Laika Studios has always made extraordinary films, giving us the slightly more scary stories that a younger audience could still enjoy and the older could relish for their style, atmosphere and of course the story, always the story. Adapting as well as creating original works, Laika Studios has proved it is a contender on the animation playing field. But with the Missing Link (2019) not being the success their previous films were, there was a concern about what Laika would deliver next. With development beginning not long after the novel was published in 2011, it wouldn’t be until 2021 that Laika would confirm they were in production on Wildwood. This is years in the making and every single frame has been worth the wait.
After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, young Prue and her friend Curtis embark on a dangerous adventure into the impenetrable woods just outside their home of Portland, Oregon.
Every great story starts with a mystery and the opening scenes from Wildwood not only immediately make you gasp but grab you, pulling you into this world. The atmospheric woods loom of Portland and feel present before we even step inside. The mist, the ivy that hides the magical hidden world becomes more and more fascinating as we are introduced to more characters and the different factions of the woods. From the lair of the villain in residence’s lair, to the bureaucratic South Wood, to the avian municipality, the bandits ancestral grounds and the North Wood whether the mystics converse with the community tree. There are so many details to absorb, so many great characters to meet and yet, Wildwood never feels overcrowded. The world building is so inviting, making everything vital to the overall outcome.
We feel for every faction, even the coyotes to a point, as they are just puppets for one person. The battle scenes are not for the faint hearted as we even see (with clever editing) someone being beheaded. With blood spilled throughout, you do have to wonder if this should be seen by very young children, but I suppose that is up to the parents taking them. Its quite exciting to watch a film, especially a children’s story, where the stakes are high and there are a lot of casualties to characters that we care about. Getting emotional over a rat is something that only an animated film can generate, thanks to how it was beautifully made and the voice performance, here being Awkwanfina, who has a very distinctive voice but channels a completely new character. This is the power that Wildwood holds.
As a story based on grief and the lengths someone will go to firstly, have a family and what they would become if they lost it. With truths about Prue’s parents being revealed, the story takes on more layers and this is probably along the lines of more adult themes. The dowager governess’ sadness has taken on a monstrous form, her obsession with finding her son has cost so many lives. Even in the climatic dramatic end, Prue pleads with her to let her son go, but grief is all this woman knows. This is the sadness at the core of the story, as well as the determination of a young girl who just wants to bring her brother back home. Simple things can tear worlds apart and that is what Wildwood captures so darn well.
Fantasy has always been a difficult genre to capture successfully. Usually a genre reserved for children in various forms but there have been attempts to reignite interest in adults as well. But with the reboot of Masters of the Universe not quite gaining traction earlier this year, there was also the highly successful Magic Faraway Tree in the UK and of course Mortal Kombat 2 which is technically a mix of action and fantasy, that enjoyed a warm audience and at least turned a profit. Wildwood definitely has the potential and scale to bring back the love of fantasy to all ages.
It's quite clear that blood, sweat and tears went into the making of Wildwood, the animation and craftsmanship of this film, as well as the storytelling is something to be in awe of. It's rare that a film, such as this, can enhance so many emotions on screen. It's an absolute marvel of a film and even more so on a big screen.