Laika, the production company behind such animated gems as "Coraline" and "ParaNorman," is about to release its third project, "The Boxtrolls."

In anticipation of the film's release, Latin Post was given the opportunity to interview the directing team of Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi.

This is not only the first time that the duo works together as a team, but the project also marks debuts for both directors on a project of this magnitude. Annable has an extensive background in video games and directed such games as "Bone: The Great Cow Race," "CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder" and "Bone: Out of Boneville."

Stacchi was one of three directors on the animated feature "Open Season." The other two directors and also co-directed the short film "Boog & Eliott's Midnight Bun Run."

Latin Post: What was the inspiration for "Boxtrolls?"

Graham Annable: It all started with the book "Here Be Monsters" [by Alan Snow]. It was a process of ruthless economy over the years to whittle down the story that we ended up with. Alan's book is endlessly inventive with a lot of characters. It was quite a journey to end up with what we had in the film.

Latin Post: Why did you guys decide to emphasize the search for identity?

Anthony Stacchi: It was inherent in the original story with the hierarchical world with the boy traveling between the two and trying to find out where he fit in. We have definitely pushed it a bit more extreme with our version of Alan's story.

Latin Post: Was Charles Dickens an inspiration in the film? A lot of his themes such as the orphaned child make appearances throughout the movie.

AS: I think he was a huge influence on Alan Snow and he was a huge influence on us, as well. For example, David Lean's "Oliver Twist" was a film we went back to a lot as a touchstone.

Latin Post: What was your favorite scene to film?

GA: The dance sequence was the most difficult. My favorite was probably the end battle with Snatcher riding atop that Mega Troll and mercilessly destroying those beautiful sets of Cheesebridge that we'd establish. It was a gratifying amazing moment to film all of that. It came together in a beautiful way that involved all of the departments.

AS: When I first read Alan's story, it felt like there was story with a scale and scope to it that no other stop motion film had done before. And that moment for me that really stood out was that chase across the rooftops where you feel a big world expanding.

Latin Post: Why do you say that the ballroom sequence was so difficult? What were the greatest challenges for that sequence of the film?

AS: Everything about it [was difficult]. From the first conception to Dario Marionelli composing an original waltz for it. We had to shoot the whole thing with two choreographers from the Portland Ballet so we knew how to do the dancing.

[It was also difficult] to find out all the complexities of shooting the real puppets that are at the core of the sequence. At the same time, there are these elaborate camera movements and then the CG department had to put the whole thing together, as well as put in some CG characters in the background.

GA: It took all 18 months of our animation schedule to shoot a little over 2 minutes of footage at the end of it all.

Latin Post: At what point in the process did the actors come in?

AS: Very early on. We worked on many iterations of the story in script phase. But we also story boarded the whole thing.

We were continually trying to find the characters' voices and what they sound like to the nth degree. During that process, we put wish lists for actors and we got copies of their voices from other movies or interviews on YouTube. And then we cut voices together with each other to see if they sound good bouncing off each other.

Does Isaac Hempstead Wright sound good? Does he have right level of naiveté and innocence with Sir Ben Kingsley's voice as Snatcher? And when you have what you think is a good band working together, you reach out to the actors and hope that they all agree to do it.

Latin Post: What was the experience of directing together?

GA: Tony and I were joined at the hip for much of the project. One of the reasons I think we ended up being the duo we were was that our sensibilities really synced up for what we wanted to do. Tony had developed it for some time at Laika and I was a storyboard artist on "ParaNorman" and "Coraline." I got an opportunity to board a sequence for Tony that kind of put the script into visuals. And the sequence I put up was synced up with what Tony wanted to do with the film. So from early on, we were a pair.
When the animation schedule started, we had to split up to keep the production as efficient as possible. So we would have meetings in the morning together and go over the shots for the day and then we would separate into different edit suites to maximize everyone's time.

Latin Post: Where there any particular sequences that you each worked on individually in this latter phase?

GA: It was a lot of intermixing there was a lot of moments everyday where I would ask for Tony to come in so we could talk it over.

AS: When I didn't know what to do, I would say "Graham has a lot to say about this. Let's bring him in." Then he would come in and the problem would be discussed and eventually solved.

Latin Post: What inspired you to get into animation?

AS: I always loved it when I was young. I loved the early Disney films. I was lucky to live close to a theater where they would have these animation celebrations because before the internet the opportunity to see animation aside from Disney's was very difficult.

I definitely wanted to work in film early on, but I didn't get into the school I wanted to for live animation because I was too young. But I still got into the character animation department and once I got there I was exposed to so much animation that I hadn't seen before and I fell in love with it.

I really loved the films from this Russian animator Yuri Norstein. I loved the Disney stuff for the craftsmanship and storytelling. But those other guys were making these short films that were like art that moves and they really inspired me to stick with it.

GA: I always drew a lot as a kid and was always into comics. I had a bazillion comic books. I was also a big fan of film and I loved Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch. I was a big film freak.

I realized that a certain point that comics plus film equaled animation. At least in my mind. I was lucky that I got accepted into the program at Sheridan College in Canada and studied in a three-year course. That cemented my love for it. Another big influence Is this little animated short called "The Big Snit" by Richard Condie. To this day, I think it is one of the funniest and most poignant pieces of entertainment ever made. It really inspired me to want to create my own animation.

Latin Post: If you were a Boxtroll what kind of junk would you collect?

AS: I would be like Shoe. I don't like to be caught without stuff that I need so I would have a box full of stuff. Every tool. My charger, my phone. It's something that came along when we were creating the characters. Even when he is on secret missions, he always has a lot of junk rattling around in his box. I would be a lot like shoe.

GA: I fit the Canadian stereotype. I'm a huge hockey fan, so I'd probably have some pucks and hockey sticks in my box for sure.

Latin Post: Would you like to revisit this world in a sequel? What kind of story would you tell?

GA: I need a little breather from the world honestly.

AS: Yeah, we try to find our characters in their most pivotal moments in their lives that transforms them forever. And I think that we did that. Certainly for Snatcher. I don't see that I need to tell anymore stories with these characters. That being said, Alan Snow creates huge worlds with a lot of different threads and there are a lot of rich stories to tell for us or someone else that wants to go back to Cheesebridge.

Latin Post: What is your next project?

GA: We don't know. We keep talking about vacations mostly.

AS: This is the first stop motion movie that I have directed, and now that I have that experience, I would like to think about other project that I have had in the works and whether they would be the best thing to do in stop motion. It takes a long time. We spend 18 months focusing on that so I need to fill up my head with more inspiration.

"The Boxtrolls" hits theaters on Sept. 26.