Entertainment · Film · 1 hr ago
Laika’s Wildwood is its biggest stop-motion production
Laika’s Wildwood is the studio’s biggest production yet, made after years of development.
The stop-motion film follows Prue, a young girl who enters a wilderness around Portland to find her baby brother.
There she discovers a fantasy world of magical spells, talking animals and warring factions.
Laika CEO Travis Knight first secured the book rights in 2011, and production began about a decade later.
Nearly 50 animators and more than 200 puppets helped bring the film to life, including a 12-minute battle scene.
The studio combined traditional puppetry with new techniques and materials, including lighter, more durable silicone.
The film is directed by Knight, but no release date or other next steps are given.
Laika’s Wildwood is the studio’s biggest production to date, involving nearly 50 animators and more than 200 puppets.
The film follows Prue as she enters a wilderness around Portland to find her baby brother.
Laika CEO Travis Knight optioned the rights to Colin Meloy’s book in 2011, but production began about a decade later.
Knight, who also directed the film, said he had worked on it in some form for 16 years.
The production uses new materials and techniques, continuing Laika’s approach of combining traditional craft with modern technology.
- Who
- Laika made Wildwood, directed by CEO Travis Knight.
- What
- Wildwood is the studio’s biggest production and most ambitious stop-motion film.
- When
- The book rights were optioned in 2011; production began about a decade later.
- Where
- The story is set in a wilderness surrounding Portland.
- Why
- Knight said the story of love, loss and grief had profound personal meaning for him.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Travis Knight optioned the rights to Colin Meloy’s book Wildwood.
Production on the film began.
- Animators
- Nearly 50
- Puppets
- More than 200
- Book author
- Colin Meloy
- Setting
- Wilderness surrounding Portland
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What people are saying
It was much more complicated than I expected.
I’ve been working on it in some form or another for 16 years.
Underneath it all, it’s a story about love and loss and grief, it’s about the impossible things that love asks of us, and that meant something to me personally in a very profound way.