Children’s Film Festival Seattle 2023 Announces Opening Film

Children’s Film Festival Seattle is thrilled to finally announce that its opening night film for the 2023 festival is the Oscar®-nominated film MISSING LINK! Produced by the PNW’s own award-winning stop-motion animation studio LAIKA, this adventure comedy film will kick off CFFS’s fantastical lineup.

“We are so honored and excited to be hosting MISSING LINK for our opening night event! What star would be better suited to a Northwest film fest than the lovable, lonely sasquatch Link, a Pacific Northwestern local who’s inspired legions of amateur filmmakers? The festival theme is all about fantasy, fairytale, magic and myths, so Link will be right at home.” says Festival Director Kendra Ann Sherrill. “We’re grateful to LAIKA, our Oregon-based neighbors, for giving us the opportunity to showcase and celebrate one of their stupendous stop-motion masterpieces with us. Every film they’ve made has been a joyful inspiration, and we are so glad to have the opportunity to pass on that feeling of wonder their work evokes to more generations of young audiences.”

This event is accompanied by two very special guests: Writer and Director Chris Butler, and Head of Practical Effects Oliver Jones, will both be in attendance to answer audience questions after the film!

Opening Night Event: MISSING LINK
(All ages + in-person only)
February 3rd at 7pm
12th Ave - Seattle, WA - 98122
Buy Tickets Here!

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About The Film

Missing Link (Release Date: April 12, 2019)
Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldaña and Zach Galifianakis lead an all-star voice cast in this globetrotting adventure from LAIKA, the makers of Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings.

Hugh Jackman is Sir Lionel Frost, a brave and dashing adventurer who considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters. The trouble is, no one else seems to agree. Zach Galifianakis is Mr. Link. As species go, he’s as endangered as they get – possibly the last of his kind – he’s lonely, and he believes that Sir Lionel is the one man alive who can help him.
Along with the independent and resourceful Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldaña), who possesses the only known map to the group’s secret destination, the unlikely trio embarks on a riotous rollercoaster ride of a journey to seek out Link’s distant relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La.
Voice Cast: Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldaña, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas, Timothy Olyphant, David Walliams, Amrita Acharia, Ching Valdes-Aran. Produced by Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight. Written and directed by Chris Butler.

About LAIKA:
LAIKA, founded in 2005 in Oregon and shaped by the vision of its President & CEO Travis Knight, is a studio that combines a classic commitment to artistry and the cinematic crafts with a delight in innovation and cutting-edge techniques. The studio’s first five films: Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and Missing Link (2019) were all nominated for the Academy Award® for Outstanding Animated Feature. Kubo and the Two Strings won the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film and received an additional Oscar® nomination for Visual Effects. Missing Link was awarded the Golden Globe® for Best Animated Film. LAIKA was also awarded a Scientific and Technology Oscar® plaque in 2016 for its innovation in 3D printing. LAIKA is currently in production on its sixth animated film Wildwood, based on the book series by Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis. The studio is developing its first live action feature film based on the action thriller novel “Seventeen” by screenwriter John Brownlow as well as the animated feature The Night Gardener, in partnership with and based on an original idea by Bill Dubuque, the creator of the hit Netflix series Ozark. www.laika.com

About CFFS 2023:
Children’s Film Festival Seattle at Northwest Film Forum returns February 3-12, 2023 with 150 animated, live-action, and documentary films from 40 nations, all centered on the experiences, joy and challenges of childhood. This year’s Fantasy and Fairytale theme promises to whisk audiences away with magical shorts and feature films, while all-ages workshops and activities (from shadow puppetry to lively LARPing!) offer ample creative outlets throughout the festival.

Watch short films & features any time from Feb. 3–12, or in-person at the showtimes noted on the website!