LAIKA Entertainment

LAIKA Entertainment, also known as LLC or Laika (stylized as LAIKA), is an American stop-motion animation studio specializing in feature films, commercial content for all media, music videos, and short films. The studio was created July 20, 2005, with their first feature film being created in 2009.

They have created five feature films so far, all of which were critically acclaimed, which it ends up being later nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, respectively. A sixth and seventh stop-motion animated film Colin Meloy's fantasy novel Wildwood and The Night Gardener are set to be released in somewhere year as well as the action thriller novel Seventeen by John Brownlow who is said to be a fan of Laika's previous work, making the first live-action film for stop-motion company. Laika has considered Philip Reeve's fantasy book Goblins, for potential feature film adaptations. It is owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and is located in Hillsboro, Oregon, part of the Portland metropolitan area. Knight's son, Travis Knight, 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 exclusively on feature film production. The new independent commercial division is now called HouseSpecial.

Why They Rock

 * 1) All of their films have gorgeous and smooth stop-motion animation style.
 * 2) They've done a pretty good job at popularizing stop-motion animation again.
 * 3) They do a good job at setting the mood in their films.
 * 4) Some films have true respect to the source material for the book.
 * 5) While they have scary parts, they were well-executed, since LAIKA was not afraid to show them for target audiences.
 * 6) Their movies have very surprising plot-twist.
 * 7) Very likable characters in their films, most notably the main characters. The character designs are also very well-made and fit very well with the stop-motion style.
 * 8) Excellent voice-acting in their films, which really fit their roles well.
 * 9) Aside from their feature films, they've also helped create other great movies such as Corpse Bride and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.
 * 10) Great humor in their films, such as in Kubo and the Two Strings when Beetle asks, "I have a question - if you're Monkey, and I'm Beetle, why isn't he called Boy?"
 * 11) The movies they make are an excellent blend of surrealism and fantasy.
 * 12) They made one short film, Moongirl, which is very well-received, though not much people like it.
 * 13) Most of the films have fantastic and beautiful soundtrack.
 * 14) After having stop-motion animation movies, they will finally have their feature films from live-action, namely Seventeen, which is based on the action thriller novel of the same name by John Brownlow who is said to be a fan of Laika's previous work.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Despite their stop motion animation films being family films, they can sometimes get too scary (or otherwise inappropriate) for kids, such as Coraline, although this is rather debatable since it isn't afraid to show them as the animation is for everyone.
 * 2) Their movies tend to underperformed at the box office due to their habit of bad marketing and US audiences in general being reluctant to see stop motion films, notably Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link.

Reception
All of the films have well-received.

Trivia

 * This company never produces G-rated feature-length films at all, since every one of its feature-length films is rated PG by the MPAA, due to the rating system being more strict.
 * After directing Moongirl and Coraline, and unsuccessfully 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.