My last review on this blog was for Laika Studios’ Wildwood.
If you read that review, you know how much I loved it.
Well, turns out I enjoyed it so much that afterwards I decided to watch all of Laika’s filmography and then go to see Wildwood in theaters for a second time to compare them all.
After viewing all of the films (three of which were first time watches for me) and thinking it over, I am now confident in my ranking of the Laika Studios movies.
All of these films are, at the very least, good and even the weakest of them has some of the best stop-motion animation in the business.
This is certainly true for my least favorite Laika movie, which is…

6. Missing Link (2019).

Written and directed by Chris Butler, I only watched Missing Link for the first time yesterday.
Despite the recency, I knew immediately that this was the weakest Laika film.
That is not to say it is bad, it is certainly an enjoyable watch.
But there is definitely a large gap in quality between Missing Link and the rest of Laika’s filmography.
The film followers Explorer Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman), who had dedicated his life to discovering proof of cryptids, such as the Sasquatch.
This leads to him being contacted by the last American Bigfoot, Mr Link (Zach Galifianakis), who hopes that the explorer can help him meet his Yeti cousins in the Himalayas.
Joined by his old flame Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), Lionel works to get Mr. Link where he belongs, only to be doggedly pursued by those who wish to preserve the old ways of the British Empire.
Unfortunately, this is where the film falters because, although our three main characters are at least entertaining, their adversaries are substantially less so.
Missing Link’s villains are easily the weakest of any Laika film, with often bizarre motives that lack sufficient reasoning.
It also feels like key scenes, such as certain characters meeting, are skipped over, and the whole thing felt like it had quite low stakes.
That being said, the stop-motion is still great, as expected of Laika, and the third act does have some terrific humor.
Overall, though, Missing Link is certainly the weakest Laika film.
Still, that does not stop it from being an enjoyable time. 

5. The Boxtrolls (2014).

Directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed The Boxtrolls.
Sure, it does rank second-to-last in this list, but I found the worldbuilding of this movie surprisingly deep, with plenty of fun characters, especially the main villain.
Set in the city of Cheesebridge, Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) is a human boy who has been raised by the mistreated and severely misunderstood Boxtrolls.
After his adopted father Fish (Dee Bradley Baker) is kidnapped by the Boxtroll exterminator, Achibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), Eggs teams up with Winnie (Elle Fanning), the neglected daughter of a corrupt, cheese-loving Lord, to rescue the rest of the trolls.
As a protagonist, Eggs perfectly fits into the divide between humans and Boxtrolls.
The exploration of Boxtroll culture, down to how they show happiness by clapping on their boxes was interesting.
The worldbuilding around the culture of humans in Cheesebridge was also intriguing, often hilariously so with all of the focus on cheese and hat colours.
The hats in particular are a focus for Snatcher, who is a very fun villain with a fitting comeuppance by the end.
One negative I did have though was that some of the plot directions were pretty predictable by the end.
This is only a minor criticism though.
Otherwise, The Boxtrolls is a fun film with, as expected, very good stop-motion.

4. Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).

The first Laika film to be directed by Travis Knight, Kubo and the Two Strings is the last of the first-time watches for me.
That being said, it was also one of the hardest movies to rank.
This is because I went back and forth on whether to put it above the number three placement or not.
In the end, Kubo ranked lower, but it is still a fantastic time.
Set in ancient Japan, the film follows the titular Kubo (Art Parkinson), a boy who is able to tell stories through a magical instrument.
After being pursued by supernatural family members who want to take his eye out, Kubo embarks on a journey to acquire a mystical armour set, accompanied by the mysterious Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey).
The adventure that follows has multiple epic set pieces.
For example, when you think about it, the giant skeleton must have been incredibly difficult to do through stop-motion, and it is all the more impressive for it.
Honestly, though, my favorite scenes in Kubo are the quieter ones where he tells his stories with the Shamisen. 
Like the scene where he and Monkey are travelling through the snow, or the opening scenes where we first see Kubo’s abilities.
The, “If you must blink, do it now” speech is one of the most memorable line reads in all of Laika’s films.
Sadly, the main villain is less memorable, due to him only really appearing towards the end.
Granted, he is nowhere near as weak as Missing Link’s villains, but I still wish the antagonist could have matched the rest of the movie’s highs.
Kubo and the Two Strings presents an epic journey, but its simple moments won me over the most. 

