In an era when animated films can be rendered faster than ever, there is something quietly radical about a studio that still moves its characters by hand, one tiny adjustment at a time. Laika has built its reputation on that patience, and its new feature Wildwood is the most ambitious result yet. After years of production and a long gap since the studio’s last release, the film finally reaches cinemas this weekend.
The story begins in an ordinary suburb and quickly turns into something much larger. A determined girl named Prue breaks her parents’ one rule, loses her baby brother to a flock of crows and follows them into a forest everyone is warned to avoid. With a nervous classmate tagging along, she discovers a hidden realm of rival factions, talking animals and old grudges, the kind of world that feels lived in rather than invented for a single adventure.
Part of the appeal is the voice cast, which mixes Oscar-level performers with comedic scene-stealers. Another part is the craft itself. Reviewers have singled out the lighting, handled by a veteran live-action cinematographer, for giving the puppets an almost tangible presence. Every leaf and feather seems to have been touched by a human hand, because in most cases it was.
Not every critic is fully convinced by the pacing, and the running time is long for younger viewers. Still, families looking for an alternative to loud franchise sequels will find a film that trusts children with real danger, real courage and a genuinely strange world.
For the full cast list, the background on the original novel and a roundup of early reviews, the opening-day feature on Laika’s stop-motion epic Wildwood is a helpful place to start before you buy tickets this weekend.
