“Wildwood,” the latest stop-motion film from LAIKA Animation Studios, is widely considered a love letter to the city of Portland and transforms its real-life streets and woods into a magical, mysterious world through a combination of cutting-edge technology and old-school stop-motion animation.
Known for classic animated films like “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” the studio, led by CEO Travis Knight, spent 16 years developing “Wildwood,” an adaptation of the popular young adult fantasy novel written by Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and illustrated by artist Carson Ellis.
The film is LAIKA’s longest to date, clocking in at 2 hours and 12 minutes and is the longest stop-motion animated film ever released.
The story follows young teenagers Prue and Curtis as they embark on a magical journey across the mystical impassable desert to rescue Prue’s little brother, Mac, from the clutches of housekeeper Dowager Alexandra.
In a still from the LAIKA Studios film “Wildwood,” main character Prue shows off her brother Mac Portland’s iconic Benson rompers.
Courtesy of LAIKA Studios
To bring the city of Portland and its surrounding forests to the big screen, members of the production team took real-life landmarks like Powell’s City of Books, the St. Johns Bridge and Voodoo Donuts and meticulously recreated them as large-scale sets, some reaching up to 15 feet high.
Rapid Prototype director Brian McLean has been working on “Wildwood” since 2020. He believes what makes the sets so unique is the care the studio’s art department took in replicating elements of the town, down to the intricate details, like the iconic Benson Bubblers or the marquee sign on Powell’s books.
“These things aren’t exactly replicas of what lives in real life Portland, but they’re pretty close, and they’re all sort of stylized to live in the world that we’ve created,” he said. “So there are Portland landmarks, but they are Portland landmarks seen through ‘Wildwood’ eyes. »
In an era where CGI animated films have become the norm, LAIKA’s unwavering dedication to stop-motion animation, particularly their use of the replacement animation technique, continues to set them apart from other major studios.
Replacement animation is a technique in which, instead of manipulating a puppet, the animator swaps part of that puppet to change its expression or movement.
“Our idea was to take this age-old technique of replacement animation and incorporate it with 21st century 3D printing technology,” McLean said.
In a still from the LAIKA Studios film “Wildwood,” main character Prue pedals her bike through Portland’s historic Tom McCall Waterfront Park while the cherry blossom trees are in bloom.
Courtesy of LAIKA Studios
In 2016, LAIKA received a Science and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its pioneering work in rapid 3D printing for character animation.
In 2017, OPB’s Oregon Art Beat featured LAIKA as part of its animated special, “Animation Magic.”
For every second of film, 24 frames must be animated. This means that, to bring the characters to life, animators must have at least 24 different facial expressions for every second they appear on screen.
In a still from the LAIKA Studios film “Wildwood,” the main character Prue pedals her bike down a Portland street.
Courtesy of LAIKA Studios
That also means animators create about 3 seconds of footage each week, McLean said. But for him, that’s where the magic of cinema happens.
“We take these inanimate objects and these tiny sets and these tiny little puppets and we breathe life into them, frame by frame,” McLean said.
“Wildwood” was released in theaters on October 23, 2026 and grossed approximately $32 million as of Friday at the domestic box office.
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