FOCUS FEATURES - LAIKA AUCTION

The Art of LAIKA Offered For First Time By Heritage Auctions

Production Puppets, Models, Props and Original Handmade Art from Oscar®-Nominated Animation Studio to Be Auctioned on February 12, 2015; Portion of Proceeds to Benefit The Art of Elysium    Non-Profit Arts Group 

LAIKA, the visionary animation studio behind the Golden Globe and Annie Award-nominated The Boxtrolls and the BAFTA and Academy Award-nominated Coraline and ParaNorman, will open its archives for the first time for a limited auction of over 250 puppets, models, props and art in The Art of LAIKA, to be held by Heritage Auctions on Thursday, February 12, 2015, in Beverly Hills.

A portion of the proceeds of the auction will be donated to The Art of Elysium, a non-profit arts organization that works to make art a catalyst for social change by bringing creativity and inspiration to children, artists, and various populations in need.

“LAIKA is known for its artistry and revolutionary stop-motion animation techniques,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage Auctions’ Director of Animation Art. “The studio’s legions of die-hard fans regularly ask LAIKA for the opportunity to own some of the masterfully engineered puppets, props and other artwork used to make these beloved films. So the studio is finally offering a specially curated collection of items from its production archives. This is the chance that those fans, and animation and film collectors of all stripes, have been waiting for.”

“LAIKA’s films aim to promote thought, feeling, and connectivity through art, inspired by our shared humanity,” says Travis Knight, President & CEO of the studio and an Annie-Award-winning animator and producer. “We’re deeply gratified that the spirit of our work has resonated so strongly with audiences around the world. LAIKA’s artists and craftspeople are consummate creators, and each piece of this collection is a testament to their talents and imagination. These are beautiful, unique, and handcrafted works of art of the highest order. We’re so pleased to open up our vaults for animation fans around the world and to support The Art of Elysium, whose mission is so close to our hearts.”

Selected highlights from The Art of LAIKA will be on display in Dallas, Jan. 27-29, at Heritage Auctions (3500 Maple Avenue, Dallas, TX, 75219); Feb. 3-5 at Heritage Auctions Park Avenue (445 Park Avenue at 57^th Street); and Feb. 9-12, Heritage Auctions Beverly Hills (9478 West Olympic Avenue).

Some of the items in the auction include, but are not limited to:

● From Coraline

*  Coraline production puppet in her iconic blue-starred sweater

*  The Cat production puppet

*  Other Mother production puppet in her elaborately realized black dress

●  From ParaNorman

*  Norman production puppet in his baseball shirt outfit

*  Zombie Judge production puppet with fully articulated mouth and face

*Intricate large-scale production props such as Mitch’s Van and “Zombie Attack”  

  vending machine      

*Original hand-drawn Annie Award-winning character designs

●  From The Boxtrolls

                       * Eggs and Boxtrolls production puppets complete with their “Box” outfits

                        * Snatcher production puppet in his exquisite hand and laser-etched velvet jacket

                        * Snatcher’s Mecha-Drill, at over five feet, the largest prop ever created for a stop-motion film

Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $900 million, and 850,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.  Want to get the up-to-the-minute updates and breaking news stories about Heritage Auctions? Get them as they happen at: HA.com/Twitter; Facebook: HA.com/Facebook. To view a complete archive of Heritage press releases go to: HA.com/PR. To link to this press release on your blog or Website: www.HA.com/PR-2222.

Hi-Res images are available at  www.HA.com/7129.

About LAIKA

Fueled by the vision of its owner, Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip H. Knight, and its President & CEO Travis Knight, LAIKA (www.laika.com) is a Portland-Oregon based animation studio specializing in feature films.  Celebrating its 10^th Anniversary in 2015, LAIKA has begun production on its fourth film, Kubo and the Two Strings, being directed by Mr. Knight and set for release by Focus Features on August 19, 2016.  A sweeping, swashbuckling adventure set in a mythical ancient Japan, Kubo boasts a voice cast led by Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey; Academy Award nominees Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, and Brenda Vaccaro, and Art Parkinson, who plays Rickon Stark on Game of Thrones, as Kubo.

Also released by Focus Features, LAIKA’s current film The Boxtrolls has earned Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations for Best Animated Film and 13 Annie Award (the animation community’s Oscar equivalent) nominations, the most of any animated film this year. The company’s first feature, Coraline (2009), earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, PGA, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). ParaNorman (2012) garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, GLAAD Media Award, PGA, and Academy Award nominations, won two Annies and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups.

About Focus Features

Focus Features (www.focusfeatures.com) makes, acquires, and releases movies from rising and established talent and filmmakers. The company is moving forward with a diverse slate of wide releases appealing to a range of moviegoers. Staying true to the company’s roots, the slate will also include several specialty films each year.

In addition to the Golden Globe and Annie Award-nominated The Boxtrolls, current and upcoming releases from Focus include The Theory of Everything, nominated for 3 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 4 Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture; Black Sea, the suspenseful adventure thriller starring Jude Law for director Kevin Macdonald; the romantic drama A Little Chaos, directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet; Leigh Whannell’s Insidious: Chapter 3, the newest chapter in the terrifying horror series; Tarsem Singh’s Selfless, starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley; Sinister 2, directed by Ciaran Foy; London Has Fallen, the sequel to the worldwide smash hit Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler and directed by Babak Najafi; Juan Antonio Bayona’s visually spectacular drama A Monster Calls, starring Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, and Liam Neeson; and Stephen Hopkins’ Race, starring Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, and Stephan James as the legendary athletic superstar Jesse Owens.

Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.