Shut Up And Take My Money! Laika Auctions Off Your Favorite Animated Characters

By Kristy Puchko | Miscellaneous | January 7, 2015 |

Competing against animation giants like Pixar and Dreamworks is a small shop out of Oregon, using meticulously sculpted puppets to create breathtaking and lovably weird stop-motion movies like Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls (one of my favorites of 2014!) And now you can own a piece of their legacy.

Cartoon Brew reports Laika is auctioning off puppets, models and props from each of their fantastic releases. Or as explained by director of the auction house handling this enticing affair, “The studio’s legions of die-hard fans regularly ask LAIKA for the opportunity to own some of the masterfully engineered puppets, props and other artwork used to make these beloved films. So the studio is finally offering a specially curated collection of items from its production archives. This is the chance that those fans, and animation and film collectors of all stripes, have been waiting for.”

The auctioned items include:

From Coraline:
Coraline production puppet in her iconic blue-starred sweater
The Cat production puppet
Other Mother production puppet in her elaborately realized black dress

From ParaNorman
Norman production puppet in his baseball shirt outfit
Zombie Judge production puppet with fully articulated mouth and face
Intricate large-scale production props such as Mitch’s Van and “Zombie Attack” vending machine
Original hand-drawn Annie Award-winning character designs

From The Boxtrolls
Eggs and Boxtrolls production puppets complete with their “Box” outfits
Snatcher production puppet in his exquisite hand and laser-etched velvet jacket
Snatcher’s Mecha-Drill, at over five feet, the largest prop ever created for a stop-motion film

As this is an auction with a portion of the proceeds going to the non-profit arts organization The Art of Elysium, you can expect the prices for these puppets to be high. However, even if you can’t buy, Laika’s giving fans a chance to look up close. The items will be touring the country ahead of hitting the auctioning block.

January 27-29, Dallas (Heritage Auctions, 3500 Maple Avenue, Dallas, TX, 75219)
February 3-5, New York City (Heritage Auctions Park Avenue, 445 Park Avenue at 57th Street)
February 9-12, Beverly Hills (Heritage Auctions Beverly Hills, 9478 West Olympic Avenue)

In its final stop, all of the above will be sold on the final day of display.