You’ve heard of Disney, you’ve heard of Pixar, you’ve heard of DreamWorks, but have you heard of Laika?

Maybe once or twice.

Laika, founded in 2005, is an American animation studio that specializes in stop-motion animation. They have released five films over the last fourteen years, beginning with their most well-known feature, Coraline, in 2009. Their other films are ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), and most recently, Missing Link (2019). While Laika’s films tend to receive praise from critics upon their release, they don’t seem to strike as big of a chord with audiences. They have their fans, yes, but their popularity dulls in comparison to films put out by larger studios.

This is a shame because Laika’s work is some of the very best in the animation industry right now and they deserve so much more credit than they get!

Let’s start with what is by far Laika’s greatest feature: the quality of animation. Stop-motion animation is tricky. It is a tedious, time-consuming process that leaves little room for error. Laika excels at this process. The characters move in such a fluid, careful way that some viewers have said they believed the film to be 3D-animated at first. Attention to detail is a staple of many studios, and Laika is the farthest thing from an exception.

Another great feature of Laika’s is the worlds they build. From sinister parallel dimensions to serene forests to the streets of an old-fashioned village, every one of Laika’s handcrafted worlds feels like something pulled straight from a storybook; it’s something whimsical and fantastic that you’d want to get lost in for hours. And the cherry on top of this visually bombastic sundae? Laika has some of the best character design chops in the business. This studio isn’t afraid to get creative with the look of their characters, which offer a wide variety of shapes, sizes, quirks, and trappings. Do you love to complain about every Disney heroine looking identical? Check out Laika!

Laika truly is a wonder of a studio. In an industry riddled with products designed to rake in as much of a profit as possible, it’s nice to see a studio whose main priority is creating works of art to inspire and entertain anyone lucky enough to watch.