First Look at LAIKA’s ‘Wildwood’ Stop-Motion Footage Has Fans Stunned
A brief behind-the-scenes clip from LAIKA’s upcoming ‘Wildwood’ is doing numbers online, and for good reason. Shared by DiscussingFilm on X, the ten-second footage showing an animator working with a handcrafted vehicle and what appears to be a large bird puppet on a moody blue-lit set has racked up 671,000 views, 12,000 likes, and over a thousand reposts, a reaction that captures just how hungry audiences are for what LAIKA has been quietly building for years.
‘Wildwood’ is directed by Travis Knight, the studio’s CEO and the filmmaker behind ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’, with a screenplay by Chris Butler, who wrote ‘ParaNorman’. The film is based on the 2011 illustrated novel by Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and artist Carson Ellis, which LAIKA acquired for adaptation just weeks after its publication.
Stop-motion work from LAIKA's new film ‘WILDWOOD’. pic.twitter.com/bowHs2MpwT
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 2, 2026
The story follows Prue McKeel and her classmate Curtis Mehlberg, who are drawn into a hidden magical forest near Portland after Prue’s infant brother Mac is stolen by crows led by a mysterious woman named Alexandra. What follows is a high-stakes journey through a forbidden forest filled with enchanted creatures, unlikely alliances, and formidable adversaries, while an entire hidden realm hangs in the balance.
The voice cast is led by Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue, backed by an extraordinary ensemble including two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, three-time nominee Carey Mulligan, Angela Bassett as the General, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant.
Speaking about the film’s ambitions and ethos, Travis Knight said: ‘Wildwood’ is the biggest world Laika has ever built, and the most personal. Our movie is a celebration of artistry over algorithms, and of the belief that films made by hand, with enormous care, can still feel bold, surprising, dangerous, and alive.”
LAIKA has partnered with Fathom Entertainment for domestic distribution and FilmNation Entertainment for international sales, with the film set to release in cinemas across the United States on October 23. The unconventional distribution approach reflects the studio’s deliberate independence, choosing partners that match the specific ambitions of the project rather than defaulting to a traditional studio release.
Every LAIKA film has received a Best Animated Feature nomination at the Academy Awards, making ‘Wildwood’ one of the most anticipated entries in the category in years, given the studio’s last film ‘Missing Link’ came all the way back in 2019. If that behind-the-scenes clip is anything to judge by, the wait will have been worth every second.
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