Laika's first feature film heralded a formidable studio in the world of stop-motion animation, with a screenplay and direction by the legendary Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas), based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman. In that same spirit, Coraline is a macabre children's nightmare, where a girl neglected by her family (voiced by Dakota Fanning) finds a parallel dimension where she feels loved, but where something sinister also lurks. This first film established the studio as a new name to be taken seriously in the world of animation, aspiring to the same leagues as Pixar.
Laika's second feature film is one of its most beloved works by horror fans, just like Coraline. However, unlike the latter, ParaNorman is something macabre but more fun, echoing the classic zombie movies of George A. Romero, but about (and for) kids. The plot follows Norman, a boy with the peculiar ability to communicate with the dead, who, from being an outcast, must become the last hope to defend the town from a curse.
Laika Studios' third film wouldn't be as successful as its predecessors, but it managed to maintain the same trademark macabre humor balanced with emotion to offer something different, but still accessible to a broad audience. Set in a fictional European country during the 19th century, The Boxtrolls follows a human boy who is raised by a group of trash-collecting trolls and who must defend them from an obsessed exterminator.
Laika Studios' fourth feature film is considered by many to be its masterpiece, even surpassing what was seen in Coraline. Kubo and the Two Strings would also be Travis Knight's directorial debut, achieving one of the studio's most emotional and spectacular stories. The story is set in feudal Japan and follows a boy whose eye was stolen, and who possesses a magical shamisen. When he is pursued by the Moon King to steal his powers, he must seek his father's lost armor, a samurai, to defeat him.