'Wildwood' Is Worth The Wait

There is something about Laika Studios’ films that fill me with a tremendous sense of awe, joy, wonder and gratitude. The tactile medium of stop motion animation has a lot to do with it, of course, and there's no one better at it (at the very least, Aardman is obviously on par). It’s hard to say where I’d fall on these films had they been in standard computer animation or even hand-drawn. It almost doesn’t matter, because at some point during their films, I forget that I’m even watching stop-motion and lose myself in the characters and their stories. The best animated films do that, no matter what, but when I do find myself stopping to admire their technique, I do so not because I’m disengaged from the story, but because the craft calls out to be admired alongside everything else. 

“Wildwood” is no exception. It is at once magical, terrifying, funny, emotional, heartbreaking, exciting as hell and a stunning feat of imagination. It also earns its PG-13 rating and its record-breaking running time (140 minutes for a stop-motion animated film). Some might scoff at that. I wasn’t bored for a second. How could I be? I waited seven years for a new film from this studio and knowing that they are not backed by a competent American distributor to help find its audience, I seriously doubt I will get another chance to see it on the big screen again. At this point, who even knows if Fathom knows how to give it a physical media release? They barely knew how to screen it for critics in Chicago without someone in the critics group holding their hands through the process. 

Those are superficial issues, though. The film here feels born from pure love by all involved. The story borrows liberally from Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth,” with visual nods to Hitchcock’s "The Birds," Gilliam’s “Time Bandits” and Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I’m fine with all of that, especially since it greatly improves on “Labyrinth” in almost every single way (there’s no replacing Bowie, of course, but that’s neither here nor there). The heroine, Prue (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), feels like a counterweight to Norman from “ParaNorman,” a girl who sees no reason for magic in the world and whose primary impulse is to contradict her parents’ attitudes on the subject any chance she gets. She’s at that age where mom and dad stop being cool and the last thing she wants when she’s away from them is to be followed around by an uncool kid like Curtis (voiced by Jacob Tramblay), who looks like the son of Barton Fink. 

One day, while in the park, her baby brother gets kidnapped by a murder of crows and taken into a forest nearby where only people born from magic can enter. Somehow, Prue and Curtis make their way in while chasing the crows on a bike and a wagon. They eventually get separated while in pursuit by savage coyotes in uniform, who will be explained later. From there, Prue and Curtis have separate adventures throughout most of the film as they each learn different things about the forest, the unending myriad of talking animals that populate it and the tragic story of the queen Alexandria (voiced by Carey Mulligan), her dead son and the role revenge plays in all of this. There are also outliers in the forest who consist of simple town folk, imprisoned bandits who take a page from Robin Hood and a charming rat (voiced by Awkwafina) who becomes a crucial lifesaver. 

Without getting too bogged down in story points, it becomes pretty clear from the opening scene that Laika is taking its viewers into darker territory than ever before. This looks on the surface like an animated adventure along with lines of a “How To Train Your Dragon” film, but the opening scene involves a delicate subject that no American animation studio would dare touch, especially to set the table for what’s to come. “Wildwood” presents its story as only Laika can, made up of pure childhood fantasy that gives equal time to the stuff of nightmares. This is a scary film that will startle younger viewers with a solid fright or two, but that has always been what makes these storytellers so special. They know frightening images and jump-out-of-your-seat moments have always been a rite of passage and should remain so. 

This fearlessness is coupled with Laika’s ability to get at the viewer’s emotions by somehow giving these figurines astonishing performances, utilizing a wide canvas of facial expressions for every frame and making us forget this is all happening by slight-of-hand. If the storyline of “Wildwood” feels derivative at times, it’s not because of its visual ideas, but more so because it follows the template of a lot of fantasy adventure stories. Keep in mind this went into production seven years ago and we have had a steady stream of redemptive villains, grief as an explanation and average humans discovering magical powers ever since. I don’t hold that against this film. I was particularly blown away by the end credits when I saw that Caleb Deschanel served as cinematographer on this project. Of course, the guy who shot “The Black Stallion,” “The Right Stuff” and “Fly Away Home” would be the perfect talent to helm the look for the film. A pro’s hand is evident in every frame. 

“Wildwood” was directed by Travis Knight, who also directed “Kubo and the Two Strings” and written by Chris Butler, who also wrote “ParaNorman,” “Kubo” and “Missing Link.” These guys know how to write young heroes while also giving them real-life habitats that appear lived-in and real. When “Wildwood” does not exist in fantasy, it shares a trait of “ParaNorman” and “Coraline” I've always loved, that of dilapidated, middle-class households where real people exist. There are stains on the walls, nails out of place and front lawns in need of better care. And it all looks gorgeous. