Laika Animated Movies Ranked
3. ParaNorman (2012)
Do not fear death, accept it.
This tale of a witch’s curse which raises the dead and forces a Salem-esque town to reevaluate their priorities has the most unexpected third act diversions and surprise revelations of any Laika feature. Norman (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) is the only one who can see dead people, the only one who doesn’t jump to the conclusion that they’re coming for living flesh, so he has to first convince his friends then his whole town.
ParaNorman was clearly put together by die-hard horror fans; there are references and in-jokes aplenty, especially to shonky 50s B-Movies where the acting was big and the effects budget wasn’t so much. Most is played for laughs, but some genuinely scary imagery and even more disturbing thematic subtext is in there as well, so little ‘uns be warned.
This group of Laika characters is the most fun to spend time with, like the Losers Club from It but with more warmth, or Scooby Doo’s Mystery Inc but less likely to split up at the worst possible time.
I did get Scooby Doo vibes from a lot of ParaNorman actually, except these animators are prepared to push the horror imagery much further and portray humankind as the monsters we are. The animators’ skill at subtly altering the movements and expressions of the living and the undead characters as the story progresses to shift our sympathies is very clever indeed.
2. Coraline (2009)
In the creepiest children’s bedtime story imaginable – one that teaches kids to be careful what they wish for and be grateful for what they have, lest they find themselves trapped in another world with buttons for eyes – Coraline (Dakota Fanning) finds herself bored and friendless in a new town, and only too willing to accept the Other Mother’s (Teri Hatcher) too-good-to-be-true offer of a new life with a new family full of affection and treats.
It takes a unique and singular talent to bring Neil Gaiman’s twisted fantasy worlds to life. Henry Selick, famous for being the guy behind The Nightmare Before Christmas that wasn’t Tim Burton, had just the right macabre sensibilities. Selick has always used colour distinctively in his work and here it’s an essential tool to convey mood.
As the film progresses, the drab, Gothic colour palette of greys and pastels of the real world gives way to a vivid, joyful and warm orange carnival aesthetic of the other world before shifting again to a sickly and oppressive concoction of ice blues, acidic greens and stormy purples as the Other Mother reveals her true purpose.
The way the Other Mother threads her way into Coraline’s mind, luring her in with her deepest desires and showing her true face when it’s far too late for our heroine to turn back is pure, concentrated nightmare fuel. Kids inherently distrust adults – Gaiman knows this and so does Selick, and rapidly this distrust turns to outright, abject terror.
It’s a shame the big awards ceremonies don’t recognise voice-only performances because Hatcher’s controlled vocal menace is certainly up there.
1. Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Mature, soulful and textually rich, Kubo and the Two Strings is still Laika’s masterpiece.
Kubo (Art Parkinson) spends day after day telling spellbinding stories to the local village and not finishing them because he has to leave before nightfall to care for his mother. The quest he is set on is, in the end, all about Kubo summoning the bravery to resolve his own story, to move on and grow from grief.
If you’ve ever been to Japan, there’s a lot you might recognise in this world – the routines, the traditions, the respect for everyone and everything. It’s a cyclical film in structure and relies on much repetition and rhyming thematic moments.
Speaking of repeated motifs, music also plays a big part in this tale, from Kubo using his magical three-stringed shamisen to power his stories (and later as a weapon), to the hidden meaning of the film’s musical title, to using a bachi plectrum strum to signify key moments of change in the story. This feels like an ancient Japanese fable despite being an original creation, and it has much wisdom to impart.
Kubo and the Two Strings is essentially a road movie. And, like all road movies, the destination isn’t what counts, it’s what you do, what you become, and what you realise about yourself in your efforts to get there that does. Kubo’s fellow questers Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) represent different aspects of his personality, both his strengths and his weaknesses, as well as what he is trying to overcome.
No wonder director Travis Knight was given the chair for big-money franchise starter Bumblebee on the back of this – what he can do with unconventional humanoids, whether anthropomorphic robot, beetle or monkey, all conveying heart-wrenching emotion that truly is without equal.
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Agree with my ranking? Disagree? What’s your favourite film from Laika? Let me know in the comments!
Written by Sam Sewell-Peterson
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