The team behind the standout 3D stop-motion dark fantasy films PARANORMAN (currently in the running for a Best Animated Feature Oscar) and CORALINE have announced their latest production—which has some SHAUN OF THE DEAD talent involved. Read on for the details and the first piece of art.

Fango got the news that Focus Features and LAIKA are reuniting on THE BOXTROLLS, a 3D stop-motion/CGI hybrid movie that recently began production, based on Alan Snow’s best-selling novel HERE BE MONSTERS and targeted for October 17, 2014 release. The story is set in Cheesebridge, a Victorian-era village preoccupied with wealth, class—and stinky cheeses. A local legend has it that creatures called the Boxtrolls dwell beneath the streets, rising from the sewers at night to stead children and cheeses, though in fact they are friendly beings who have raised a human boy, Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) since he was a baby. When the Boxtrolls are threatened by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), Eggs must team with rich girl Winnie (Elle Fanning) to make peace between the two worlds.

The voice cast also includes Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan and SHAUN OF THE DEAD’s Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. OPEN SEASON’s Anthony Stacchi and CORALINE & PARANORMAN story artist Graham Annable are directing, with David Ichioka and LAIKA president/CEO Travis Knight producing. “THE BOXTROLLS is a visually dazzling mash-up of gripping detective story, absurdist comedy and steampunk adventure with a surprisingly wholesome heart,” Knight says. “It’s Dickens by way of Monty Python. Tony and Graham have crafted a strange and beautiful world replete with fantastical creatures, good-for-nothing reprobates, madcap antics and rip-roaring feats of derring-do. But at its core, like all LAIKA films, THE BOXTROLLS is a moving and human story with timelessness and powerful emotional resonance. We’re thrilled to partner with Focus Features and Universal to bring this remarkable story to family audiences around the world.”

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