Nike founder rebrands studio after dog

Marketing master Phil Night has renamed his animation company, greenlighted first film, report says.
July 20, 2005: 10:43 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Laika -- the first dog the former Soviet Union sent to space and who died there -- lives on, thanks to Nike founder Phil Knight.

Knight has changed the name of the entertainment company he controls to Laika Entertainment, as well as given the green light for the animation studio's first feature film release, according to USA Today.

The moves, which drew media attention, reflect Knight's aim to become a movie animation mogul, the report said.

Laika Entertainment consists of Portland, Ore.-based entertainment company Vinton Studios, which Knight has controlled since 2002, according to the newspaper. The studio, which works on advertising and short features, was behind the California Raisins and Fox's animation sitcom "The PJs," USA Today reported.

Laika Entertainment's first feature film, "Coraline," is slated for release as early as 2007 and will use both computer and stop-motion animation, the report said.

According to the article, Knight doesn't expect to spend more than $70 million on the production, although marketing costs could push the final price tag above $100 million. Knight will pay half of the bills for his films, and Laika is looking for a partner to foot the other half, the paper said.

The newspaper said Knight has made no secret of his animation dreams and is aiming for his studio to join the ranks of profitable animation studios like Pixar, DreamWorks and Blue Sky Studios.

In this aim, Knight hired Henry Selick -- the director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach" -- to be Vinton Studios' supervising director, USA Today said. Selick will also direct "Coraline," the report added.

Newcomer Laika faces a lot of competition in the computer animation industry, the report said. George Lucas has plans to enter the game, and several major studios have films underway.

But Knight won't be easily scared away. "When Nike was small, Phil didn't want to be Adidas. He wanted to beat Adidas. He knows who the competition is," the newspaper quoted Bob Harold, Laika's interim CEO, as saying.