LAIKA Nike Shoes Revealed for Kubo, ParaNorman, and More

We've got some very exciting news from the folks at LAIKA, the studio behind the brilliant stop-motion animated films Kubo and the Two Strings, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Coraline. LAIKA is poised to have a big presence at San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter during San Diego Comic-Con this year, setting up “The LAIKA Experience” from July 14th to July 23rd. Admission to the exhibit is free and includes props, puppets, monsters, and sets from all of LAIKA’s films as well as fan art, a photo/GIF booth with LAIKA characters, social media activations, LAIKA merchandise for sale, and daily drawings for a pair of Nike’s LAIKA-themed shoes designed by Tinker Hatfield.

What’s that you say? LAIKA shoes? Oh hell yes.

In partnership with LAIKA, Tinker Hatfield, Vice President for Design and Special Projects and NIKE have created a limited-edition NIKE shoe to celebrate each of LAIKA’s animated features. All four shoes will be on display at The LAIKA Experience. One pair of either the ParaNorman Foamposites, Coraline Dunks or KUBO XVs, will be given away each day" (sizes randomly chosen).

There will be a daily drawing for one pair of shoes. Additionally, there will be a daily drawing for a pair of ParaNorman slippers.

The Coraline Nike Dunk (2009) features a hand-sewn visible seam on the upper and glow-in-the-dark sole.
The Nike Air Foamposite One ParaNorman (2012) features green smoke over a black upper with glow in the dark sole: "weird kicks for weird kids."
The Nike Roshe Run Trollstrikes (2014) created for the release of The Boxtrolls features distressed leather upper, cobblestone-printed midsole, iridescent sewer-green heel panels and steampunk lace locks.
The Kubo XV (2016) has a sleek look and zip up front. The design is an homage to the film's themes of good vs. evil, with alternating colors of blue and red.

For more information on how to enter, read the sweepstakes rules on the LAIKA website.

Speaking about the designs, Hatfield said in a statement that it all started with Coraline:

“Coraline was the first, and it was also, probably, the most ambitious of all the shoes. I was trying to bring together the parallel storytelling worlds of sneakers and filmmaking. That film, when I first saw it I thought ‘Wow, this is so unique’ so I knew we had to do something with the shoe that no one else had done in terms of storytelling and detail. “

He also discussed his inspiration for the ParaNorman shoes:

“ParaNorman had an ‘other world’ quality to it that I loved. So immediately we thought of Eric Avar’s Foamposite as a great shoe for that project. The shoe itself it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie! We also did the Air Raid II. We went with that shoe because it felt like what LAIKA was doing with innovating in animated horror genre had some similarities to how we’d tried to innovate with the Air Raid in Basketball.”

You can check out a bevy of images of the shoes below, but first, for those attending Comic-Con or in the San Diego area, here’s a rundown of what you can expect at The LAIKA Experience, including a signing by LAIKA CEO/Kubo director Travis Knight:

THE LAIKA EXPERIENCE (July 14-23)

Location: 520 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101

What to See and Do: • Sets, puppets, monsters, props from LAIKA’s films: Kubo and the Two Strings (2016); The Boxtrolls (2014); ParaNorman (2012), Coraline (2009).

LAIKA merchandise available for purchase.
Nike’s customized shoes created for each of LAIKA’s films.
Take a photo with the main characters from LAIKA films.

Hours of operation:

Friday, July 14: 2 PM to 10PM
Saturday, July 15: 11AM to 10 PM
Sunday, July 16: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Monday -Tuesday, July 17-18: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Wednesday, July 19: 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Thursday, July 20: 11:00 AM to 11 PM
Friday, July 21: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Saturday, July 22: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Sunday, July 23: 10:00 AM-6:00 PM

Additional Highlights:

Sunday, July 16:

Watch for LAIKA walkaround costumed characters at the LAIKA Photo Booth inside the gates of Balboa Park during the PRIDE Festival. Pose for a photo with ParaNorman’s “Mitch Towne,” the first gay character ever featured in an animated film. Customized LAIKA headbands will be distributed.
LAIKA will host 25 BAFTA LA students at the Giants/Padres game in Petco Park on Sunday, July 16.

Friday, July 21

2-3pm: LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight (director of Kubo and the Two Strings) will be joined by New York Times bestselling author Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles; Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight) for a Facebook Live tour of The LAIKA Experience. Travis will share LAIKA’s unique creative process with Tony as they take FB guests on a virtual tour of the pop up exhibit.