Laika’s #OregonMade “Missing Link” Out April 12th

LAIKA’s fifth #OregonMade feature, “Missing Link,” starring Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Zach Galifiankis, written and directed by Chris Butler, music composed by Carter Burwell, produced by, Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner, will be released April 12,2019.

From Laika’s press release: “Missing Link is an artistic and technical wonder,” said Mr. Knight.  “Led by our visionary director Chris Butler, LAIKA has once again blended fine art, craftsmanship, and cutting-edge technology to achieve something we’ve never tried before: a raucous comedy entwined with a swashbuckling epic, underscoring the universal need to find belonging.  Continue reading... “Laika’s #OregonMade “Missing Link” Out April 12th”

Official Trailer Out For #OregonMade LAIKA Movie, “Missing Link”

A new trailer has been released for LAIKA’s latest project, “Missing Link.” Starring Hugh Jackman, written and directed by Chris Butler, music composed by Carter Burwell, producers are, Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner and will be released April 12,2019.

“The charismatic Sir Lionel Frost considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters. Trouble is, none of his small-minded, high-society peers seems to recognize this. Hoping to finally gain acceptance from these fellow adventurers, Sir Lionel travels to the Pacific Northwest to prove the existence of a legendary creature known as the missing link.” Continue reading... “Official Trailer Out For #OregonMade LAIKA Movie, “Missing Link””

Chris Butler Will Direct LAIKA’s 5th Film, “Missing Link”

LAIKA’s fifth film, “Missing Link,” will be directed by Chris Butler (“ParaNorman”) and cast will include, Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Zach Galifianakis, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson. It is set to open in the spring of 2019.

LAIKA describes the latest project as a “globetrotting comedy-adventure bursting with humor, heart, and a profound message of acceptance and finding one’s place.”   Read more here.

Continue reading... “Chris Butler Will Direct LAIKA’s 5th Film, “Missing Link””

The LAIKA Experience – At The Portland Art Museum – “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA”

Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA” is a “brand new “ exhibit and behind-the-scenes interactive look at LAIKA’s creative process, that promises to take the visitor inside the world of animation. LAIKA’s artistry and technology illustrate how the feature films, “Coraline”, “ParaNorman”, “The Box Trolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” were made. “Through behind-the-scenes photography, video clips and physical artwork from its films, visitors will be immersed in LAIKA’s creative process, exploring the production design, sets, props, puppets, costumes, and world-building that have become the studio’s hallmarks. Continue reading... “The LAIKA Experience – At The Portland Art Museum – “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA””

This Fall Animating Life:The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA Comes to Portland Art Museum

The Boxtrolls, courtesy of LAIKA

Behind the scenes, the Oregon animation studio, LAIKA, is an amazing collection of animators, artists, cutting-edge tech, and good, old-fashioned story-telling, and this fall you will be able to explore LAIKA’s “creative process” from start to finish at the Portland Art Museum.

The Northwest Film Center and the Portland Art Museum have partnered with LAIKA to present the immersive experience.

For more information look here, the exhibit opens October 14, 2017-May 20, 2018.

#OregonMade

#OregonMadeShows Continue reading... “This Fall Animating Life:The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA Comes to Portland Art Museum”

Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins

Congratulations to LAIKA on their three Annie Award wins for “Kubo And The Two Strings“:

  • Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
    Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall, Ean McNamara
    KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
  • Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
    Jan Maas
    KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
    Laika
  • Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
    Christopher Murrie
    KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

We will all be watching the  2017 Academy Awards later this month as “Kubo” garnered two nominations for,  Animated Feature, and Visual Effects. Continue reading... “Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins”

LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!

The 2017 Academy Award nominations are out!  Among them are two nominations for  LAIKA‘s #OregonMade “Kubo And The Two Strings” –  Animated Feature, and Visual Effects!

Kubo” joined; “Moana”, “My Life as a Zucchini”, “The Red Turtle”, “Zootopia” in the Animated Feature category, and “Deepwater Horizon”, “Doctor Strange”, “Jungle Book” and  “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in the Visual Effects category.  Should “Kubo” win each category, Travis Knight  and Arianne Sutner would accept for Best Animated Feature, and Steve Emerson ,Oliver Jones, Brian McLean,Brad Schiff would accept for Best Visual Effects. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!”

LAIKA’s New Feature, “Kubo And The Two Strings” Opens This Month

https://youtu.be/7oAxrNEt5I4

kubo-two-strings-trailer-postersLAIKA and Focus Features’ Kubo And The Two Strings” will open on August 19th. “Kubo” is “a clever, kindhearted boy (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) who ekes out a humble living, telling fantastical stories to the people of his seaside town. But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a mythical spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s New Feature, “Kubo And The Two Strings” Opens This Month”

Laika Wins Technical Oscar’s Award For 3-D Printing Technology

Laika's Brian McLean won a special award from the Oscars for "pioneering the use of rapid prototyping for character animation in stop-motion film production." (Laika photo.)
Laika’s Brian McLean won a special award from the Oscars for “pioneering the use of rapid prototyping for character animation in stop-motion film production.” (Laika photo.)

Laika uses stop-motion animation techniques to bring their characters to life, but with hundreds of puppets needed for the process it is painstaking to create the many expressions and movement needed to make the action fluid.  The studio overcame this by becoming early adopter’s of the 3-D printing process that enabled them to create the many minuscule changing facial features without losing any of the artistry that goes into each puppet. Continue reading... “Laika Wins Technical Oscar’s Award For 3-D Printing Technology”

LAIKA Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Congratulations to LAIKA, who are celebrating their 10th Anniversary this month.  LAIKA has continued to hold it’s own over the last decade, producing animated features that are works of art in their own right – beginning in 2009 with “Coraline“, “ParaNorman“, “The Boxtrolls“, and currently in production, “Kubo and the Two Strings“.

President and CEO, Travis Knight, said it best when he talked to Wired Magazine, “We’re an outlier. We work in an industry that is dominated by franchises and sequels and prequels and remakes and reboots, but we’re devoted to telling new and original stories. Continue reading... “LAIKA Celebrates 10th Anniversary”