Laika (company)
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Animation, film production |
| Genre | Animation |
| Predecessor | Will Vinton Studios |
| Founded | June 23, 2005 |
| Headquarters | Northwest Bennett Street, Hillsboro, Oregon, U.S. |
|
Key people
|
Chairman: Phil Knight President & CEO: Travis Knight[1] |
| Products | Films |
| Owner | Phil Knight |
|
Number of employees
|
394 (2015)[2] |
| Website | www |
Laika Entertainment, LLC, or simply Laika, is an American stop-motion animation studio specializing in feature films, commercial content for all media, music videos and short films. The studio is best known for its stop-motion feature films Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings, all co-produced in partnership with Universal Pictures through its Focus Features label. It is owned by Nike co-founder and chairman Phil Knight and is located in Hillsboro, Oregon, part of the Portland metropolitan area. Knight's son, Travis, acts as Laika's president and CEO.
Laika had two divisions, Laika Entertainment for feature films and Laika/house for commercial content. The studio spun off the commercial division in July 2014 to focus on feature film production exclusively. The new independent commercial division is now called HouseSpecial.[3][4]
Contents
History
In the late 1990s, Will Vinton Studios, known for its stop-motion films and commercials, sought funds for more feature-length films and brought in outside investors, which included Nike, Inc. owner Phil Knight. In 1998, Knight made his initial investment and his son Travis started work at the studio as an animator.[5] In 2002, Phil Knight acquired the financially struggling Will Vinton Studios to pursue feature-length productions.[6] The following year, Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, joined the studio as a supervising director. In July 2005, the successor to Will Vinton Studios, Laika, was founded, and named after Laika, the dog sent to space by the Soviet Union in 1957.[7] It opened two divisions: Laika Entertainment for feature films and Laika/house for commercial work, such as advertisements and music videos. They also announced their first projects, the stop-motion film Coraline (based on the book of the same name), and the CGI animated film Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure.[5]
The studio laid off a significant portion of its staff in 2008, when its second planned feature, Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure, was cancelled.[8] The following year, the studio released its first feature film, Coraline, which received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a nomination at the BAFTAs for Best Animated Feature, a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and eight nominations at the Annie Awards, winning three, for Best Music in an Animated Feature, and Best Character Design and Production Design in a Feature Production.
After directing Moongirl and Coraline, and unsuccessfully renegotiating his contract, Selick departed Laika in 2009.[1] At the end of the year, the studio laid off more staff in its computer animation department to focus exclusively on stop-motion.[6]
Their second stop-motion feature film, ParaNorman, directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler opened on August 17, 2012. It received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature,[9] as well as a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the BAFTAs, and eight nominations at the Annie Awards, winning two, for Character Animation and Character Design in an Animated Feature Production.
After working on stop-motion commercials for clients such as Apple Inc., Fox Sports, ESPN and Coca-Cola,[10] Laika spun off its advertising portion in July 2014, to focus on feature film production exclusively. The new independent commercial division is now called HouseSpecial.[3][4]
Their third film, The Boxtrolls, was released on September 26, 2014.[11] It was based on Alan Snow's fantasy-adventure novel, Here Be Monsters! and was directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature,[12] a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature, and nine nominations at the Annie Awards, winning two, for Voice Acting and Production Design in an Animated Feature Production.
Their fourth film, Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight was released on August 19, 2016. It received two nominations at the Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects (as only the second animated film to receive that nomination, after The Nightmare Before Christmas). It won the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature. It also received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes, and ten nominations at the Annie Awards, winning three, for Character Animation, Production Design and Editorial in a Feature Production.
Laika has optioned Colin Meloy's fantasy novel Wildwood[13][14] and Philip Reeve's fantasy book Goblins,[15] for potential feature film adaptations.
