Thanks to Pixar's Up, which is a guaranteed lock for Best Animated Feature at this year's Academy Awards (the Best Picture nod was a hint), many have forgotten about one of last year's early surprises: Coraline. Made in a completely different style of animation and receiving a much smaller release, the film won over critics and audiences alike, with a great story that mixed in the perfect amount of adult content and was occasionally an effective piece of horror. The film was the the first feature put out by Laika, Inc., and now it looks like they are ready for round two.

THR is reporting that writers Chris McCoy and Jan Pinkava have been hired to pen the next project for the small animation company. Titled Little White Lie, little is known about the project other than it is based on an idea by Pinkava, who will also direct the project.

As fantastic as Up is, and acknowledging that it was the best animated film of 2009, it would be a crime to let Coraline simply be forgotten. While perhaps not on the level of Pixar, Laika's debut film was certainly successful at the box office, actually managing to make more money in its third week than its opening thanks to great word of mouth. Up until now DreamWorks has pretty much been Pixar's sole competitor in the animation world, so it will be interesting to see where this little company can go.