It may have been over a decade in the making, but in recent weeks we've finally started to get our first proper look at Wildwood, the latest epic stop-motion animated adventure from Oregon outfit Laika Studio. Last month, weexclusively revealed a first look photo from Kubo & The Two Strings director Travis Knight's long-gestating passion project, and followed that up shortly after with a world-first stop-motion digital magazine cover introducing the movie's plucky heroine Prue McKeel. Now, at long last, today saw the studio release the first teaser for Knight's adaptation of Colin Meloy's anthropomorphic YA fantasy book(s) — with a little help from some familiar faces. Check it out below:
Now that's what you call a teaser! "There are places in the world that people were never meant to go," ominously intones Jake Johnson over shots of Coraline, ParaNorman, and Kubo's heroes heading into "dark forests where the trees hide darker secrets." There, we catch a glimpse of glinting coyote eyes, twisted trees, and the various inhabitants of the ominously named "impassable wilderness" — aka the titular Wildwood. It's a dark, atmospheric, yet ultimately irresistible tease of a magical realm Knight described to Empire as "an American Narnia", and whilst the past Laika heroes who herald in this new teaser won't actually appear in the movie itself (no stop-motion multiversal shenanigans here — sorry folks!), this fifty second appetiser does end on a shot of the story's new heroes, Prue and schoolmate Curtis, stood on the precipice of the great Wildwood.
Set in Portland, Oregon (the same neck of the, er, woods that one Coraline Jones hails from, didn't you know?), the Wildwood story — per the book at least — follows seventh-grade Portlander Prue as she journeys into the Wildwood in pursuit of a murder of crows who snatch her baby brother Mac. There, she and dorky classmate Curtis embark on a transformative adventure filled with danger, magic, talking animals, and surprisingly sophisticated political intrigue for a tween-targeted YA book series. Or, as Laika's succinct logline puts it: "Wildwood is a tale of love, loss, sacrifice and secrets, and of the magic you can find on your doorstep, if you’re willing to look for it."
Among the starry array bringing Knight and screenwriter Chris Butler's movie to life are *deep breath* Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant. We'll be heading into the woods with them all when Wildwood comes to our screens sometime in 2025.