The stop-motion animated films of LAIKA Entertainment might not be the most financially successful features released, but there is no denying the incredible amount of detail they put into creating their miniature worlds. Many would opt for just digitally animating the movies, but LAIKA stays dedicated to their craft. And it’s a real shame they don’t do much bigger numbers at the box office, because the tiny worlds they create really are incredible.

LAIKA is celebrating their ten-year anniversary this year, and to mark the achievement they have released a brief video looking back at their work, including the features Coraline, ParaNorman, and most recently, The Boxtrolls.

Click on over to the other side to check out the video.

ParaNorman
Netflix | Amazon | Google Play | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jodelle Micah Ferland, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman
Focus Features
Originally Released: August 03, 2012

The surprisingly good venture into the macabre and demonic in the stop-motion animated film known as ParaNorman is full of both frights and laughs, in a tale that finishes up being as endearing as it is exciting. With precision on effects and careful attention to detail, the film is well worth your viewing time, full of tributes to classics, and memorable humor.

The story begins in the small town of Blithe Hollow, where Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is ostracized by family members and peers alike because of his unusual ability: he can see the dead and speak with them. Very few believe in Norman’s abilities, except for his mysterious Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman), who has been watching the boy from afar.

Last year, Mondo debuted a collection of Academy Award-nominated posters that were released at random times during the Oscar ceremony. Like all their poster releases, it was a success, so they are doing it again this year.

Once again multiple artists have drawn up their vision of the nominated films and we’ve got the first three Olly Moss, Laurent Durieux, and DKNG that will go on sale this Sunday during the broadcast of the Academy Awards. The first three films featured are Les Miserables, Paranorman, and The Master. Check them out here below, along with details about each poster, including specs and pricing.

Skull-Face Island Movie Podcast presented by Geeks Of Doom
Episode 05: ParaNorman Osborn

Rum. Curaçao liqueur. Lime juice. That, my friends, is a Mai Tai – a delicious cocktail I’ve been enjoying down by the beach for the past couple of days. Hello folks, it’s Adam Frazier aka FamousMonster and I’m currently listening to Stephen King audiobooks while sipping from an bottomless pitcher of Mai Tai.

Tim Grant is busying carving a canoe out of a single solitary piece of wood and David Allen is down by the lagoon painting watercolors and waxing poetic on the brilliance of James Gunn’s Slither to the natives.

If you missed our previous transmissions, let me explain how this works. In the year 1991, US Flight 1313 experienced a mysterious, magnetic anomaly somewhere over the South Pacific. Engines failed, pilots cursed and prayed to their Gods, and three boys (that’s us!) washed ashore on Skull-Face Island, which of course is an ISLAND in the SHAPE of a SKULL! How cool is that!?

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ParaNorman
Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Written by Chris Butler
Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Focus Features
Rated PG | 93 Minutes
Release Date: August 17, 2012

Produced by Coraline creators Laika, ParaNorman is a kid-friendly, stop-motion animated spookshow – a witches’ brew of ’80s classics like Monster Squad and Beetlejuice, with a dash of 1993’s Hocus Pocus and a pinch of Gil Kenan’s Monster House.

The film takes place in the small New England town of Blithe Hollow, where a centuries’-old witch’s curse has unleashed a horde of puritanical zombies upon the townspeople. If there’s one thing worse than puritans, it’s undead puritans. Turns out the zombies were villagers way back when who, thanks to moral panic and mass hysteria, condemned a young girl to her death for practicing witchcraft.

Blithe Hollow’s only hope is a misunderstood, horror-obsessed boy named Norman Babcock (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who has the ability to speak with the dead. Aided by best friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), his sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick) and Neil’s big brother Mitch (Casey Affleck), Norman will face ghosts and ghouls to save his town from a 300-year-old witch with one Hell of a grudge.