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KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS TEASER TRAILER LIVE!

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Laika’s latest film looks to be pretty cool! Looking forward to it!

Synopsis: Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA.

Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of Game of Thrones) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Hashi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and Kamekichi (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara) to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family and fulfill his heroic destiny.

Director: Travis Knight
Writers: Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (“ParaNorman”)
Voice Cast: Art Parkinson, Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro

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News: The Art of LAIKA Offered For First Time By Heritage Auctions

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LaikaFocusThe Art of LAIKA Offered For First Time By Heritage Auctions

Production Puppets, Models, Props and Original Handmade Art from Oscar®-Nominated Animation Studio to Be Auctioned on February 12, 2015; Portion of Proceeds to Benefit The Art of Elysium    Non-Profit Arts Group

Heritage[Portland, OR and Beverly Hills, CA; January 6, 2015]  – LAIKA, the visionary animationstudio behind the Golden Globe and Annie Award-nominated The Boxtrolls and the BAFTA and Academy Award-nominated Coraline and ParaNorman, will open its archives for the first time for a limited auction of over 250 puppets, models, props and art in The Art of LAIKA, to be held by Heritage Auctions on Thursday, February 12, 2015, in Beverly Hills.

A portion of the proceeds of the auction will be donated to The Art of Elysium, a non-profit arts organization that works to make art a catalyst for social change by bringing creativity and inspiration to children, artists, and various populations in need.

“LAIKA is known for its artistry and revolutionary stop-motion animation techniques,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage Auctions’ Director of Animation Art. “The studio’s legions of die-hard fans regularly ask LAIKA for the opportunity to own some of the masterfully engineered puppets, props and other artwork used to make these beloved films. So the studio is finally offering a specially curated collection of items from its production archives. This is the chance that those fans, and animation and film collectors of all stripes, have been waiting for.”

“LAIKA’s films aim to promote thought, feeling, and connectivity through art, inspired by our shared humanity,” says Travis Knight, President & CEO of the studio and an Annie-Award-winning animator and producer. “We’re deeply gratified that the spirit of our work has resonated so strongly with audiences around the world. LAIKA’s artists and craftspeople are consummate creators, and each piece of this collection is a testament to their talents and imagination. These are beautiful, unique, and handcrafted works of art of the highest order. We’re so pleased to open up our vaults for animation fans around the world and to support The Art of Elysium, whose mission is so close to our hearts.”

Selected highlights from The Art of LAIKA will be on display in Dallas, Jan. 27-29, at Heritage Auctions (3500 Maple Avenue, Dallas, TX, 75219); Feb. 3-5 at Heritage Auctions Park Avenue (445 Park Avenue at 57th Street); and Feb. 9-12, Heritage Auctions Beverly Hills (9478 West Olympic Avenue).

laika.heritage.press_release_img001

Some of the items in the auction include, but are not limited to:

  • From Coraline

*  Coraline production puppet in her iconic blue-starred sweater

*  The Cat production puppet

*  Other Mother production puppet in her elaborately realized black dress

  • From ParaNorman

*  Norman production puppet in his baseball shirt outfit

*  Zombie Judge production puppet with fully articulated mouth and face

*Intricate large-scale production props such as Mitch’s Van and “Zombie Attack”

vending machine

*Original hand-drawn Annie Award-winning character designs

  • From The Boxtrolls

* Eggs and Boxtrolls production puppets complete with their “Box” outfits

                                * Snatcher production puppet in his exquisite hand and laser-etched velvet jacket

* Snatcher’s Mecha-Drill, at over five feet, the largest prop ever created for a   stop-motion film

Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $900 million, and 850,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.  Want to get the up-to-the-minute updates and breaking news stories about Heritage Auctions? Get them as they happen at: HA.com/Twitter; Facebook: HA.com/Facebook. To view a complete archive of Heritage press releases go to: HA.com/PR. To link to this press release on your blog or Website: www.HA.com/PR-2222.

About LAIKA

Fueled by the vision of its owner, Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip H. Knight, and its President & CEO Travis Knight, LAIKA (www.laika.com) is a Portland-Oregon based animation studio specializing in feature films.  Celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2015, LAIKA has begun production on its fourth film, Kubo and the Two Strings, being directed by Mr. Knight and set for release by Focus Features on August 19, 2016.  A sweeping, swashbuckling adventure set in a mythical ancient Japan, Kubo boasts a voice cast led by Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey; Academy Award nominees Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, and Brenda Vaccaro, and Art Parkinson, who plays Rickon Stark on Game of Thrones, as Kubo.

