LAIKA returns with Wildwood: PG-13 stop-motion animation tests new boundaries for adult cinema
After seven years without a theatrical release, Portland-based studio LAIKA put Wildwood in cinemas on October 23, 2026 — its most ambitious production to date, its first film rated above PG, and a direct test of whether adult-oriented stop-motion animation can find a theatrical audience. The film opened on 655 screens in the UK and Ireland, the widest release LAIKA has ever had.
Wildwood is based on the 2011 novel by Colin Meloy, frontman of the band The Decemberists, and Carson Ellis. The story follows Prue, a teenager who embarks on a desperate mission to rescue her young brother from an enchanted forest called the Impassable Wilderness. The screenplay is by Chris Butler (Para Todos os Movos, Kubo and the Strings of Time), and the direction is by Travis Knight, LAIKA's president and CEO, son of actor Bill Knight.
A high-stakes bet on stop-motion animation
LAIKA started with Coraline in 2009, a film that earned over $120 million on a $60 million budget. Since then, the studio has won three Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and set a standard of technical quality that's impossible to ignore: every frame of a LAIKA film is built by hand, with individually sculpted silicone puppets, 1:6 scale sets, and a hybrid technique that combines physical stop-motion with digital post-production elements.
Wildwood is, without question, LAIKA's most expensive and time-consuming project. Started in 2011—the same year the book was published—the film runs 139 minutes, a record for the studio. According to Travis Knight, speaking at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the film went "far beyond" the size and complexity of any previous LAIKA work.
> "Audiences aren't rejecting theatrical," said David Burke, LAIKA's Chief Marketing and Operations Officer. "They're being more selective about what earns the trip."
The PG-13 gamble
The PG-13 rating is a calculated risk. Major studios like Pixar and DreamWorks have avoided ratings above PG for years, as the "all-ages" classification maximizes toy and merchandise markets. LAIKA, meanwhile, has already shown in Missing Link (2019) that it can successfully operate in a darker space. Missing Link won one Oscar, but its darker tone also sparked debates about whether young audiences were ready for it.
Wildwood goes further: it's LAIKA's first film rated above PG. The result is a narrative that explores loss, sacrifice, and courage—mature themes that adult audiences might embrace but that could turn off families with very young children.
The market has given mixed signals. Missing Link earned $128 million worldwide, less than Coraline ($120 million) or Kubo ($166 million). The estimated Wildwood budget is around $70 million, and the studio needs a significant success to justify producing another film.
The technology behind the magic
What makes Wildwood especially notable isn't just the story—it's the technology. LAIKA has developed a 3D motion capture system that allows artists to scan puppets at ultra-high resolution, build physical miniature sets with precise lighting, and compose each scene with layers of digital effects that don't alter the stop-motion look but make the production viable.
At Annecy, LAIKA revealed the process in detail: artists sculpted every character with materials ranging from silicone to hand-painted fabric, and every movement is captured with high-speed cameras recording 24 frames per second. The team also used generative AI in pre-production stages—for scenario brainstorming and concept art—but not for the final animation.
> "If even one young artist walks away believing they could build worlds like this themselves," Burke said, "we've accomplished something meaningful."
What this means for cinema
Wildwood represents a pivotal moment for the animation industry. In a world dominated by CGI and artificial intelligence, LAIKA continues to produce handmade cinema—frame by frame, puppet to puppet—and is now betting that audiences are ready for something more mature. If Wildwood succeeds, it could open the door for a new wave of adult animated films in artisanal formats. If it fails, the market may confirm that stop-motion animation is a niche, not a mainstream genre.
The question is this: with generative AI increasingly capable of producing animated content, what is the future value of handmade cinema? Wildwood could be the answer—or the last gasp of an era.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, Reuters / KFGO
✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing
