Laika, LLC

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, whose son Travis Knight worked at the studio as an animator. In 1998, Knight made his initial investment. In 2002, Phil Knight acquired the financially struggling Will Vinton Studios to pursue feature-length productions. The following year, Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, joined the studio as a supervising director. In July 2005, Will Vinton Studios was rebranded as Laika – named after Laika, the dog sent to space by the Soviet Union in 1957.

It opened two divisions: Laika Entertainment for feature films and Laika/house for commercial work, such as advertisements and music videos. The studio also announced their first projects, the stop-motion film Coraline, and the CGI animated film Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure.

The studio laid off a significant portion of its staff in 2008, when its second planned feature, Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure, was cancelled. The following year, the studio released its first feature film, Coraline, directed by Selick, 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 but having been unsuccessful in renegotiating his contract, Selick departed Laika in 2009. At the end of the year, the studio laid off more staff in its computer animation department to focus exclusively on stop-motion.

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, 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, 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.

Their third film, The Boxtrolls, was released on September 26, 2014. 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, 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: Character Animation, Production Design, and Editorial in a Feature Production.

Laika had considered Philip Reeve's fantasy book Goblins for a potential feature film adaptation.

In March 2015, the company announced its intention to expand its studio space, aiming to produce one film per year.

Their fifth film, Missing Link, directed by Chris Butler, was released on April 12, 2019. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature and eight nominations at the Annie Awards. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature.

On February 8, 2021, Laika signed a distribution deal with Shout! Factory for the United States, covering the studio's first four films. On March 31, 2021, Laika opened a LA-based subsidiary called LAIKA Live Action and announced their first live-action film, based on the action thriller novel Seventeen by John Brownlow, a fan of Laika's previous work. In September of that year it was also confirmed that the studio is currently working on their sixth stop-motion animated film, Wildwood, after the film was originally announced in 2011. The film is based on a novel by Colin Meloy and directed by Travis Knight and is set to release in 2026.

On April 27, 2022, a new Laika stop-motion film titled The Night Gardener was announced as being in the works, based on an original story by Ozark creator Bill Dubuque, with Travis Knight set to direct.

On February 7, 2023, the studio announced that former Netflix executive Matt Levin had been given the title of President, Live-Action Film & Series, and will oversee the studio's entire live-action output, reporting directly to Travis Knight.

In May 2024, it was announced that Laika: Frame x Frame, an exhibition showcasing "the art, science and innovative wizardry of the studio’s epic films", would be hosted between August and October 2024 at BFI Southbank in London as part of a stop-motion season supported by the studio. In June 2024, it was announced that Laika had acquired the rights to adapt Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi into an animated feature film, to be directed by Travis Knight. In July 2024, Laika announced their original live-action film Crumble, with Brian Duffield writing and directing.

Filmography

Films

Short films

Films in development

Stop-motion

Additionally, Víctor Maldonado, Alfredo Torres, Chris and Justin Copeland, Chris Butler, and Sam Fell are working on animated films for the studio.

Live action

Unproduced films

When Laika Entertainment opened, the first projects they announced were the stop-motion film Coraline and the CGI animated film Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure. The latter film was cancelled in 2008, which resulted in the closure of Laika's CGI film division. Characters from the scrapped film were used in a short film, The Mouse that Soared.

Another unreleased CGI film project was The Wall And The Wing, the earliest reference to which dates back to 2005, before the publication of Laura Ruby's novel of the same name. Henry Selick was set to direct the film.

In 2010, it was announced that Jan Pinkava would be directing an original film for Laika, titled Little White Lie, with Chris McCoy as co-writer. Pinkava left Laika in 2011, effectively cancelling the film.

There have been plans for a ParaNorman CGI sequel series, but nothing has come of the project.

In 2012, it was announced that Laika was set to adapt Philip Reeve's book Goblins, with Mark Gustafson set to direct. No further updates were given, and Gustafson died in 2024.

Get Back would have been written by Chris McCCoy, the plot is summarized as: “Two die-hard Beatles fans find a time machine and travel back in time to prevent John Lennon from ever meeting Yoko Ono, as they blame her for the Beatles’ demise.”The first mention of LAIKA's involvement with adapting the script came from an article by The Oregonian in 2019, stating that the indication of the studio's interest comes from court documents connected to a lawsuit filed the previous year in the state of California.

Contract work

Reception

References

References

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40. Grobar, Dave. (June 6, 2025). "Laika Taps ‘Suspiria’ & ‘Bones And All’ Scribe Dave Kajganich To Pen Travis Knight’s ‘Piranesi’".
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52. {{LinkedIn page
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54. @LostMediaBuster. (2024-08-21). "DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS UNRELEASED MEDIA: A 'ParaNorman' sequel TV series was in production. Animation tests were uploaded to YouTube recently by YouTube user Rare LAIKA Reuploads, giving us an idea of what it would've been like. Watch them here: youtu.be/sOBFbKKTuQc?si…".
55. (18 April 2012). "Laika puts Brit book 'Goblins' in pipeline". Variety.
56. Giardina, Carolyn. (February 2, 2024). "Mark Gustafson, Stop-Motion Veteran and Oscar Winner for 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio,' Dies at 63".
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59. https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2020/08/laika-animation-studio-lays-off-56-citing-coronavirus-restrictions.html
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