The LAIKA Experience will be set up at this year’s Comic Con, kicking off prior to the Con on July 14th and running through July 23rd. The pop-up exhibit is free to the public and will feature puppets, monsters, props, and sets from LAIKA’s four films: Coraline, The Boxtrolls, ParaNorman, and Kubo and the Two Strings. The LAIKA Experience will also include fan art, giveaways, a photo booth, and drawings for Nike’s LAIKA-themed shoes designed by Tinker Hatfield.
“LAIKA’s films are a unique fusion of art, craft, science, and technology, commingling cinema’s history with the future of film. But our techniques are often shrouded in mystery,” stated President & CEO Travis Knight. “The LAIKA Experience offers a rare opportunity to peel back the curtain, giving fans an immersive, up-close look at our process, characters, worlds, and dreams made manifest.”
“At LAIKA we’re thrilled to take our ‘act on the road’,” said Brad Wald, CFO and Senior Vice President of Business Operations. “Past LAIKA exhibits at Universal Studios and the Japanese American Museum have been fan favorites and proved very successful in launching our new consumer products initiative, leading us to bring several ‘exclusive’ items with us to San Diego. All of these exhibits, including a major eight-month long retrospective at the Portland Art Museum starting this October, are a direct response to our global fans clamoring to see more LAIKA in the marketplace. We’re thrilled to bring LAIKA directly to them where they can connect with the studio in a more intimate way.”
The LAIKA Experience will be set up at 520 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA. The hours of operation are:
• Friday, July 14: 2 PM to 10PM
• Saturday, July 15: 11AM to 10 PM
• Sunday, July 16: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
• Monday -Tuesday, July 17-18: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, July 19: 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM
• Thursday, July 20: 11:00 AM to 11 PM
• Friday, July 21: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
• Saturday, July 22: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
• Sunday, July 23: 10:00 AM-6:00 PM
Additional LAIKA Highlights:
Sunday, July 16:
● Watch for LAIKA walkaround costumed characters at the LAIKA Photo Booth inside the gates of Balboa Park during the PRIDE Festival. Pose for a photo with ParaNorman’s “Mitch Downe,” the first gay character ever featured in an animated film. Customized LAIKA headbands will be distributed.
Friday, July 21
● 2-3pm: LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight (director of Kubo and the Two Strings) will be joined by New York Times bestselling author Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles; Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight) for a Facebook Live tour of The LAIKA Experience. Travis will share LAIKA’s unique creative process with Tony as they take FB guests on a virtual tour of the pop up exhibit.
● 3-4:30pm: Travis Knight autograph session. (For merchandise purchased at The LAIKA Experience.)
Background on LAIKA: Fueled by the vision of its owner, Nike co-founder and former Chairman Philip H. Knight, and its President & CEO Travis Knight, feature film animation studio LAIKA was founded in 2005. Located just outside Portland, Oregon, LAIKA was awarded a Scientific and Technology Oscar® for its innovation in 3D printing in 2016. Its four films, Kubo and the Two Strings (2016); The Boxtrolls (2014); ParaNorman (2012), and Coraline (2009) were all nominated for Oscars® and PGA Awards as Outstanding Animated Film. Kubo, which marked the directorial debut of Travis Knight, also received an Oscar® nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects.
Kubo won this year’s BAFTA Award as well as three Annie Awards, the National Board of Review and 19 regional and critics’ group awards. The Boxtrolls also earned Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award nominations and 13 Annie Award nominations, more than any other film that year. ParaNorman garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and GLAAD Media Award nominations and won two Annie Awards and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups. Coraline earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Critics’ Choice nominations, and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI).
