Laika Debuts Final Wildwood Trailer Highlighting Ambitious Stop Motion Visuals

Laika Studios has released the final trailer for its upcoming dark fantasy film Wildwood, offering an extended look at the visual scale of a production described as the studio's most complex undertaking to date. The film, which is the studio's first theatrical release in seven years, is scheduled to open nationwide in the United States on October 23, 2026.

Directed by Laika Chief Executive Officer Travis Knight and written by Chris Butler, the project adapts the 2011 bestselling dark fantasy novel by Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis. The narrative follows a headstrong teenager, Prue McKeel, who embarks on a rescue mission into the "Impassable Wilderness"—an enchanted, hidden forest located just beyond the borders of Portland, Oregon—after a murder of crows abducts her baby brother.

Unprecedented Scope in Stop-Motion Animation

With a total runtime of two hours and 20 minutes, the film marks a significant technical and structural milestone, establishing itself as the longest stop-motion animated feature film ever made.

Production on the film began in September 2021 at Laika’s facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, spanning a total of 231 weeks from start to finish. The physical scale of the environment required the construction of 136 distinct practical sets and the creation of 231 handcrafted puppets. According to production details shared by the studio, a team of 49 physical animators worked frame-by-frame to bring the characters and environments to life.

To capture the expansive fantasy world, director Travis Knight collaborated with Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. The production team blended traditional stop-motion techniques with selective computer-generated imagery to polish and embellish complex sequences, attempting to preserve the tactile quality of the physical puppets while accommodating grand-scale battles and fast-paced tracking shots.

Technical Challenges and Puppet Engineering

The visual elements showcased in the final trailer highlight sequences that have historically proven difficult within traditional frame-by-frame puppet animation, including broad aerial movements and quadrupedal mechanics.

Among the central figures in these sequences is "The General," a massive golden eagle voiced by Angela Bassett. The character is described by the studio as one of its most intricate puppet designs, built to execute flight dynamics alongside dozens of smaller, individual crow puppets that appear throughout the film's chase and rescue sequences.

The fabrication team also re-engineered internal puppet mechanics to portray secondary characters, such as horses. The internal structures utilized specialized mechanical joints and miniature gears designed via computer-aided design (CAD) to replicate natural musculature and rotational movement during high-speed action scenes. One specific sequence featured in early previews involves a fast-paced bicycle chase through a detailed recreation of Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood, executing live-action-style camera tracking over miniature roads.

Distribution Strategy and Industry Context

Laika's decision to maintain a strict adherence to handmade, physical asset construction comes at a time when the broader feature animation industry increasingly relies on fully digital workflows. Studio executives have characterized the exhaustive production timeline of the film as a deliberate commitment to traditional filmmaking craft. Laika's previous five feature-length films—Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link—each secured Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature, establishing a critical precedent for the studio's specialized methodology.

For the domestic release of the film, Laika has partnered with Fathom Entertainment to coordinate a full nationwide theatrical rollout. This marks a shift from Fathom's traditional focus on limited event-based distribution and historic theatrical re-releases. International sales and distribution rights are being managed separately by FilmNation Entertainment.

The film has also received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association due to its inclusion of strong fantasy violence, thematic elements, and moody visual imagery. This distinguishes the film as the first project in Laika's portfolio to receive a rating higher than PG, reflecting a narrative transition toward more mature and darker fantasy themes.

What Happens Next

Before its general commercial release on October 23, the film is scheduled to host its official world premiere on October 21, 2026, where it has been selected as the opening-night film for the American Film Institute's AFI Fest in Los Angeles.

Tickets for the nationwide domestic theatrical release have officially gone on sale. Fathom Entertainment has confirmed that the film will be presented in standard formats alongside several premium theatrical experiences, including Dolby Cinema, DBOX, and 4DX formats where geographically available.

The final trailer for LAIKA's ‘WILDWOOD’ has been released.

The film follows a girl who enters a magical forbidden forest to rescue her kidnapped baby brother.

In theaters on October 23. pic.twitter.com/fMXi4bqv06

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 16, 2026