Nike – Smaller Pictures

We love to discuss animation on this site and I thought it’d be a great idea to delve into one of the most exciting American animation studios and it isn’t Disney. This is all about Laika Film Studio, owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Initially known as Will Vinton Studios before being renamed as Laika in 2005, the studio carried out contract work before diving into exciting features starting with Coraline in 2009. Followed by four more films, Laika has garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Animation Feature for each of its films without a win.

Laika has time and time again grown to become a serious contender in the critical and commercial eye. Using beautiful stopmotion animation with flawless designs and techniques. Their use of textures are particularly brilliant and this can even be seen in their early contract work such as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and has only grown over the years. Their films are hugely topical with a particular penchant for exploring identity across a spectrum of races and cultures. Laika’s fearlessness has earned its place among the big animation studios and it’ll be great to see what else they have up their sleeves but for now, this post is all about the five features they have released and includes a ranking which won’t be easy. All five films are of such high quality so I’m doing giving myself an easy task at all.

Here are my reviews for the features from Laika:

Coraline (2009)

Laika’s debut comes in the form of fan-favourite, Coraline. Following the titular character, a young girl who has moved home with her parents to a new mansion that has been split up into apartments. Coraline finds an alternative universe known as The Other World where everyone exists with button eyes but appear to be nicer with the house looking brighter than reality. Coraline enjoys spending time with her Other Parents but the facade quickly fades away as all is not as it seems. She has to figure out how to stop her Other Mother from sewing buttons over her eyes and joining them in the Other World which is revealed to be a dark and miserable place. Directed and written by Henry Selick and based on a book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline brought Laika to the spotlight with its unique stopmotion designs and dazzling story-telling. A wonderfully dark film that has appealed to all ages and accumulated a huge fan base, Coraline is a spectacular achievement and a great start for Laika’s legacy.

ParaNorman (2012)

The follow-up feature released by Laika was the supernatural comedy-horror, ParaNorman. Following Norman Babcock, a young boy who appears normal but has a gift of seeing dead people. This has given Norman a reputation for his weirdness in his town but with the help of his best friend, Neil, he is able to get by. There is a threat from witches who were hunted down centuries before and it’s up to Norman and his gift to save everyone. ParaNorman is an exciting and fresh film, blurring the line between children and adult films. Enjoyable for ages, it isn’t afraid to push taboo subjects and includes the first openly guy character in an animation. It may only be one line and not seem like much, but it had such a huge affect on how filmmakers can approach these topics for children. It was even the first PG rated film to be nominated for the GLAAD Best Film award which is a brilliant step forward and has helped to inspire more discussion in mainstream animation films.

The Boxtrolls (2014)

The third film by Laika comes in the form of The Boxtrolls, a film that follows Eggs, a young boy who is raised by the titular Boxtrolls, creatures who collect and hoard rubbish. It is up to Eggs to save the Boxtrolls when they are threatened by an exterminator. It’s critically known as Laika’s weakest work to date but this is by no means suggesting that it is a terrible film. When faced with films of such high calibre, there will always be a film that falls a little bit short with critics. I am inclined to agree as The Boxtrolls doesn’t have the right balance between silliness and sincerity, often favouring the former which makes for some absurd and overly childish watching. The villains are the best part of the film with Ben Kingsley voice performance as the ridiculous Snatcher an absolute delight but sadly, his character arc doesn’t seem to pay off. The Boxtrolls is a film filled to the brim with creativity and visually it’s great but the script is not as consistent and controlled as it could have been which lets it down slightly.

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Kubo and the Two Strings shows just how big Laika can go. Using the same budget as its predecessors, Kubo and the Two Strings follows the titular character on his quest across lands and sea to defeat his aunts and grandfather who are after his one eye after taking the other when he was an infant. Set in Japan and inspired by origami in its animation style as well as the magic Kubo has, the film is beautifully textured and atmospheric. It also features a brilliant cast led by Art Parkinson as Kubo with supporting turns from Charlie Thereon, Matthew McConaughey and Rooney Mara. There is a real rawness to Kubo and the Two Strings that feels unseen and new in that it has such a mature outlook for a children’s film but is engaging and exciting at the same time. The music scored by Dario Marianelli is astonishingly beautiful taking inspiration from traditional Japanese music with heavy use of the shamisen. Deservedly winning the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature in what was a fantastic win, it sadly lost the Oscar which I think it should have won. However, the BAFTA shows that there is a place for Laika and they will get that deserved Oscar.

Missing Link (2019)

The latest Laika feature to be released is the road film, Missing Link. Following Sasquatch, Mr Susan Link, who is accompanied by English explorer, Sir Lionel Frost, to travel to the Himalayas to be reunited with his Yeti relatives. Sadly, Missing Link was a huge box office bomb despite its universal acclaim and award nominations including a win for the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. What makes it even worse is how amazing Missing Link is. Equipped with a massive $102 million, Laika were able to go bigger and better with this film and brought a star-studded cast led by Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis. The results are exquisite with the studio taking advantage of the film’s global journey by creating a brilliant scope of flawless sets. The animation department did a stellar job with this, particularly the Washington woodlands were Susan comes from and the Yeti’s home in Shangri-la which are spectacular and jaw-dropping to look at. Hopefully in time, there will be more love for this film because it is such a light-hearted and beautiful feature that is enjoyable for all ages. A really wonderful addition to the Laika filmography.

