Even if you haven’t seen any LAIKA films you’ll probably want to stop by and see this new exhibition at Seattle’s MOPOP, especially if you are curious about how stop-motion movies are made. Hidden Worlds: The films of LAIKA is having its world premiere exhibition at the MOPOP and it will be there through summer of 2024. It is an extra ticket that you need to get on top of your regular museum admission and the prices vary based on the day a lot like the Friends Experience that’s also in Seattle right now too but it’s only a few dollars more. As always I like to advocate for a membership if you live in Seattle: for our family we will likely get the “FAN FAMILY” membership at some point this year and membership has a lot of perks such as invites to things like the Member Preview for exhibitions like this.
What age group would Hidden Worlds: the Films of LAIKA be good for?
A few months before the world shutdown my family visited MOPOP in Seattle for the World Premier Exhibition of Minecraft and it was so innovative and fun-I even brought my niece and nephew who were around 4 at the time. This exhibit has similar interactive elements that reminded me of the Minecraft exhibit but feels a little more intricate, with more reading so it might be better suited for older kids, maybe 8 or 9 (but as always parents know their kids and learning styles, etc best so I could be way off for your kid here) unless they are really into these films.
LAIKA films is a company based in the Pacific Northwest
LAIKA films is a film studio founded in 2005, and it is based in Hillsboro Oregon. The company is owned by Phil Knight (of NIKE) and his son Travis Knight and for some reason this makes me even more intrigued and maybe you too. There are five films created by LAIKA films you might already know: Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, Paranorman, Boxtrolls, and most recently, Missing Link. Wildwood is the most recently announced film and this one is centered in Portland so I’m really excited for the travel tie-ins that might be inspired by the movie.
About the Hidden Worlds Exhibit
I attended a press day where some of the LAIKA team came to MOPOP to explain the exhibit and answer our questions.
- Brian McLean, Director of Rapid Prototype for LAIKA explained how Coraline was the first stop-motion to use 3-D printing.
- Nelson Lowry, Production Designer for LAIKA talked about how the studios come up with ideas for different scenes and the backdrops.
- Oliver Jones, Director of Practical Effects for LAIKA explained how the Boxtrolls boxes were made out of silicon and not cardboard so they would last longer for filming and how the Boxtrolls heads could maneuver into their boxes.
- Deborah Cook, Costume Designer for LAIKA made me realize how much research and time goes into all the outfits for the characters. Talking to Deborah made me hopeful that creativity will prevail over immediacy in our culture. Looking at all the iterations of costume ideas and materials on display, reminded me of childhood creativity.
- Benoit Dubuc, Head of Facial Animation for LAIKA told us that there were more than 100000 bespoke faces made for the Missing Link movie to give the characters lifelike expressions. Characters bellies even move to simulate breathing and now I’m going to look closer when I watch these movies. I think we take these things for granted when we watch.
- And Arianne Sutner, Producer and LAIKA Head of Production reminded me of the joy our society has in watching films together in a theatre and how this is such a beautiful part of our culture. She talked about Wildwood, the newest LAIKA film in the works and it’s based on this book series by Colin Meloy who is also the lead singer of the Decemberists. (I so hope there will be some beautiful music in this film)
The exhibit is grouped in a way that you will be able to read and learn about all these things as you walk through. There are a few interactive stops along the way as well: you get to see yourself in stop-motion, you can try on puppet animation and you can see a LAIKA created world from a puppet’s point of view. Even without knowing any of these films, you can learn a lot about stop-motion film and how much goes into creating stories we see on screen.
Are you familiar with any of the LAIKA films? Do you have a favorite?
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
One thought on “Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA World Premiere Exhibition at MOPOP in Seattle”
Comments are closed.