Animator of the Month: LAIKA

     Stop-motion animation has been around since the beginning of animation history. In fact, it was one of the first types of animation used. For this month, I will talk about not one animator, but an entire studio. LAIKA was the brains behind Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls and even Kubo and the Two Strings.

     LAIKA was founded in 2005 as an addition to maintain the whimsical techniques of stop-motion animation. In their films, they combine the efforts brought forth by computer-generated imagery (CGI) and their own stop-motion. Some characters shown in their movies was carefully sculpted with 3D printers with excessive detail. However, the majority of their characters were sculpted with their own hands. Their eyes for such intricate designs know no limit except their budgets. While animators worldwide have praised their films for being revolutionary, the Oscar awards have not yet recognized their significance in the animation field, though they have finally given them an award for their technical work. For Kubo and the Two Strings, they constructed a marionette skeleton with a 22-foot arm-span that was large enough to grab a hold of regular-sized characters.

     In stop-motion, a single frame can make all the difference and could change the entire mood as 23 other frames go by in a second. Since they started releasing films, I have been their fan and I will continue to be one and watch as they revolutionize the stop-motion animation industry.

For those who are more interested about their work, here is a behind-the-scenes for its latest movie, Kubo and the Two Strings.