In March 2015, the company announced it would expand the studio in an effort to allow for production of one film per year.[16]
Laika is currently working on their fifth film Missing Link, which is scheduled for release on April 12, 2019.[17]
Filmography
Feature films
| # | Title | Release date | Budget[18] | Gross[18] | RT | MC[19] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coraline | February 6, 2009 | $60 million | $124.6 million | 90% | 80 |
| 2 | ParaNorman | August 17, 2012 | $107.1 million | 87% | 72 | |
| 3 | The Boxtrolls | September 26, 2014 | $109.3 million | 75% | 61 | |
| 4 | Kubo and the Two Strings | August 19, 2016 | $77.5 million | 97% | 84 |
Upcoming films
| # | Title | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Missing Link | April 12, 2019 |
Short films
| # | Title | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moongirl | September 24, 2005 |
Contract work
| Year | Title | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Corpse Bride | Production |
| 2007 | King of California | Dream sequence |
| 2007–09 | Slacker Cats | Television series |
| 2011 | A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas | Stop-motion/claymation[20] |
| 2018 | Bumblebee | Co-production |
Accolades
Academy Awards
| Year | Film | Category | Winner/Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Coraline | Best Animated Feature | Henry Selick | Nominated |
| 2012 | ParaNorman | Sam Fell and Chris Butler | ||
| 2014 | The Boxtrolls | Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight | ||
| 2016 | Kubo and the Two Strings | Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff |
Annie Awards
| Year | Film | Category | Winner/Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Coraline | Best Animated Feature | Henry Selick | Nominated |
| Directing in a Feature Production | ||||
| Voice Acting in a Feature Production | Dawn French | |||
| Music in an Animated Feature Production | Bruno Coulais | Won | ||
| Character Animation in a Feature Production | Travis Knight | Nominated | ||
| Character Design in a Feature Production | Shane Prigmore and Shannon Tindle | Won | ||
| Production Design in a Feature Production | Christopher Appelhans and Tadahiro Uesugi | |||
| Storyboarding in a Feature Production | Chris Butler | Nominated | ||
| 2012 | ParaNorman | Best Animated Feature | Sam Fell and Chris Butler | |
| Directing in a Feature Production | ||||
| Animated Effects in an Animated Production | Andrew Nawrot, Joe Gorski and Grant Lake | |||
| Character Animation in a Feature Production | Travis Knight | Won | ||
| Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Heidi Smith | |||
| Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Nelson Lowry, Ross Stewart, Pete Oswald, Ean McNamara and Trevor Dalmer | Nominated | ||
| Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Emmanuela Cozzi | |||
| Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Chris Butler | |||
| 2014 | The Boxtrolls | Best Animated Feature | Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi | |
| Animated Effects in an Animated Production | Rick Sevy, Peter Vickery, Kent Estep, Peter Stuart and Ralph Procida | |||
| Character Animation in a Feature Production | Travis Knight | |||
| Malcolm Lamont | ||||
| Jason Stalman | ||||
| Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Mike Smith | |||
| Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi | |||
| Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Paul Lasaine, Tom McClure and August Hall | |||
| Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Emanuela Cozzi | |||
| Voice Acting in a Feature Production | Ben Kingsley | Won | ||
| Dee Bradley Baker | Nominated | |||
| Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Irena Brignull and Adam Pava | |||
| 2016 | Kubo and the Two Strings | Best Animated Feature | Travis Knight | |
| Animated Effects in an Animated Production | David Horsley, Eric Wachtman, Timur Khodzhaev, Daniel Leatherdale and Terrance Tomberg | |||
| Character Animation in a Feature Production | Jan Maas | Won | ||
| Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Shannon Tindle | Nominated | ||
| Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Travis Knight | |||
| Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall and Ean McNamara | Won | ||
| Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Mark Garcia | Nominated | ||
| Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Art Parkinson | |||
| Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Marc Haimes and Chris Butler | |||
| Editorial in an Animated Feature Production | Christopher Murrie | Won |
British Academy Film Awards
| Year | Film | Category | Winner/Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Coraline | Best Animated Film | Henry Selick | Nominated |
| 2012 | ParaNorman | Sam Fell and Chris Butler | ||
| 2014 | The Boxtrolls | Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable | ||
| 2016 | Kubo and the Two Strings | Travis Knight | Won |
See also
References
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- ↑ Laika to Expand Studio by 70 Percent
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External links
- No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
- Laika Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database
- Will Vinton Studios at the Internet Movie Database
- Will Vinton Productions at the Internet Movie Database
- Use mdy dates from July 2014
- Pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters
- Pages with broken file links
- Official website missing URL
- American companies established in 2005
- Companies based in Hillsboro, Oregon
- Companies based in Portland, Oregon
- American animation studios
- Film production companies of the United States
- Media companies established in 2005
- Privately held companies based in Oregon
- 2005 establishments in Oregon
