Laika’s Newest ‘Wildwood’ Footage Is a Technical Marvel

Since last year, Laika’s been holding its newest film Wildwood beneath wraps and solely letting out tiny scraps of data. With ParaNorman briefly again in theaters this weekend, the stop-motion studio snuck in some extra footage from the movie, which it guarantees will probably be “their most bold cinematic journey but.”

After an intro build up Laika’s historical past up up to now, the video exhibits off idea artwork from the movie depicting its majestic aerial views of Portland and renders of the Common, an eagle with “unshakeable grace” voiced by Angela Bassett. Because the narrator explains, creating the Common required fashions “impressed by nature” to create her actions, adopted by 9,000 particular person feathers going onto a pair of particular puppets—one puppet for flight scenes, and the opposite for “intricate efficiency controls.”

Directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee) and primarily based on Colin Meloy’s 2011 youngsters fantasy novel, the movie focuses on Portland child Prue McKeel as she and her classmate Curtis discover a magical forest on the lookout for her lacking child brother Mac, and enlist the Common’s assist to seek out him. The voice forged additionally contains Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, and Amandla Stenberg.

Animation is what Laika films are recognized for, and in that sense, Wildwood appears like one other profitable. Watching the animators and artists deliver the Common to life from render to puppeting her round certain is one thing, and you actually imagine it when the narration talks about “pouring creativity in each joint, feather, and body.” The studio is clearly happy with what it’s made within the Common—notably when she takes to the skies—and its personal technical ability, for the reason that video talks up the “artistry, innovation, and coronary heart” that went into manufacturing. We’ll see what all of it provides as much as when the movie releases in 2026.

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