Using the latest Microsoft Kinect technology, we built an interactive mirror from scratch that mimicked the gestures and facial expressions of kids who played with it in theater lobbies.

Mirroring kids’ movements, 5 different Boxtroll characters smiled, jumped, clapped, waved and flexed their muscles when kids stepped in front of the handmade mirror frame and did the same.

A colorful CG environment was designed to match LAIKA’s handmade sets from the film, along with the trademark Boxtroll grunts and sound design pulled straight from their underground cavern.

All resulting in a memorable and engaging introduction to the Boxtrolls’ personalities.

The interactive mirror toured movie theaters throughout the Hollywood area prior to the launch of The Boxtrolls, with its main residence located inside the highly trafficked AMC Theater at the Universal CityWalk. Over 120,000 people interacted with the magic mirror in total, serving to familiarize families with the lovable Boxtrolls and significantly increase their odds of buying movie tickets.

The magic mirror, as part of our integrated campaign, helped The Boxtrolls become the highest grossing LAIKA film to date with the third-highest opening weekend for any stop-motion film ever, reaching over $100 million worldwide.