In brief
Bloomberg Business puts the cost at $100 million and the project at 16 years, while RTE says production and filming took six of those years.
RTE counts 230 practical puppets across 132 sets, and La Vanguardia says more than a thousand professionals took part in the production.
RTE says the film runs over two hours and is too long, while La Vanguardia's critic gives it five stars.
- 2011Colin Meloy's novel on which the film is based is published
- 21 October 2026, eveningPreview screening at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, per Bloomberg Business
- 23 October 2026Film opens in cinemas
Sixteen years in the making
Wildwood is the latest stop-motion feature from Laika, the Portland studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman, and it is directed by Travis Knight, the studio's chief executive officer. Bloomberg Business puts the cost at $100 million and the project at 16 years. RTE, in its review, says production and filming took six of those years. EL PAÍS reports that the studio has been developing the picture for roughly 15 years, and its screenwriter says the team could not have made it technically at the start. La Vanguardia says more than a thousand professionals took part in the production. The film draws on Colin Meloy's 2011 novel, illustrated by Carson Ellis, which is set around Portland, Oregon.
- Practical puppets
- 230
- Sets
- 132
- Years of production and filming
- 6
- Years in total
- 16
Data from the article text
The story
Prue McKeel, voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, is left in charge of her much younger brother Mac while their parents, voiced by Jake Johnson and Maya Erskine, go to a craft fair. Despite being told not to take the toddler outside, she takes him on a bike ride, and a murder of crows carries him off past a train trestle into a forest that she and her classmate Curtis, voiced by Jacob Tremblay, had thought impassable. Irish Examiner describes the forest as ruled by the Dowager Governess, voiced by Carey Mulligan, who commands an army of coyotes, one of them voiced by Tom Waits. The two children are separated early on, and each has to learn a different lesson, with Curtis needing courage and Prue needing to believe in magic if she is to rescue her brother.
Critics split on length and audience
RTE's reviewer finds the film over two hours and too long, but says its goodness is infectious and predicts it will become a comfort movie for many viewers. La Vanguardia's critic awards five stars and calls it the largest spectacle stop-motion has yet offered, while doubting it is better than Coraline. EL PAÍS is more cautious, warning that the intensity of its emotions, its violence and its social and political messages make it unsuitable for children despite its family-adventure look. Vulture reads the film as affectionate toward Portland, gently poking fun at the city's crunchy-quirky culture while celebrating it. Irish Examiner calls it detail-packed stop-motion magic worth a rewatch.
Animators and release
Guillem Ignasi Bauzà, a Mallorcan animator, spent almost four years on the film and worked mostly on its creatures. He told La Vanguardia that his early chase shots of coyotes running in an aggressive hunting mode pleased the director, who then gave him more work. Bauzà described the technique as hands-on work:
“We work with real cameras, lenses, spotlights and physical lighting. Everything is very handmade.”
The film won the Audience Grand Prize at the 59th Sitges festival, according to La Vanguardia, which sponsors the award. Bloomberg Business reports a preview screening at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday evening, 21 October, and the film opens in cinemas on 23 October.