Wildwood (2026) is the most epic stop-motion movie of all time. Full stop.
And go. LAIKA has pushed the limits of stop-motion animation, creating a visually impressive fantasy adventure that will continue to wow viewers for years. I recently rewatched ParaNorman and am stunned by how far the studio has come in just 14 years. The characters are expressive. The settings are just this side of real. Everything is smooth and polished with a clarity that hasn’t been achieved in stop-motion before, even when the epic action kicks in.
While the incredible visuals grab your attention, a well-crafted story with surprising emotional depth makes you care about the spectacle. Prue, a Portland teenager, takes her baby brother outside against her parents’ wishes, only to watch a murder of crows carry him into the forbidden forest looming over the city. Her classmate Curtis follows her into this strange world, and the two embark on very different journeys. Prue’s adventure becomes increasingly personal, and by the climax, you’re every bit as desperate as she is to get her baby brother back.
While she searches, Curtis, the dorky boy with a crush, finds out adventures are much more violent than in games. And, boy oh boy, is this one violent. Wildwood earns every bit of its PG-13 rating with shootings, stabbings, a beheading…a beheading! You’ll see a bird get ripped to pieces in cute little stop-motion bursts of feathers. Like the fairy tales of old, the film doesn’t hold back when terrible things happen. Younger, more sensitive kids may want to wait a couple of years to see this one. Others can cover their eyes. Parents may forget to cover theirs as they’re awed by the spectacle.
Once Prue and Curtis enter Wildwood, the film becomes, essentially, The Chronicles of Narnia. Armies are forming. Rebels are attacking. Rival factions are fighting for control of a society on the brink of destruction. Director Travis Knight and his animators choreograph enormous stop-motion battles with incredible precision. The action is fast and exciting. At times, I forgot I was watching puppets. Then I’d remember, and the whole thing became even more awe-inducing.
Dario Marianelli’s gorgeous orchestral score is powerful at times, matching the intensity of the battles. But when we’re exploring the new fantasy world, it has a nostalgic quality that reminded me of Joe Hisaishi’s work for Studio Ghibli. The score contrasts beautifully with the Portland-centric soundtrack that bops in the background.
Wildwood offers a romanticized version of Portland, though it’s considerably closer to reality than the one you see on Fox News. The people, attitudes, and general character of the city felt spot on, even when the recognizable landmarks and local Easter eggs seemed a little too tourism boardish. I would have liked to see the weirder elements of the Keep Portland Weird city – and more weirdness overall in the movie.
It felt a little like LAIKA doing an impersonation of the MCU. Big story. Big battles. Wildwood is missing some of the studio’s little nooks and crannies that make films like Kubo and the Two Strings and The Boxtrolls such a pleasure to explore. Wildwood is enormous, yet I wanted more time to wander around its villages, meet the oddballs, and discover what else was hiding in the forest. Instead, another battle or crisis was usually waiting around the corner. Which is also fun.
See Wildwood in the theater. You’ll want a big screen to eyeball every meticulous detail put in place by human hands. Pop open your favorite fresh-hop IPA and enjoy one of cinema’s most spectacular animation achievements. Wildwood may be the studio’s least distinctive fantasy, but the film is also its grandest technical achievement.
Rating: PG-13 (Me: 8+)
Director: Travis Knight
Starring: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, and Richard E. Grant
Run time: 2 hours, 12 minutes
Post-credits scenes: Not the Avengers story or joke scenes, but during the credits you’ll see some fantastic behind-the-scenes footage of the stop-motion process.
Bathroom breaks:
- Hold it.
Sequel? I wish, but Laika doesn’t seem to do that.
If you liked Wildwood, check out these films:
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) (7+)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) (7+)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (10+)
- The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) (6+)
- Stardust (2007) (8+)
- The Golden Compass (2007) (7+)
- The Secret of NIMH (1982) (8+)
- Princess Mononoke (1997) (10+)
- Labyrinth (1986) (6+)
- Where the Wild Things Are (2009) (7+)
- Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) (6+)
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