October 3, 2014 -- This film is getting positive reviews from critics, deservedly so, for its interesting characters and solid story, but I could have done without so much of the “ick” factor: Dumpy, ugly, sometimes grotesque-looking characters, and that's not even including the trolls. The trolls actually look more attractive than some of the “human” characters, except when they are eating bugs.

But if you can get past the bugs, slime, dirt, ugliness and unkempt hair, the story is a pretty good one. It takes place in a strange town called Cheesebridge filled with very unattractive people who are concerned about these boxtrolls. Basically these are trolls who wear boxes in place of clothing. They hide inside these boxes to escape their enemies, which are the boxtroll exterminators, led by a very ugly villain (especially when he eats cheese) named Archibald Snatcher.

Archibald, and his alter-ego, a woman whose stage performances keep the anti-boxtroll sentiment running high in Cheesebridge, makes a deal the mayor, Lord Portley-Rind, to elevate Archibald to the highest ranks of society if he manages to destroy all the boxtrolls. Archibald has a secret plan to eliminate all the boxtrolls, using a deadly machine. It turns out the boxtrolls are harmless, and even beneficial, since they are very handy at fixing machines.

One of the main characters is Eggs, a boy who has been raised by the boxtrolls. He thinks he is a boxtroll, until he learns otherwise. To the humans in Cheesebridge, he is widely known as a boy who was kidnapped by boxtrolls years ago and is presumed dead. It turns out that is not what happened at all. Another main character is Winnie, the daughter of the mayor, who befriends Eggs and through him learns the truth about Boxtrolls. Together, they work to save the boxtrolls and to derail the evil plans of Archibald and his minions.

The story is a good one about the evils of fear-mongering and the benefits of inclusiveness. The main characters are distinctive and interesting, although the mayor is a complete idiot. It is up to the kids in this one to figure out what is really going on in Cheesebridge and set things right. They will get no help at all from these dim-witted, cheese-obsessed adults. The boxtrolls speak their own troll language, and that puts severe limits on the voice actors and hampers character development. The story is imaginative and the film is visually interesting, even though the images are sometimes very unpleasant to look at. The visual imagination and imagery are reminiscent in some ways of the illustrations in the old Dr. Seuss books.

This is a stop-motion animation film which is similar in some ways to other stop-motion movies like “Corpse Bride” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” This film rates a B.

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