The stop-motion animation studio Laika, responsible for marvels like Coraline or Kubo, has released the trailer for its new film, Wildwood. The movie adapts the first novel of the The Wildwood Chronicles trilogy and follows two seventh-grade students, Prue and Curtis, who venture into the Impenetrable Wilderness of Portland to rescue their little brother. The scale and ambition seem to surpass everything previously seen from the studio.
The digital craftsmanship hidden in mud and wool 🎬
Laika maintains its hallmark: traditional stop-motion animation with a tactile texture, but this time CGI is integrated more fluidly than ever. The action scenes and forest backgrounds show a level of detail that previously required months of manual work. Animators have combined classic puppet positioning techniques with digital enhancements to achieve smoother movements and richer facial expressions. The emotional depth of the characters depends not only on the script but on the millimeter precision of each frame.
The enchanted forest that will make you forget your GPS 🌲
The Impenetrable Wilderness of Portland is not just a pretty place to get lost, but the perfect setting for two kids to prove that rescuing a little brother is easier than finding parking during rush hour. Laika has created a plant world so detailed that even the squirrels seem to have an agent. If the trailer doesn't convince you, at least you'll have an excuse not to go to work and stay home watching how some clay figures save the day.