Travis Knight, director and CEO of LAIKA, will present exclusive material from his upcoming stop-motion film, Wildwood, at the Annecy Festival (June 21-27). The event will include an exhibition at the Cité Internationale du Cinéma d´Animation. The film is a dark and magical adventure where a girl ventures into a dangerous forest to rescue her brother, exploring themes of love, power, and courage.
The meticulous technical work behind Wildwood 🎬
LAIKA once again bets on handcrafted animation with handmade puppets and detailed sets. Knight has pointed out that Wildwood will require advanced lighting techniques and practical effects to recreate the forest's gloomy atmosphere. The studio, known for films like Coraline or Kubo, aims to maintain its quality standard with fluid movements and precise facial expressions, all achieved through frame-by-frame animation without relying on massive CGI.
The enchanted forest: where children rescue siblings and adults lose their keys 🌲
Because of course, while the protagonist of Wildwood faces supernatural dangers to save her brother, normal adults can barely find their car keys on any given morning. But hey, at least we don't have to deal with talking trees or menacing shadows. That said, if your day includes losing the TV remote, you're already training to survive in a magical forest.