With all the reviews said and done, I can’t recommend enough that if you haven’t seen these films then you do so immediately and if you have then watch them again because they are phenomenal and beautiful. Laika has proven that there is a place for stopmotion animation in the modern age with each film looking so distinctly unique from the other. Laika’s refusal to adhere to a formulaic method of filmmaking has made it one of the most exciting animation houses in the world and the critical acclaim it receives only adds to the encouragement and push for even more progressive films. I am so excited to see what the future holds for this studio and hope that they recover from the commercial loss of Missing Link because it is a necessary animation house and one that refuses to conform, inviting its audience to think about what they’re watching.

Without further ado, here is my Laika Studio ranking:

1) Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

2) Paranorman (2012)

3) Coraline (2009)

4) Missing Link (2019)

5) The Boxtrolls (2014)

So that’s all the reviews and ranking done and dusted. Not easy as I predicted but it’s always great to appreciate the quality of animation, particularly from a studio where the process takes even longer than usual computer or handdrawn animated films.

What do you think of my ranking? Which Laika film is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below!

The only documentary I have seen in the festival thus far, One Man and His Shoes is the debut feature documentary from Yemi Bamiro. The film follows the rise of Michael Jordan’a relationship with Nike and the creation of the Air Jordans in the 1980s and how they have created a trend for extremely expensive and exclusive trainers that exists today. Without any input from a Nike representative or Jordan himself, Bamiro creates a well-rounded view of the Air Jordan history by interviewing people who worked at Nike, experts in sport marketing as well as people who have large Air Jordan collections. This gives the view from the starting point those who helped conceptualise the brand all the way down to the release of the shows the customers who purchase the product.

The documentary provides an outlook on society as a whole in regards to the American political state in the 1980s which was deeply conservative and ran by President Ronald Reagan. There was much disturbance and discourse to those who were working class and people of colour because the discrimination against them was growing and so vast that they began to rebel in their own way. When the Air Jordans were banned from the NBA, they became a hugely desired item in the streets because they were a form of protest. As Jordan’s success grew as a basketballer, his marketing with Nike also grew more aggressive. The drive to promote the Air Jordans plus the ban the NBA imposed resulted in a huge public spectacle on its release. People lining the streets and waiting for hours just so they could get a pair. Nothing like this had happened before with shoes and it shows the power of a successful marketing campaign. The significance of Jordan also being a black man with such a huge fan base cannot be ignored. Coming from humble beginnings, he is a figure that a lot of people can look up to and having a pair of the Air Jordans could make them feel like they have a slice of the American Dream.

The second act of the documentary then goes into how Jordan and Nike’s relationship originated and the huge success into how the shoes were marketed. Jordan was everywhere in the 80s as he had a lot of collaborations with various companies but his work with Nike was by far the most popular and resonated most with the customer. One of the most successful marketing campaign was Spike Lee’s adverts for the Air Jordans. Starring Lee as his character Mars Blackmon from She’s Gotta Have It and Jordan in a bid to make the product more relatable to the consumer. Lee’s filmography had begun to build traction and Jordan was a rising star in his sport so it made perfect sense. Also, the genius of unsporting humour into the adverts makes Jordan appear to have that All-American appeal. The adverts in themselves became an event with audiences excited to see what the new one would bring.

The final act of the film discusses the loss that has occurred since the release of the Air Jordans. The build up from the first hour of the documentary makes it seem as though the Air Jordans are a final product of the American Dream with the idea that Jordan’s basketball playing was enhanced by the shoes. However, it turns out that there is a dark side to the exclusive nature of the Air Jordans. Looking into the case of a young man who was fatally shot because of the new Air Jordans, his mother and sister recount the tragic event and it is during this segment where the disconnect between business and consumer becomes clear. Jordan sent the family some new shoes after the murder but they feared wearing them in case they too were killed for them. It seems extreme that people would go this far for something as materialistic as shoes but the documentary suggests that this is in part due to the aggressive marketing by Nike that is both promising but also exclusive. By stocking limited quantities in shops, it drives the desirability right up and contributes to the collectible aspect.

What One Man and His Shoes does so well is show how clothing and accessories can actually be used as a form of protest as well as expression. The Air Jordans initial ban in the NBA is what made them desirable to those who are anti-establishment. It also shows the disconnect between the corporation and the damage that can be caused because of the exclusivity that Nike markets the Air Jordans as. Their silence over the unfortunate incidents shows that despite encouraging people to use their voice and unite in their adverts, they don’t want to be linked to the murders and injuries occurred in acquiring the shoes. What Bamiro does so well is present that balance between a huge achievement in marketing and inspiration and the costs that that brings. It’s a documentary that will resonate with a lot of people for its look into fashion, sports and history with the societal backdrop. Bamiro uses every second of the film’s 83 minute running time with effect.

One Man and His Shoes is showing at the BFI London Film Festival on 13th October and is available until 16th October.