Wildwood: handmade animation epic 16 years in the making
After 16 years in development, Laika's Wildwood is a handcrafted stop-motion fantasy epic.
Wildwood, out now, is a dark fairytale set in the woods outside Portland. The story follows Prue, a teenage girl who must rescue her brother Mac from crows that abduct him into a magical forest filled with talking animals, militant coyotes, and bandits.
The villain, Alexandra, is both sympathetic and terrible, a ruler consumed by grief over her lost son. The film builds its story about heroism in that moral greyness, never treating characters as simply good or bad.
Filmmaker Travis Knight and 1000 craftspeople brought the film to life over 16 years. The stop-motion animation alone took five years, with every frame requiring 140,000+ printed faces.
The result is a breathtaking blend of technical skill and emotional depth. The film is not suitable for young children due to violence and death scenes, including a charging coyote cavalry battle.
- 16 years
- Development time
- 1000 craftspeople
- Animation crew
- 140,000-plus
- Printed faces per frame
- 5 years
- Animation duration
Why it mattersIn an era of rising AI use, Wildwood stands as a major handcrafted animation achievement that respects stop-motion as an artform.
AustraliaThe film is now in Australian cinemas, giving local audiences access to a major animated release from one of the world's most respected animation studios.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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