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After six years, Laika is back with a new stop-motion animated film.
In the new trailer for “Wildwood,” a young girl named Prue (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) launches a desperate rescue mission, joined by her classmate Curtis
(Jacob Tremblay), to save her baby brother from a murder of crows. It’s a quest that takes her into a forbidden forest outside Portland, Oregon, filled with enchanted creatures at every turn, from talking animals to bandits to powerful figures.
“I promised I’d take care of him,” Prue says in the emotional footage, which shows a montage of fast-paced action and adventure.
Laika describes the film, which is based on the book written by The Decembrists frontman Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, as its most ambitious undertaking to date. “It means that we’ve got 136 locations in the feature, and many of them are so large that the crew can walk through them,” Laika chief marketing and operations officer David Burke previously told Variety. “There’s 231 practical puppets, 54 hero characters, and each and every one of them has been engineered and costumed like a bespoke work of art.”
“Wildwood” marks Knight’s return to animation after directing June release “Masters of the Universe.” Knight previously helmed “Kubo and the Two Strings,” which released in 2016 to critical acclaim. Laika’s last studio film was 2019’s “Missing Link,” which won the Golden Globe for best animated feature.
Variety‘s chief awards editor Clayton Davis currently has “Wildwood” in his best picture predictions for the 2027 Academy Awards. Laika has previously seen awards success with its films; “Kubo and the Two Strings” earned two Oscar nominations, for best animated feature and best achievement in visual effects, while “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls” were all nominated for best animated feature in their respective years.
In addition to Lee and Tremblay, the “Wildwood” voice cast includes Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits and Charlie Day.
“Wildwood” will release in theaters Oct. 23 from Fathom Entertainment.
Watch the trailer below:
