Laika's Two-Decade Journey Culminates in Ambitious Stop-Motion Film Wildwood

Image: Laika has spent 20 years building up to Wildwood · Source

After 16 years in development, Laika releases Wildwood, its largest and most technically advanced stop-motion project to date, blending traditional craft with cutting-edge innovations.

Laika, the Portland-based animation studio renowned for its stop-motion films, has released Wildwood, a project decades in the making that marks the studio's most ambitious effort so far. The film, directed by Laika CEO Travis Knight, was originally planned in 2011 when Knight optioned the rights to the novel by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists, but production only began a decade later. Knight expressed a deep personal connection to the film's core themes of love, loss, and grief, which fueled the long commitment to this project.

Wildwood tells the story of Prue, a young girl venturing into a magical, impassable wilderness surrounding Portland to rescue her baby brother. The setting recalls classic fantasy worlds like Narnia, complete with spells, talking animals, and rival factions. This complex narrative required extensive resources, with nearly 50 animators and over 200 custom-made puppets bringing it to life. The film features challenging sequences including a prolonged battle of dozens of soldiers and an intense chase with a murder of crows.

Veteran cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, known for his work on The Patriot and Titanic, took on his first stop-motion cinematography role with Wildwood. He noted the unexpectedly intricate and labor-intensive nature of stop-motion filmmaking. Laika’s head of animation, Brad Schiff, highlighted the studio’s philosophy of combining traditional artistry with modern technology, continuously advancing new techniques from one production to the next—for example, evolving puppet breathing effects introduced during Missing Link have become standard.

Material innovation was significant for this film as well. Costume designer Deb Cook described a vast library of techniques and new flexible fabrics used to distinguish between modern city attire and fantastical forest garb. Practical effects lead Oliver Jones detailed the development of lighter, more durable silicone alternatives to foam latex, enhancing puppet longevity and performance quality.

The scale of Wildwood demanded improved organizational systems, including sophisticated tracking to manage myriad puppets and sets across multiple studio locations. Despite the film’s elaborate action sequences, Knight emphasized the importance of subtle, intimate moments where the puppets convey profound human emotions like grief without heavy sound or music, showcasing the artistry behind these inanimate figures.

Laika’s two-decade evolution in stop-motion craft, reflected in titles such as ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings, paved the way for this film’s realization. Wildwood also served as a collaborative bridge between experienced Laika veterans and first-time feature animators inspired by earlier Laika films like Coraline. For Knight, this multi-generational creative effort was deeply rewarding.

Wildwood is now available in theaters, representing Laika’s continued dedication to pushing the boundaries of stop-motion animation through a blend of traditional craftsmanship and technological innovation.