Laika Retrospective at Picturehouse Central this December
LAIKA, the Oscar® and BAFTA®-winning Stop-Motion Animated Feature Film studio located in Portland, Oregon whose films have been met with enormous critical acclaim and continuously pushed the envelope in their use of puppet animation and fabrication technologies, will be presenting a one-day retrospective of its filmography at Picturehouse Central (located at the Corner of Great Windmill Street and Shaftesbury Ave) in London on Sunday December 8th.
As well as screening all of its major feature film releases – Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and Missing Link (2019) – Missing Link and the Evolution of LAIKA will also feature onstage Q&As with Chris Butler (writer/director of Missing Link and ParaNorman) as well as an exhibition of LAIKA puppets and dioramas at the venue.
Missing Link (LAIKA/Lionsgate)
The complete schedule is as follows:
10:30am ParaNorman
(Q&A To Follow with Chris Butler)
A misunderstood boy takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse. Kodi Smith-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck and Leslie Mann lead the voice cast. Nominated for the Oscar® and BAFTA® as well as a GLAAD Media Award.
1:00pm Missing Link
(Q&A To Follow with Chris Butler)
Mr. Link (aka “Bigfoot”) recruits explorer Sir Lionel Frost to help find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight, this trio of explorers travels the world to help their new friend. Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis head an international voice cast.
3.30pm Kubo and the Two Strings
Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Art Parkinson and George Takei lead an international voice cast in this story of a young boy named Kubo who must locate a magical suit of armour worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past. Won the BAFTA® Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe and two Oscars®: Animated Film and VFX, the first time in 25 years that an animated film had broken through in the VFX category. LAIKA was awarded a Scientific and Technology Oscar® for its innovation in Rapid Prototyping after the release of Kubo and the Two Strings.
6:00pm Coraline
An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets. Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher and Ian McShane lead the voice cast. AFI’s Movie of the Year, Coraline was nominated for the Oscar®, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA® and won “Best Feature” at the BAFTA Children’s Awards.
8:00pm The Boxtrolls
A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator. Elle Fanning, Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost lead the cast. Nominated for an Academy Award®, the BAFTA® and Golden Globe.
You can learn more about the director Chris Butler and the making of LAIKA’s latest feature Missing Link in episode 90 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast (direct download here or stream below):
Tickets for the event are on sale now at picturehouses.com