Writer and Director Michael Cahill called on international animation studio LAIKA to create a special dream sequence for his film ‘King of California’. The film stars Michael Douglas as Charlie, a former mental institution patient, whose return home throws his daughter’s life into chaos. Charlie’s daughter is played by Evan Rachel Wood.

Cahill required LAIKA to produce the animation utilising the woodblock technique and to illustrate the delusional state of Charlie’s mind. LAIKA’s Creative Director Kirk Kelley, who directed the sequence, said “We used as our inspiration the brilliant and quirky work of Terry Gilliam. We also tried to extend the film dark humor into the animation, while maintaining the feel of the printed page coming to life.”

The result is a stop-motion piece that travels through a medieval Spanish village teaming with pests, torturers and heretics. The entire scene is made up of many layers of action, but centers around a paper cut-out version of the character Charlie.

The film is due for release worldwide throughout September 2007.