“Laika Live” Comic Con 2018. Full tour photos & video. Missing Link sneak peek.

JimMan

July 21st, 2018 at 10:48 pm -

Last year at San Diego Comic Con fans of the innovative and successful stop motion studio Laika, experienced an interactive pop-up exhibit located at 520 5th Avenue in The Gaslamp Quarter. The exhibit and display took those attending on 15-minute tours throughout the day during the convention. You didn’t need a Comic Con ticket as the display was free to everyone who visited The Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego between July 14th and July 23rd.

This year Laika managed to top their amazing exhibit from last year with “Laika Live“. This interactive exhibit featured full sets from The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings, a life sized Coraline set where visitors are able to sit in Coraline‘s “Other House” as well as original puppets and art from all of their movies including Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings. As a special sneak peak, an original stop motion puppet and full set from the studio’s upcoming 2019 film “Missing Link” was featured along with a cool photo op of the ” Missing Link” set backdrop and the “Mr. Link” character. Visitors for the first time were treated to live demonstrations in the creative process and technologies used in creating Laika’s beloved films.

Laika Live brought the studio to the fans taking them on a 20 minute tour given throughout each day featuring a “Puppet Hospital” with Laika puppet fabricators Nick Smalley-Ramsdale and Austen Weitzel who showed attendees how they create and repair puppets for Laika‘s films. There was also a stop motion set and puppets from Kubo and the Two Strings where animators Brad Schiff and Gabe Singer demonstrated to attendees how they animated “Kubo” for the movie.

On one of the days I attended knowledgeable and friendly Laika tour guide Sam shared interesting facts and information about Laika and the movie making process. He took us on a fun and interesting journey introducing us to the artists above which was really amazing. Henry Selick director, writer and producer even made a surprise visit meeting with fans and signed posters for them too!

There was also a give away each day as was done last year to win a rare pair of Nike Laika themed sneakers. Those who attended the experience were treated to ice cream and had the opportunity to buy some cool movie themed merchandise in their store before or after their tour.

I had so much fun and learned a lot from this new exhibit as I had last year, that I again attended more than once during my time in San Diego. This new exhibit was one of the main reasons I decided to fly to San Diego. The artists and employees at the exhibit were friendly and informative and made the experience extra special.

I’d like to thank Sean, Mark and Maggie. My tour guide Sam as well as the rest of the Laika crew at the exhibit were all great.

There’s one more day you can experience this incredible exhibit. Get down to San Diego’s Gaslamp District at 350 Fifth Avenue (previously Dick’s Last Resort Restaurant, between J & K Streets)
San Diego, CA 92101 Sunday morning and have a great time 😉 .

Check put the full 4K HD video tour of the entire Laika Live here at Movie Prop Collectors! (Video originally uploaded July 30th & re-uploaded April 2019 due to YouTube glitch).