Key Highlights
- LAIKA’s new stop-motion fantasy Wildwood releases in theaters on October 23, adapting Colin Meloy’s novel with a star-studded voice cast including Carey Mulligan, Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali, and Peyton Elizabeth Lee.
- The film follows teenager Prue McKeel and classmate Curtis Mehlberg as they enter the magical Impassable Wilderness bordering Portland, Oregon, to rescue Prue’s baby brother from a murder of crows.
- The final trailer showcases LAIKA’s signature craftsmanship with epic battle sequences, a crow-versus-eagle chase featuring Viola Davis as the General, and the studio’s most ambitious world-building since Kubo and the Two Strings.
LAIKA Returns with Most Ambitious Stop-Motion Epic Yet
After delighting audiences with Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link, Oregon-based animation studio LAIKA is preparing its most expansive fantasy adventure to date. Wildwood, adapted from the bestselling novel by Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis, arrives in theaters on October 23. The final trailer, released this week, confirms that the studio has pushed its painstaking stop-motion craft to new heights — blending intimate character work with sweeping battle choreography and a mythic Portland backdrop that feels both familiar and wholly invented.
From Portland Streets to the Impassable Wilderness
The story centers on Prue McKeel (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), a teenager whose ordinary life in Portland shatters when a supernatural murder of crows abducts her infant brother Mac into the Impassable Wilderness — a forbidden forest teeming with talking animals, roving bandits, and ancient magic. Prue enlists her awkward but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay) for a rescue mission that plunges them into a conflict spanning warring animal nations, political intrigue, and the mysterious, powerful Alexandra (Carey Mulligan). The trailer’s standout sequence pits the crows against the General, a massive golden eagle voiced by Viola Davis, in a mid-air chase that demonstrates LAIKA’s ability to stage large-scale action without sacrificing the tactile, hand-crafted texture that defines its aesthetic.
An Ensemble Cast Rivaling Live-Action Blockbusters
Beyond its three young leads, Wildwood assembles one of the most impressive voice rosters in recent animation history. Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Richard E. Grant, Maya Erskine, Jake Johnson, Tantoo Cardinal, Rob Delaney, Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson, Len Cariou, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Arthur Knight round out the cast, suggesting a narrative dense with distinct personalities and factions. Meloy’s source novel — the first in a trilogy — is known for its sprawling cast and allegorical depth, and the trailer hints that director Travis Knight and screenwriter Chris Butler have preserved the book’s blend of whimsy, danger, and political satire.
Why This Matters
LAIKA occupies a unique space in modern animation: a fiercely independent studio that refuses to chase streaming-volume metrics, instead betting on theatrical stop-motion as a premium cinematic experience. Wildwood represents the studio’s biggest swing yet — a portal fantasy rooted in Pacific Northwest geography and Indigenous-influenced world-building (Cardinal, a Cree actor, voices a key role) that could launch a franchise if audiences respond. Its October release positions it as a counter-programming event against live-action tentpoles, testing whether handcrafted animation can still command opening-weekend urgency. For Meloy’s readers, the adaptation carries the weight of a beloved modern classic; for animation historians, it’s a referendum on whether the medium’s most labor-intensive form remains commercially viable at scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Wildwood hit theaters?
Wildwood opens in theaters nationwide on October 23.
Is Wildwood based on a book?
Yes. The film adapts the 2011 fantasy novel Wildwood by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists, with illustrations by Carson Ellis. It is the first book in The Wildwood Chronicles trilogy.
Who are the main voice actors in Wildwood?
The lead voices are Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue McKeel, Jacob Tremblay as Curtis Mehlberg, Carey Mulligan as Alexandra, and Viola Davis as the General. The ensemble includes Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Richard E. Grant, and many others.