On the 3rd of November 1957, the Soviet Union launched a rocket carrying the first living creature into space.
Laika is an animated short that follows the brief life of the Soviet space dog, Laika. The story is told from the perspective of Laika as the events of the fiercely competitive space race unfold around her. In the face of her own mortality, she imagines a way to escape the confines of the sweltering cabin through her memories of better times.
Laika incorporates a hand-drawn aesthetic to emphasise the emotional impact of the story. Through photographic research, the foundations of the characters and backgrounds were built. It combines traditional and digital techniques by using hand...