VIDEO: Incredible trailer for Laika's Kubo and the Two Strings
Stop motion animation is one of the oldest techniques in film-making, with the painstaking process bringing monsters and other fantastical creatures to life since the earliest days of cinema. It was used as a special effect from the turn of the century (that's the previous century) through King Kong and Ray Harryhausen and later became the medium for entire features through the work of pioneers like Wladyslaw Starewicz.
Stop motion features waned in popularity through the years but experienced a surprising, and welcome, resurgence in the new millenium thanks to the efforts of companies like Aardman animation and outings by directors Wes Anderson and Tim Burton. And at the same time a small studio called Laika was on the rise.
