Seventy Five Laid Off at Laika Entertainment
Studio Halts Production on Jack and Ben's Animated Adventure
Dec 18, 2008
Laika Entertainment admitted today it was stopping production on what would have been its second movie, and laying off 75 employees.
The Portland, Oregon-based animation studio said it was killing the proposed CGI film Jack and Ben's Animated Adventure. The project was already running into difficulties: former Pixar animator Jorgen Klubien was let go from the movie last year over "creative differences" and director Barry Cook (Mulan) was brought in to reboot the flick.
Laika Producing Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman's Coraline
Maggie Begley, a Laika spokesperson, told The Portland Business Journal that the layoffs were attributed "to the normal expansion and retrenchment of the employee roster that occurs in the animated film production process," and not a sign the studio was in financial difficulty.
The studio is not alone. Disney Animation, Midway Arcade, and Bottle Rocket Entertainment have also recently announced employee cutbacks. Laika still has 280 people on staff.
"Basically, we lost some people on the development side for a project we’re not working on any more, which is a natural part of the animation process because it takes so long to make these films and market them," Begley said. "The layoffs were the result of the project being shelved and Coraline being no longer in production.”
Coraline is the studio's first animated offering: directed by stop-motion maestro Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and based on the bestselling children's novel by Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Beowulf). Dakota Fanning voices the role of the titular character, a girl who enters a door in her room, only to discover a magical and sinister Fairyland. Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), Keith David (The Princess and the Frog) and Ian McShane (Kung Fu Panda) co-star in the film.
Laika Entertainment Formerly Will Vinton Studios
Prior to being renamed Laika Entertainment, the company was called Will Vinton Studios. Nike co-founder Phil Knight bought the financially troubled company in 2003, and renamed it Laika two years later. Knight's son Travis is an animator and executive with the studio.
While Begley wouldn’t disclose the company’s revenue, she says that Laika has at least 20 projects in development and will announce several initiatives during the first quarter of 2009.
"Phil Knight's commitment to the company is complete and total, and it's unfortunate what's happened, but it's something we needed to do from a business point of view," she said. "Everything at Laika is onward and upward."
Coraline is due in theatres February 6, 2009.
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