Laika's Upcoming Stop-Motion Film WILDWOOD Will Include an Epic Battle Sequence
Laika Studios is currently in production on a new stop-motion animated film titled Wildwood. The project is being directed by Travis Knight, and the film will include an epic battle sequence, which is one of the most challenging things that the studio has had to create.
The movie follows Prue, a young woman who comes across a mystical, enchanted forest. In the story, “Beyond Portland’s city limits lies Wildwood. You’re not supposed to go there. You’re not even supposed to know it exists. But Prue McKeel is about to enter this enchanted wonderland. Her baby brother Mac has been taken by a murder of crows into the forest’s depths, and she – along with her hapless classmate Curtis – is going to get him back. Prue might think she’s too old for fairytales, but she’s just found herself at the center of one. One filled with strange talking animals, roguish bandits, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions.”
Knight recently talked about the huge battle sequence and how something like this has never been attempted before. He told Empire:
“It’s the single most difficult thing we’re tackling on this movie. We’re starting to chip away and tentatively stepping into, like, ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God, how are we gonna do this?’ But I think it’s going to work. And you’ll tell me when the film’s all done if it did. Stop-motion films tend to look like they’re shot on a table-top, because they are. Moving a physical object a frame at a time and trying to give it life, that’s its own challenge. And then you bring all the kineticism you would have in a live-action action movie… It’s so hard.”
That’s exciting to hear! I can’t wait to actually see how this sequence turns out! Laika makes beautiful stop-motion animated movies, and I love that they are trying new things that have never been done before in the medium!
Wildwood features a star-studded voice cast, including Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant. It will hit theaters in 2025.