Entertainment · Film · 7 hrs ago
Laika’s Wildwood follows two children into a hidden forest world
Wildwood is a stop-motion fantasy film from Laika, the Portland studio that made Coraline.
It is based on a book by Carson Ellis and Colin Meloy, and its story is set in modern-day Portland, Oregon.
Twelve-year-old Prue and her classmate Curtis chase a murder of crows after it carries off Prue’s baby brother, Mac.
In the forest, they find a hidden world of talking animals and oppressed people.
They face an evil ruler and join a struggle that involves the forest’s bandit leader.
The film uses handcrafted stop-motion animation, and its review describes the adventure as an old-fashioned children’s tale.
Laika’s Wildwood is a stop-motion fantasy adventure set in modern-day Portland, Oregon.
The story follows 12-year-old Prue and her classmate Curtis as they enter a hidden forest world to find Prue’s kidnapped baby brother, Mac.
In the forest, they encounter talking animals, oppressed humans and a society ruled by a governor and a powerful dowager governess.
Travis Knight directed the film, which Chris Butler wrote from the book by Carson Ellis and Colin Meloy.
The Guardian review praised the animation’s “robust and pleasing directness” but said the story did not have Coraline’s scary punch.
- Who
- Prue, a 12-year-old girl, and her classmate Curtis pursue her baby brother Mac.
- What
- Laika’s stop-motion fantasy adventure follows the children into a hidden forest world after crows carry Mac away.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- Modern-day Portland, Oregon, and a forest park beside the city.
- Why
- The children enter the forest to find Mac after the crows abduct him.
Prue and Curtis
The dowager governess
Mac’s rescue
Prue and Curtis
Prue and Curtis pursue Mac into the forest after crows carry him away.
The dowager governess
The dowager governess rules the forest and has a redcoat army of coyotes at her command.
Forest conflict
Prue and Curtis
Prue and Curtis face the dowager governess in a showdown.
The dowager governess
The dowager governess pursues a “reprehensible plan,” though its motive is not clearly explained in the review.
The stop-motion animation style has, as with Coraline, a robust and pleasing directness
I wasn’t sure that the narrative delivered a satisfyingly clear motive for the governess’s reprehensible plan
Prue takes her baby brother Mac around the city in his stroller.
Crows gather at a children’s play area and carry Mac off to their forest domain.
Prue and Curtis chase the crows into the forest and discover a parallel world.
Prue and Curtis are separated by the action but come together for a showdown with the dowager governess.
- Studio
- Laika, based in Portland
- Director
- Travis Knight
- Writer
- Chris Butler
- Source book
- Wildwood by Carson Ellis and Colin Meloy
- Prue’s age
- 12
- Mac’s abduction
- Crows carry him from a children’s play area into the forest
Sources
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