!
Rosey says
Just sent this link to about ten people in e-mail because I thought it was such a fun read. Have a great weekend!
Kristen says
I bet you had a great time! I am sure any kid would have fun there!
Liz Mays says
You guys are so lucky to have been let in on all these little secrets in advance. The detail of the props is amazing!
FamiGami says
It’s amazing how much work goes into this. it’s also a shame that it is become a lost art.
Leira Pagaspas says
`Visiting the set and viewing the props is an amazing experience and I am so sure you had a great time.
April Smith Decheine says
I have never heard of BoxTrolls, my kids are a bit older. What a great experience to get to see behind the scene and how they create.
saminder gumer says
i still want to see this movie. i think the kids would love to go see it. might be a little scary but i think it will be fun for all.