Laika Studios is well known for producing American stop-motion animation films. However, they also produce commercial content for music videos and short films. Laika has two divisions. The first is Laika Entertainment, which focuses on feature films. The second is Laika/house for advertisements, music videos, and other commercial content.
We will concentrate on the controversies created by the first. Will Vinton Studios was famous for ‘claymation’ for thirty years but struggled financially later. So, Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, took it over in 2002, and the studios got their new name ‘Laika’ in 2005.
Laika Studios terminated several staff members in 2008 when their second planned feature film was canceled. Several computer-animation employees were again terminated in late 2009 to focus only on stop-animation.
First, Laika made stop-animation commercials for well-known brands. However, it created another division for commercials and one division only for stop-animation feature films.
Kubo and the Two Strings Controversy
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) is an American stop-motion animated film produced by the Laika Studios. On the one hand, the film was appreciated for its humor, stop-motion animation, and action-adventure. On the other hand, people criticized it over casting.
By casting white actors for non-white roles, the film perceived whitewashing. It is about Eastern Asia, set in Japan, but the lead characters were voiced by actors such as Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew McConaughey, and Charlize Theron.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and George Takei are the only Japanese-American voice actors in the film who voiced supporting roles. Other actors did not even belong to Asian descent. Phil Knight is the co-founder of Nike. His son, Travis Knight, is Laika’s President and CEO.
Travis Knight made his directorial debut through Kubo and the Two Strings. According to his interview with Complex’s Mikelle Street, he saw the film at the Oscars, but everything turned upside down. After beating around the bush, he came to the topic.
According to Travis, most characters in the film are not even humans. Thus, he maintained authenticity by only appointing voice actors of Asian descent for human characters.
Travis wanted the leading characters to sound perfect. Matthew McConaughey is an extraordinary actor, and his voice suits Hanzo/Beetle, according to Travis. Other top-class actors are Ralph Fiennes as the Moon King and Rooney Mara as the younger twin sisters.
Mulan (1998), an American animated action-adventure film, had the same case. American actors voiced the main characters. Travis must have prioritized emotions behind the character’s voice rather than appearance because Kubo and the Two Strings is a live-action film.
Travis informed Deadline that Laika Studios cares for diversity, complex family issues, sexual orientation, and gender equality. Thus, they have diverse people working before and behind the camera for the Kubo and the Two Strings.
Queer Representation Controversy
Laika Studios began showing LGBTQ content from ParaNorman (2012) but could not succeed. Moreover, they messed up with every film. The supporting character, Mitch, turned out gay and became the first character of its type in a mainstream animated film.
The character drew people’s attention because children must have asked their parents to answer questions they (the parents) did not want to answer. However, according to the co-director, Chris Butler, the character spreads the film’s message not to judge anyone. ParaNorman became the first American animated film to get a PG rating.
Laika Studios took another step to represent a gay character through Missing Link (2019), an American stop-motion animated film. According to a scene, Sir Lionel Frost passes through an Old West town when a woman and a male prisoner blow a kiss to him.
No character development occurs in the scene, and Frost does not seem interested in them. However, the gay prisoner might remind people of sexual harassment in male prisons and other homophobic jokes. Missing Link messed with the gay characters more than ParaNorman.
Travis Knight’s Appointment
Some Laika Studio production fans could not digest Travis Knight getting appointed as the CEO and lead animator of the studio. A savage post with a controversial headline addressing Travis as a failed rapper and an animation intern with no management experience emerged in December 2014.
Phil Knight, the multi-millionaire co-founder of Nike, took over Will Vinton Studios and appointed Travis Knight to the leading positions mentioned above. Vinton won an Oscar, six prime-time Emmys, and other honors for his work. He turned his firm into a $28-million-a-year enterprise over thirty years, which saw ups and downs after 2002.
