Laika's 'Wildwood' Breaks Stop-Motion Record

Wildwood is the longest stop-motion animated film ever made. The feature from Oregon's Laika studio runs for two hours and twelve minutes, a record built on the labor of animators who shot each frame individually across 132 sets using 230 hand-controlled puppets. The production spanned years, with 85 babies born to the crew during its creation. The film is rated PG-13 for strong fantasy violence, bloody images, thematic material, suicide-related material, brief partial nudity, and language.

Based on the 2011 middle-grade fantasy novel by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, with illustrations by Carson Ellis, the story follows sullen Portland teenager Prue McKeel. She must rescue her baby brother Mac after he is taken by crows into the Impassable Wilderness, a magical realm bordering the city. Prue, voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, is joined on her quest by a reluctant companion, Curtis, played by Jacob Tremblay.

Costume Craftsmanship and Character Evolution

Costume designer Deborah Cook created more than 200 pieces for the film, a process that began in 2019. She employed techniques like handmade microscopic buckles and rapid prototype printing with metallic-pigmented polyurethanes. For Prue's journey, Cook designed 44 identical blue coats with millimeter-precise embroidery, ensuring duplication for multiple puppet versions. Cook mentioned that Prue's costume evolves from a formal, buttoned-up town coat into practical forest attire with boots and tied-up hair, mirroring her transformation. Some puppets were even built with embedded mechanical devices to simulate breathing.

The scale of the practical effects is vast. More than 142,000 3D faces were printed for the puppets. For one giant eagle character alone, the team crafted 3,800 individual feathers.

Portland's Wild Inspiration and Environmental Context

The film's magical world is directly inspired by the real forests of Portland, particularly Forest Park. Deborah Cook drew heavily from this environment, describing it as 'magnificent' and 'Jurassic' during the pandemic. She noted that the forest became more unkempt with fewer park keepers, growing at a rapid rate. This 'strange curiosity' sparked her character design process. Cook stated she was 'approaching this movie with a really fantastical element plus contemporary Portland.'

The filmmakers embraced the city's quirky identity, incorporating references to local landmarks like Powell's City of Books and Voodoo Doughnut. The story also features a guy on a unicycle playing flaming bagpipes while wearing a Darth Vader mask. The voice cast leans into this eclectic tone, featuring Awkwafina as a rat, Richard E. Grant as an owl, and Tom Waits as a coyote.

Thematic Ambition and Critical Reception

Wildwood attempts to address weighty themes including grief, growing up, environmentalism, and unity against fascism. It features a stern Dowager Governess, voiced by Carey Mulligan, a K9 police officer in a tie and leather jacket, and a band of coyotes in 18th-century military uniforms. The film includes a critique of invasive English ivy, though this theme is described as getting lost in the narrative weeds. Critical reception has been mixed, with one review awarding it two and a half stars out of four and noting its thematic ambitions are pursued without full conviction.

The screenplay was written by Chris Butler and directed by Laika founder Travis Knight. It features a new song by The Decemberists titled 'The Better Part of Bravery.' The film's final tagline, which appears after the credits, brings the focus back to its physical origins: 'This film was handmade in Oregon.'