3. ParaNorman (2012).

The first Laika film to be directed by Chris Butler, along with Sam Fell, ParaNorman is the movie that I constantly switched back and forth with Kubo.
In the end though, ParaNorman edged into third place on this list.
The movie follows Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a young boy who can see ghosts, making him the town outcast.
Even though he wants to be normal, Norman finds himself being guilted into stopping an evil witch from raising the dead and destroying his town.
The positives of ParaNorman not only include the stop-motion, but also the humor, which is undoubtedly the best of all the Laika films
The vending machine gag is a gem, and the reveal of Mitch’s sexuality at the end gets a laugh, while importantly feeling like it is not laughing at gay people.
Also, Mitch (Casey Affleck) is the first openly gay character in an animated film, so that is an achievement.
That being said, Paranorman is not perfect because some of the side characters do feel unnecessary and underdeveloped.
The thing that ultimately put it above Kubo in the ranking, was the Aggie (Jodelle Ferland) twist.
The reveal that the supposedly evil witch was really just a little girl put to death during the Witch Trials of old America is both disturbing and speaks to the maturity of Laika’s films.
Despite making family films, they are not afraid to tackle difficult subject matter, and this is absolutely made clear with Norman’s final confrontation with Aggie.
The twist is one I have remembered ever since I first saw it, and it was just enough to bump ParaNorman all the way to number three on this list. 

2. Coraline (2009)

There are some things I want to make clear before discussing Coraline.
First, no, this movie was not directed by Tim Burton, like most people seem to think.
It was directed by Henry Selick, so let’s give the guy his dues.
Second, it is based off the book by Neil Gaiman who we know now is not a good person, to put things lightly.
So, I say we view this film more as Selick and the Laika crew’s achievement than Gaiman’s.
Laika added plenty of great new stuff the original book did not have anyway.
Coraline follows the titular Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning), my favorite Laika protagonist.
Bored and frustrated after moving to a new place, Coraline finds herself drawn into a supposedly perfect world, filled with other versions of people from the real world, all with button eyes.
This other world is controlled by the Other Mother (Teri Hatcher), who grooms the young Coraline with sweets, presents and magical experiences.
Despite the constant red flags and warnings, Coraline finds herself continually drawn to the new world, until it is too late to back out.
Now, Coraline has to use all of her smarts, along with the help of a black cat (Keith David) to fool the Other Mother and escape to her true home.
Coraline is both a fantastic and haunting tale, which introduced the world to Laika’s stop-motion.
The character writing and voice acting are all great, especially Keith David as the cat.
The addition of Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.) also adds new layers to the story, but it is Coraline who is the true star.
It would have been easy to make her an obnoxious kid, what with all of her complaining, but her parents are not without their flaws either.
Through her perspective, we see how Coraline feels neglected and trapped in her seemingly boring world, which leads her to be tempted by the Other Mother, who is easily Laika’s most terrifying villain.
She definitely caused a few nightmares for kids back in the day.
I really have no issues with Coraline as a film.
Since I saw it, it has been one of my favorite animated films, and definitely my favorite Laika movie… until I saw a certain film for the first time not too long ago. 

1. Wildwood (2026).

If you read my review of Wildwood, this placement will come as no surprise to you.
After all, I did label Wildwood as Laika’s masterpiece in that review.
Going for my second viewing in the theatre today, I wondered if I would see something which would diminish my appreciation of it.
In reality, the opposite happened.
I left the theatre somehow more appreciative of Wildwood, if that was even possible.
I even heard multiple audience members praising the film, as I was leaving.
But enough about that, let’s actually get into the content of the movie.
Directed by Travis Knight, the premise of Wildwood feels very similar to 1986’s Labyrinth.
A teenage girl travels to a magical land to rescue her baby brother.
Where it diverts is in the glorious stop-motion (even by Laika standards), and just how dark things get.
The main villain’s goal is literally to sacrifice a baby so she can bring her dead son back to life for the second time.
Speaking of, that villain, Alexandra (Carey Mulligan), the Dowager Governess?
Yeah, she is in my top ten favorite antagonists of all time after my second viewing of Wildwood.
She manages to be both sympathetic, terrifying, and occasionally morbidly funny, like when she uses a sweet voice to tell a baby not to touch the very knife she plans to sacrifice him with.
It is not just her because every character is fantastic, from our main duo of Prue (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) to the Bandit King, Brendan (Mahershala Ali).
My second viewing also made me appreciate the score a lot, both in its more emotional and epic moments.
Said epic moments come often during the final battle, which is a stop-motion spectacle that needs to be seen in theatres.
I would call it the best climax in any animated movie ever.
That is not to sell the other action setpieces of the film short either.
From the first pursuit of Mac after he is kidnapped, to the chase in the mansion, to the flight with the General, there are so many stop-motion sequences in this film that I just struggle to imagine how they were pulled off.
I really do have no criticisms of Wildwood.
The story and characters are fantastic, the film succeeds at both being lighthearted and tragic, and the stop-motion is the best ever put to film.
How could I not rank it as Laika’s best movie, since it is the one that motivated me to watch the rest of them in the first place?
I would say Wildwood is not only the best Laika film but it is also my favorite animated movie of all time.
Go and see it in theatres if you have not… and then watch the rest of Laika’s catalogue while you’re at it.