Earlier this year Shout! Factory announced they entered into a distribution deal with LAIKA to release their films on home media. Now four groundbreaking and critically-acclaimed films with receive an all new high-definition (not 4K) release late this summer from the LAIKA Studios Edition line.
Caroline and The Boxtrolls will be released on August 31st. Two weeks before we get ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings on September 14th. If you pre-order from Shout! Factory you’ll get a limited edition Lithograph (18″ x 24″)
The Blu-ray™+DVD combos are loaded with exciting new special features, including “Inside LAIKA interviews with the studio’s animation team”, Never-Before-Seen Animation Test Footage, and Feature-Length Storyboards for each of the films.
All four films were nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Animated Film.
Along with digitally remastered editions of the films, new and existing bonus features, and new, collectible packaging, the LAIKA Studios Editions feature insightful, commemorative new essays by esteemed journalists Peter Debruge (Variety), Ramin Zahed (Animation Magazine), Bill Desowitz (Indiewire) and Charles Solomon (author and former Los Angeles Times critic).
Coraline
From Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and based on the novella of the same name by author Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Coraline is a wondrous, thrilling, fun and suspenseful adventure and the first stop motion animated film ever to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3-D, unlike anything moviegoers had ever experienced before. A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her counterfeit parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to save her family and get back home.
Voice Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. Produced by Bill Mechanic, Claire Jennings, Henry Selick, Mary Sandell. Based on the book by Neil Gaiman. Written for the screen and directed by Henry Selick.
Pre-Order from: Shout! Factory | Amazon.com |
Special Features:
- NEW Never-Before-Seen Coraline Animation Test Footage
- NEW “Inside LAIKA Featurette”
- NEW Foreword by Peter Debruge, Chief Film Critic for Variety
- Audio Commentary with Director Henry Selick and Composer Bruno Coulais
- The Making Of Coraline
- Original Featurettes
- Deleted Scenes
- Feature-Length Storyboards
The Boxtrolls
This comedic fable unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that’s the legend residents have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells. The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy, Eggs, since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher, who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kindhearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and adventurous rich girl Winnie to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese.
Voice Cast: Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, and Simon Pegg. Produced by David Bleiman Ichioka, Travis Knight. Screenplay by Irena Brignull, Adam Pava. Based on the book Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow. Directed by Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable.
Special Features:
- NEW Never-Before-Seen The Boxtrolls Animation Test Footage
- NEW “Inside LAIKA’ Featurette
- NEW Feature-Length Storyboards
- NEW Foreword by Ramin Zahed, the Editor in Chief of Animation Magazine
- Audio Commentary with Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
- The Making of The Boxtrolls
- Original Featurettes
Pre-Order from: Shout! Factory | Amazon.com
ParaNorman
In the comedy thriller, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul-whisperer bravely summons up all that makes a hero – courage and compassion – as he finds his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
Voice Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, and John Goodman. Produced by Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight. Written by Chris Butler. Directed by Sam Fell, Chris Butler.
Special Features:
- NEW Feature-Length Storyboards
- NEW Inside LAIKA Featurette
- NEW Never-Before-Seen ParaNorman Animation Test Footage
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Chris Butler and Co-Director Sam Fell
- “Peering Through the Veil”
- Original Featurettes
Kubo and the Two Strings
Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan. The film follows clever, kindhearted Kubo as he ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town. But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey and Beetle and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King and the evil twin Sisters to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Voice Cast: Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Art Parkinson, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro. Screenplay by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler. Produced by Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight. Directed by Travis Knight.
Special Features:
- NEW Feature-Length Storyboards
- NEW Inside LAIKA Featurette
- NEW Never-Before-Seen Kubo and the Two Strings Animation Test Footage
- Audio Commentary with Director/Producer Travis Knight
- “Kubo’s Journey”
- Original Featurettes
