Movie fans are being transported to the animated world of LAIKA Studios once more with the grand reopening of “From Coraline to Kubo: A Magical LAIKA Experience” at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
The unique interactive exhibition is back and offers guests an up-close look at the artistic detail and imagination behind the acclaimed animation studio’s movies.
“You know millions of people have seen our films and they would love to see what our puppets look like up close and personal, and here they have the opportunity to do it,” said LAIKA Studios Marketing and Brand Manager Mark Shapiro.
LAIKA, the independent studio behind 2009’s “Coraline” and 2012’s “ParaNorman,” both nominated for Oscars, prides itself on creating aesthetically different tales from other animation studios such as Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks.
“They made all of this stuff that’s here and they put it into the movie so I think it’s really cool,” said 9-year-old movie fan Sonora Saunders as she toured the exhibition with her family.
“There’s so many little intricate details that you don’t really think about when you’re seeing amovie that you just kind of get immersed in the story and just sort of what’s happening and so seeing the art behind it I was really fascinated by,” added eighteen year-old Megan Cassingham, a tourist from Louisiana.
Known in some circles as the hipsters of animation, the Portland, Oregon-based LAIKA studios latest offering “Kubo and the Two Strings” was recently nominated for a Golden Globe.
Colin, a 17-year-old visitor from Anaheim, explained why he was impressed with the exhibition.
LAIKA’s selling point lies in hand-made artistry, creating miniature physical sets and puppets and using stop-motion animation, where each frame is positioned by hand and captured by camera by hundreds of artists.
“It’s really cool I don’t think any of the videos you see of this stuff doesn’t really [have] any justice to it, like seeing it in person is really, really cool.”
“From Coraline to Kubo: A Magical LAIKA Experience” will run through the holidays from December 21, 2016 to January 15, 2017.