Also released by Focus Features, LAIKA’s current film The Boxtrolls has earned Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations for Best Animated Film and 13 Annie Award (the animation community’s Oscar equivalent) nominations, the most of any animated film this year. The company’s first feature, Coraline (2009), earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, PGA, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). ParaNorman (2012) garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, GLAAD Media Award, PGA, and Academy Award nominations, won two Annies and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups.

About Focus Features

Focus Features (www.focusfeatures.com) makes, acquires, and releases movies from rising and established talent and filmmakers. The company is moving forward with a diverse slate of wide releases appealing to a range of moviegoers. Staying true to the company’s roots, the slate will also include several specialty films each year.

In addition to the Golden Globe and Annie Award-nominated The Boxtrolls, current and upcoming releases from Focus include The Theory of Everything, nominated for 3 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 4 Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture; Black Sea, the suspenseful adventure thriller starring Jude Law for director Kevin Macdonald; the romantic drama A Little Chaos, directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet; Leigh Whannell’s Insidious: Chapter 3, the newest chapter in the terrifying horror series; Tarsem Singh’s Selfless, starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley; Sinister 2, directed by Ciaran Foy; London Has Fallen, the sequel to the worldwide smash hit Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler and directed by Babak Najafi; Juan Antonio Bayona’s visually spectacular drama A Monster Calls, starring Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, and Liam Neeson; and Stephen Hopkins’ Race, starring Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, and Stephan James as the legendary athletic superstar Jesse Owens.

Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

Media Contacts:

For HERITAGE AUCTIONS

Noah Fleisher, Public Relations Director

310.492.8613; NoahF@HA.com

For LAIKA:

Maggie Begley/MBC

310.390.0101; Maggie@mbcprinc.com 

For FOCUS FEATURES:

Adriene Bowles

  1. 832.5494; adriene.bowles@focusfeatures.com

 

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Incredible Time-Lapse Shows the Time Consuming Labor Behind Stop Motion Animation

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF_MTFzm27A

I’ve always loved the art of stop motion. To me it’s almost like magic, whereby these actual dolls come to life, moving, singing and laughing. It’s an incredible feat of work and talent and the amount of preparation that goes into it, is truly astounding. That said, here’s a little snippet from the end credits of The Boxtrolls, which captures a tiny bit into the herculean amount of work that goes into making even one scene of stop motion animation. Enjoy!

About The Boxtrolls: A family event movie from the creators of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family

You can read the whole post here.

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News: “THINK INSIDE THE BOX” WITH AMAZON.COM BOXTROLLS CONTEST

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Focus-logo

“THINK INSIDE THE BOX” WITH AMAZON.COM CONTEST

INSPIRED BY FAMILY EVENT MOVIE THE BOXTROLLS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA MONICA, California, September 17th, 2014 – To celebrate this month’s nationwide release of the family event movie The Boxtrolls, Focus Features has teamed with Amazon.com for the “Think Inside the Box” contest. The most original and creative Boxtroll costume made out of the distinctive Amazon.com box (or any unbranded cardboard box) will be determined by  the contest judges and Amazon.com Facebook fans, with the winner receiving $3,000 in Amazon.com Gift Cards.

The contest, which runs through Friday, October 17th, invites participants to make a costume the way the Boxtrolls do – out of a box – and submit a photo via Amazon’s Facebook page. A panel of judges will evaluate all submitted original costume creations inspired by the Boxtrolls themselves. The resulting finalists will then be put to a vote on the Amazon Facebook page, where fans will weigh in to select the lucky winner. Photos must be submitted by Friday, September 26th; voting takes place Monday, October 13th through Friday, October 17th. Contest details and a link to the rules can be found at www.amazon.com/boxtrolls.

Wearing boxes like turtles wear their shells, the Boxtrolls are kindhearted tinkerers who have used their imagination to build a home and community beneath the cobblestoned streets of the town of Cheesebridge. They are always making unique and creative costumes, using their imagination. Among the Boxtrolls friends – named after what was originally in the boxes they wear – are Fish, Shoe, and an 11-year-old boy named Eggs who thinks he’s a Boxtroll.

About The Boxtrolls

Being released nationwide by Focus Features on Friday, September 26th, The Boxtrolls (www.TheBoxtrolls.com) is the all-new family event movie from LAIKA, the creators of Coraline and ParaNorman, that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised a human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright of Game of Thrones) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning of Maleficent). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family. Based upon the book Here Be Monsters, by Alan Snow, The Boxtrolls is directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable and is MPAA-rated PG.

Contact:           Marvin Gray/FOCUS FEATURES

marvin.gray@focusfeatures.com