The Boxtrolls

The antidote to the modern animated movie.

This kind of stop-motion animation (wittily demonstrated during the end credits) results in wonderfully detailed characters and action.

There are many more delighted 'Ewwws' than too-easy 'Awws' in this charming, if a tad cynical, feature from the creators of Coraline and ParaNorman.

It's a world that runs in a parallel universe akin to that of Charles Dickens, with creatively named characters involved in seemingly outlandish adventures in a Victorian-era city where a moral or two plays out in the end.

It's a felt, funny, bracingly sincere kids' movie. And even more refreshing, it takes as a theme our social fixation with waste, salvage and repackaging.

Without being didactic, "The Boxtrolls" presents the dangers of a hierarchical society, separated out into high-status and low, and also has some very interesting and moving things to say about identity, family, and morality.

This Laika Studios/Shout! Factory collaboration delivers a well-crafted product that exceeds expectations.

The Boxtrolls contains so much charm in its squalor, so much joy in its decrepitude, that the black humor and beautiful animation cannot help but leave an audience delighted.

If there's anything The Boxtrolls isn't lacking in, its confidence.

The final bit that seeps into the end credits is a marvelously meta moment.