MINNEAPOLIS & REHOVOT, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stratasys (Nasdaq:SSYS), a global leader in applied additive technology solutions, today announced the company will be a sponsor of the Portland Art Museum’s “Animating Life: The Art, Science and Magic of LAIKA” - running October 14, 2017 through May 20, 2018. The exhibit highlights such topics as LAIKA’s use of 3D printing to rapidly create unforgettable, colorful, and life-like puppet faces for the studio’s award-winning films. As a sponsor of the major retrospective exhibit, Stratasys executives will participate in a Press Preview on Thursday, October 12th - as well as a Facebook Live tour of the exhibit on Friday, October 13th at 9am Pacific, being hosted at www.facebook.com/LAIKAstudios.

Exploring behind-the-scenes photography, video clips and physical artwork from LAIKA films, visitors will be immersed in the studio’s creative process - exploring the production design, sets, props, puppets, costumes, and world-building that have become the studio’s hallmarks. LAIKA’s Oscar® nominated films are widely known to be triumphs of imagination, ingenuity and craftsmanship redefining the limits of modern animation.

This retrospective will highlight the unique ability of 3D printing to spark unprecedented creativity and innovation in LAIKA’s award-winning films. LAIKA, which has leveraged Stratasys 3D printed technology in motion pictures including Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings – all of which have received Oscar® nominations and numerous other awards - will peel back the curtain on innovations behind its stop-motion filmmaking. Highlights include 3D printing’s role in revolutionizing animation of LAIKA’s puppets - a critical piece of the studio’s imaginative, vibrant story-telling. The technology gives LAIKA the unmatched design freedom and near-continuous production schedule for creation of full-color, 3D printed models with realism, performance and function.

“Bringing inanimate objects to life is one of the oldest forms of movie magic,” said Brian McLean, LAIKA’s Director of Rapid Prototyping – who won a Scientific and Engineering Oscar in 2016 for pioneering Rapid Prototyping in character animation. “By harnessing the power of 3D printers, we are able to create emotions and subtle facial performances never before seen in stop-motion animation. It is this technology - combined with the amazing talents of so many different creative disciplines within LAIKA - that allow us to tell really complex and enduring stories.”

A collaborative partner with Stratasys for more than a decade, LAIKA is continuously evolving the studio’s use of 3D printing to advance design and performance of stop-motion models. Stratasys technology helps filmmakers bring unique ideas to life, driving prototypes and characters to be created, modified, and re-created with unprecedented speed and detail. The studio currently leverages nine Stratasys PolyJet-based 3D printing solutions for practically non-stop, continuous production – including the Stratasys Connex3 and Stratasys J750 full-color, multi-material 3D printers.

These PolyJet-based 3D printing solutions are ideal for the demanding requirements of animators, with the versatile Stratasys J750 full-color, multi-material 3D printer allowing users to 3D print parts in more than 360,000 colors, textures, gradients and transparencies. These highly intricate creations are produced in a single print – with minimal-to-no finishing steps, such as painting, sanding or assembly. 3D printing ensures LAIKA can develop characters with 24x7 operations across an incredible array of characteristics for life-like function and look – both quickly and cost-effectively.

"For more than a decade, the visionaries at LAIKA have revolutionized the way animated films are made - tapping into the newest technology innovations and creating the most memorable theater experiences. The studio capitalizes on 3D printing for unprecedented design freedom, streamlined development processes, and creation of the most unique, custom characters,” said Rich Garrity, President of Americas, at Stratasys. “LAIKA’s advanced use of our 3D printing technology is not only breaking new barriers in film-making, but expanding what's now possible across 3D printing in general to encourage use across a diverse range of businesses. We consider LAIKA a valued and collaborative partner, opening new doors for what our customers can achieve."

About LAIKA:

Fueled by the vision of its owner, Nike co-founder former Chairman Philip H. Knight, and its President and CEO Travis Knight, feature film animation studio LAIKA was founded in 2005. Located just outside Portland, Oregon, LAIKA was awarded a Scientific and Technology Oscar® for its innovation in 3D printing in 2016. Its four films, Kubo and the Two Strings (2016); The Boxtrolls (2014); ParaNorman (2012); and Coraline (2009) were all nominated for Oscars® and PGA Awards as Outstanding Animated Film. Kubo, which marked the directorial debut of Travis Knight, also received an Oscar® nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects. Kubo won this year’s BAFTA Award as well as three Annie Awards, the National Board of Review and 19 regional and critics’ group awards. The Boxtrolls also earned Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award nominations and 13 Annie Award nominations, more than any other film that year. ParaNorman garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and GLAAD Media Award nominations and won two Annie Awards and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups. Coraline earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Critics’ Choice nominations, and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). For more information, visit: LAIKA studios on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

About Stratasys

Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) is a global leader in applied additive technology solutions for industries including Aerospace, Automotive, Healthcare, Consumer Products and Education. For nearly 30 years, a deep and ongoing focus on customers’ business requirements has fueled purposeful innovations—1,200 granted and pending additive technology patents to date—that create new value across product lifecycle processes, from design prototypes to manufacturing tools and final production parts. The Stratasys 3D printing ecosystem of solutions and expertise—advanced materials; software with voxel level control; precise, repeatable and reliable FDM and PolyJet 3D printers; application-based expert services; on-demand parts and industry-defining partnerships—works to ensure seamless integration into each customer’s evolving workflow. Fulfilling the real-world potential of additive, Stratasys delivers breakthrough industry-specific applications that accelerate business processes, optimize value chains and drive business performance improvements for thousands of future-ready leaders around the world.

Corporate Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel.

Online at: www.stratasys.com, http://blog.stratasys.com and LinkedIn.

Stratasys is a registered trademark, and PolyJet, the Stratasys J750, Connex3 and Stratasys signet are trademarks or registered trademarks of Stratasys Ltd. and or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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