Stop-motion animation studio Laika occupies such a fascinating niche in the Western animation industry. While most animation studios in the U.S. are owned by major media corporations, Laika has remained privately owned since it was founded in 2005. Moreover, no Laika movie, outside its first feature-length release, Coraline (2009), has ever broken even at the box office, despite the studio’s cultural relevance. Laika has consistently operated at a loss. Luckily, financing has never been a roadblock for Laika CEO Travis Knight (Masters of the Universe), son of one of Nike’s co-founders. That convenience has made Laika one of the rare pockets of the film industry where a strong passion for art always comes before profit.
Laika has played a huge role in keeping the art of stop-motion animation in the mainstream for the past two decades. In the seven years since their last movie, Missing Link (2019), the tension between art and commerce has only grown, especially with the looming threat of AI being forced upon creative fields. So, even though Laika’s latest, Wildwood (2026), never set out to be this grand statement on our current technological struggles, it’s almost impossible to divorce a project so committed to celebrating craftsmanship, ingenuity, and the human spirit from those emotions. Stepping outside the film’s timing, however, Wildwood is also a gorgeous, moving blockbuster that stands tall in an already great year for animation.
A Coming-of-Age Tale Set in a Folkloric Fantasy World
Wildwood is based on the first novel of The Wildwood Chronicles, a fantasy adventure series written by Colin Meloy (best known as the lead singer of The Decemberists). We follow Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), a spunky teenager in Portland, Oregon, living with her loving parents and infant brother, Mac (Arthur Knight, director Travis Knight’s real-life son). When a mysterious murder of crows abducts Mac, Prue and her dopey classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) must venture into the “Impassable Wilderness.” They soon enter a magical world where talking animals have built their own society, and find themselves at war with the grief-stricken wrath of Alexandra (Carey Mulligan) and her army of coyotes.
Although Laika caters to viewers of all ages, they aren’t afraid to explore darker, more mature subject matter. With that in mind, Wildwood is their first PG-13-rated film, and it certainly feels aimed at tweens and young adults rather than children. The world of Wildwood is so imaginative and pays homage to classic Grimm fairy tales and European folklore. It’s equal parts bizarre and scary, yet still charming and cozy in the right ways. Laika’s commitment to a practical, handmade aesthetic, from the tiny stitches on the stop-motion puppets’ clothing to the meticulously placed greenery in the forest, really elevates the vibe.
Travis Knight Once Again Plays with Light, Darkness, and Surreality
There’s an undeniable beauty and sense of surrealism that comes with Laika’s house aesthetic, and it adds so much to the lived-in atmosphere of Wildwood. While other animation studios try to make their characters cute, cuddly, and marketable, director Travis Knight often embraces uncanniness and even purposeful grotesqueness. The result still looks soulful but has an edge that perfectly reflects his nuanced storytelling. Wildwood‘s visuals evoke high-fantasy movies like The Dark Crystal (1982) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). Like previous Laika films, this may not attract a huge audience with its off-kilter flavor. However, that’s not the main goal; it’s about pushing the medium forward and experimenting with bold art direction.
In that regard, Wildwood features some of Laika’s best animated set pieces to date. Physical sets of the Impassable Wilderness are massive and packed with tiny details. The story’s climax features a sprawling, Lord of the Rings-esque battle between the warring armies of the Woods, and it’s surely one of the most complex stop-motion sequences ever made by human hands. Another benefit of stop-motion is that an actual cinematographer, 6x Oscar nominee Caleb Deschnel, handles the camerawork. Rather than approximating how cameras typically move in computer-rendered 3D animation, this movie’s visual language is far more purposeful and authored.
‘Wildwood’ is Overflowing with Personality and Childlike Whimsy
With the high-fantasy genre staples also comes palpable emotionality. Wildwood is part fantastical, folkloric escapism and part coming-of-age story. Both of these elements are earned through a stellar script, penned by Chris Butler (ParaNorman), and a well-rounded cast of vocal talent. Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.) gives Prue a wise capability that makes her easy to root for as we watch her perception of maturity be challenged on her quest. Jacob Tremblay (Pixar’s Luca) brings earnestness as Curtis, balancing Prue well as a sidekick. Meanwhile, Carey Mulligan (Beef) portrays Alexandra as fierce and villainous, but with deep, vulnerable pain beneath it all.
That’s not to mention the rest of this stacked voice cast, including Mahershala Ali, Charlie Day, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant, and more. There’s a lot to praise, but Maya Erskine and Jake Johnson‘s performances as Prue’s parents stand out. When a hidden secret in Prue’s family bubbles to the surface, their performances are recontextualized, and the two expertly shift from archetypal parents to multifaceted characters in their own right. All of these colorful voices give life to the meticulously detailed puppets that populate every inch of this majestic world. Wildwood is a film that is overflowing with personality and childlike whimsy.
There’s Nothing Quite Like Laika’s Passionately Handcrafted Cinema
At least from a Western perspective, no studio is putting out the kind of work Laika does regularly. Every film they make, even if it’s wildly eccentric and a bit out there for general audiences, is a labor of love. There are some digital VFX enhancements, obviously, but for the most part, human hands crafted everything you see in the frame in Wildwood. This isn’t to discredit what 3D animation is achieving today. Yet as more animation juggernauts like Disney decline in quality, it’s rare to see a studio put as much care into a rich narrative as it does into appealing style.
Travis Knight’s Wildwood would be impressive enough in just about any other year. It may not reach the heights of other stop-motion animated classics like Coraline or Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), but in 2026, when the human touch is under attack and corporations want to sacrifice the soul of art for shareholder profits, Wildwood feels like the antidote. It’s an escapist spectacle that will sweep teens and young adults away, a human, relatable coming-of-age story, and a grandiose celebration of art for art’s sake.
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
‘Wildwood’ hits theaters on October 23!
Directed by Travis Knight.
Screenplay by Will Butler.
Based on Wildwood by Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis.
Produced by Travis Knight & Samuel Wilson.
Executive Producer: David Burke.
Main Cast: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, Richard E. Grant, Arthur Knight, Marc Evan Jackson, Rob Delaney, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Len Cariou, & Blythe Danner.
Cinemtographer: Caleb Deschanel.
Composer: Dario Marianelli.
Editor: Christopher Murrie-Green.
Production Company: Laika.
Distributor: Fathom Entertainment.
Runtime: 132 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
