There was a solid period in the early 2010s where it seemed as though hand-animated movies were a thing of the past, with Disney abandoning hand-drawn animation after “The Princess and the Frog” and Pixar and Dreamworks in a sort of arms race to make better and better-looking CG animated movies (with Blue Sky and Illumination not far behind).
Now, it looks like things might be swinging back somewhat, with companies Aardman Animations (“Wallace and Gromit,” “Early Man”), Cartoon Saloon (“The Secret of Kells,” “The Breadwinner”), Studio Ghibli (all of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies) holding fast against the trend towards digital animation. One of the most consistently fascinating and entertaining of these companies has been the stop-motion-centric LAIKA Studios, the Oregon-based company behind “Coraline,” “ParaNorman,” “Kubo and the Two Strings,” and their latest effort, “Missing Link,” which has a new trailer.
Run by “Kubo” director Travis Knight (the son of Nike CEO Phil Knight, who owns the company), LAIKA’s output is fairly slow when compared to the near-annual releases of digital studios, but such is the nature of stop-motion animation. Audiences have come to expect visual eye candy alongside engaging stories, and “Missing Link” certainly looks like it fits the bill. You can watch the trailer and read the synopsis below.
The charismatic Sir Lionel Frost considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters. Trouble is, none of his small-minded, high-society peers seems to recognize this. Hoping to finally gain acceptance from these fellow adventurers, Sir Lionel travels to the Pacific Northwest to prove the existence of a legendary creature known as the missing link.
LAIKA has pulled together an even more engaging cast than last time, with Hugh Jackman starring as Frost, Zoe Saldana voicing Adelina Fortnight, and Zach Galifianakis playing the titular Mr. Link, with Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, and Matt Lucas all lending their pipes to round out the supporting cast.
“Missing Link” arrives in theaters on April 12, 2019.