Laika’s stop-motion fantasy Wildwood opens in theaters October 23. The PG-13 adventure runs 2 hours 12 minutes and stars Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali.
The release is a significant moment for animation. Laika, the Oregon studio behind Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, remains the standard-bearer for handcrafted stop-motion in an industry dominated by CG, and each new feature is treated as an event by animation devotees. Wildwood — the studio’s most ambitious production to date — arrives with the weight of those expectations.
A magical rescue quest
Prue and her classmate Curtis are drawn into a magical forest filled with enchanted creatures, loyal allies and formidable adversaries as they embark on a desperate quest to rescue Prue’s abducted baby brother from a murder of crows led by a mysterious woman named Alexandra, per Library Cat. From the studio that brought audiences Coraline, the film is described as a tale of love, loss, sacrifice and secrets.
The source material — Colin Meloy’s bestselling Wildwood Chronicles — gives the film a richly imagined world to draw on, with the Impassable Wilderness offering Laika’s artists a new canvas for their meticulous craft. The studio’s films are famous for their handmade detail, and a magical forest setting plays directly to its strengths in texture, atmosphere and creature design.
One of the year’s most anticipated animated films
Critics tracking the weekend’s releases called it the year’s most highly anticipated animated film, with Laika’s track record giving it strong early buzz, per CinemaSight. It opens against a crowded field that includes DC’s Clayface, the Jenna Ortega-led Klara and the Sun and Olivia Colman’s Wicker — but as the only family adventure in wide release, it has the weekend’s youngest audience largely to itself.
That positioning could prove decisive. With a PG rating and a 2-hour-12-minute runtime, Wildwood offers families the weekend’s clearest theatrical option — and Laika’s reputation gives parents a reason to choose it over staying home. In a marketplace where original animation faces steep competition for attention, owning the family slot is half the battle.
The craft argument
Beyond the weekend’s box-office math, Wildwood is a statement about the value of handmade filmmaking. Each Laika feature represents years of painstaking physical production — puppets, sets and effects built by hand — and the studio has staked its identity on the proposition that audiences can feel the difference. Early buzz suggests Wildwood may be its most persuasive case yet.
