Laika’s Wildwood trailer looks like Spirited Away for Nightmare Before Christmas fans
Laika, the Portland, Oregon-based stop-motion animation studio, has released the first teaser trailer for Wildwood, a new animated feature. The film combines the studio’s signature handcrafted stop-motion aesthetic with a fantastical adventure narrative that draws inspiration from Studio Ghibli’s work. The project is written by Chris Butler and directed by Travis Knight, the creative team behind the acclaimed 2016 film Kubo and the Two Strings.
The narrative of Wildwood begins in a contemporary world before transporting audiences into a dark fantasy realm. The visual style and tonal elements have drawn comparisons to Spirited Away and The Nightmare Before Christmas, positioning the film as an appealing choice for fans of those works.
This marks Laika’s next major project following 2019’s Missing Link, continuing the studio’s two-decade track record of critically acclaimed stop-motion animation. Over the past 20 years, Laika has established itself as one of the premier stop-motion animation studios, with previous releases including Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). The involvement of Butler and Knight demonstrates strong creative continuity and provides confidence in the project’s potential quality.