
Snap a selfie on the life-size bug couch from “Coraline.” Credit: Nancy Chaney These sturdy structures can occupy younger visitors while those with longer attention spans linger over the character puppets, costumes and sets protected behind glass. “Wildwood” promises to be a capstone project, in which every aspect of the film will utilize capabilities that didn’t exist when LAIKA started with “Coraline” back in 2009.Īfter passing through a life-size version of the tunnel leading to the Other World of “Coraline,” guests experience spaces with immersive scenic elements dedicated to each of the LAIKA films. With each subsequent movie, LAIKA found new ways to make its worlds more real, pairing technological advances in digital effects and rapid-prototype 3D printing with traditional stop-motion animation. In “Coraline,” LAIKA pioneered filming in “ones” instead of “twos.” (Ask a middle schooler if you don’t know what that means essentially, it doubles the number of images used to animate a film, eliminating the jerky movements characteristic of older animation.) The insides of some puppet characters resemble the Terminator. As visitors move through the space, they experience recreations of six LAIKA worlds, while learning about the ways each one pushed stop-motion technology forward. The Hidden Worlds exhibition at MoPOP explores the technical side of building LAIKA’s story worlds. Some of the character Coraline’s costumes. Many parents might focus on the stories, which tend to be darker in tone than most children’s films, sometimes featuring sinister supernatural forces (as in “Coraline,” which is based on the book by Neil Gaiman).īut what’s most remarkable about LAIKA films is the extreme measures the creators go to to achieve the richly detailed, imaginative worlds in which the stories take place. LAIKA films have won a variety of industry awards and nominations, but audiences know them best for their off-beat stories and off-kilter aesthetics.


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Costumed puppet from the movie “Kubo and the Two Strings.” Credit: Nancy Chaney Meloy is also the frontman for Portland-based indie band The Decemberists.
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The studio currently has a sixth film in production, titled “Wildwood.” Described by LAIKA Head of Production Arianne Sutner as “a love letter to Portland,” “Wildwood” is based on the first novel in the Wildwood fantasy series by Colin Meloy. It has produced five films, “ Coraline” (2009), “ ParaNorman” (2012), “ The Boxtrolls” (2014), “ Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016) and “ Missing Link” (2019).Įach film has been nominated for an Academy Award for Outstanding Animated Feature. Credit: Joseph Bondi LAIKA Studiosįor those unfamiliar with the name, LAIKA is a Portland-based movie studio that was founded in 2005. The pink palace from the movie “Coraline,” on view at MoPOP. The 7,500-square-foot exhibit created by MoPOP curators, in partnership with LAIKA creators, will be on display at MoPOP through summer 2024, before it sets off to other museums around the country. Credit: Nancy Chaney Something for everyoneįamilies with tweens or teens interested in film, art, engineering, sculpture, technology, 3D printing, robotics, painting, costume design, and even jewelry-making will find many things to love. Props from the movie “ParaNorman” on view at MoPOP. Through large-scale displays, film artifacts and interactive elements, visitors discover the myriad tiny elements that combine to create the imaginative and richly detailed worlds of LAIKA. The exhibit offers an immersive look at how LAIKA’s stop-motion animated films are made.

It’s called “ Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA” and it opened this week at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, commonly called MoPOP. But now families can examine the hidden details of LAIKA’s worlds at a new special exhibit. Set from the movie “Kubo and the Two Strings.” Credit: Nancy Chaneyīuilding LAIKA’s complex miniature worlds takes an attention to detail that few people can imagine or understand. From “ Coraline” to “ Missing Link,” each LAIKA production inhabits its own world, each with a unique aesthetic.īut unlike most animation studios, LAIKA actually creates its worlds - in real life. Many families have likely watched stop-motion animated movies created by LAIKA Studios, perhaps without realizing the origin of the films.
