Nestled deep in the valley of Hillsboro, Oregon, a city that has is known for being the headquarters of various tech companies and about 30 minutes outside of the bustling city of Portland, is a massive warehouse that is the home of Laika Studios. After enduring an intense company rebrand 2005 by their CEO and President Travis Knight, Laika became the starting point for some of your favorite fictional animation characters.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Laika, perhaps a certain blue-haired witty child with a knack for exploring and evil doppelgänger parents with buttons for eyes might come to mind. In 2009, Laika Studios produced the critically acclaimed and award-winning animation film Coraline. Released in 2009 as the first feature film produced by the studio, Coraline was a huge success at the box office and received positive reviews from critics.
Since then, Laika has produced various feature films such as their 2012 spooky comedy film ParaNorman featuring Anna Kendrick and Casey Affleck, and 2014 Academy Award nominated film “The Boxtrolls”, which tells the story of a young orphan trying to save underground monsters referred to as Boxtrolls. The fourth Laika-produced film was animated tale Kubo and the Two Strings which followed the company wide decision to expand the production studio to increase efficiency in 2015.
So, what’s next for Laika?
The studio is currently in its final stages of preparation to release their new film Missing Link. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis, as well as UK actors such as Emma Thompson, Steven Fry and David William. Written and directed by England-born director Chris Butler, who was the Storyboard artist for “Coraline” as well as the writer and director for ParaNorman, Missing Link differs from past Laika films.
Blackfilm.com got the opportunity to visit the popular studio and get an early sneak peek of the upcoming film and how Chris Butler, with the help of producer and animator Arianne Sutner, continue to create this new film that many believe will be bigger and better than the last.
“It’s definitely our most colorful movie to date,” Chris said. “I think with everything that we do, we want to push the boundaries a little bit further. It’s definitely true that this movie is the biggest but I don’t necessarily think that has to be the case with every movie we make. I think as long as we’re pushing boundaries, as long as we’re innovating, it doesn’t mean every movie has to have more locations or more puppets. But we do like to continue to push the medium to see where it could go.”
Sutner added, “We do seem to want to continue to push the boundaries of stock motion as an art form and animation as an art form, and there is a little bit of pressure to do that. It doesn’t necessarily mean pressure to innovate and come up with something new. Whatever Chris is writing, we don’t want him to be hampered by the story he wants to bring to the screen. So, we want to make sure that we are able to bring it to the screen and sometimes that means coming up with some new tools to make it happen.”
Missing Link follows the adventures of myth buster Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) as he investigates the existence of legendary creature Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis), which seems to be loosely based on the sasquatch or Bigfoot. Chris Butler drew inspiration for Missing Link from a few of his favorite childhood films and books.
Butler stated, “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was an Indiana jones of stock-motion [film]? It’s a little bit of Sherlock Holmes, a little bit of Ray Harryhausen’s creatures thrown in. It is a rollercoaster ride. We talk of it as a ‘kaleidoscopic travel log’ as well.”
Together, Sir. Lionel Frost and Mr. Link embark on a long journey across the globe to find the lost relatives of Mr. Link, and joining them along the ride is feisty adventurist Adelina Fortnight voiced by Zoe Saldana. Together, they are determined to find the descendants of Mr. Link, to find who feels misplaced in the world and craves a sense of communal belonging.
“We want to leave audience members with a sense of boundless optimism and that’s certainly how I feel at the end of this movie, even at the end of making this movie,” Sutner said.
For more information about the film and Laika, visit Laika Studios. Missing Link is set to release in theaters nationwide on April 12, 2019. Watch the trailer below:
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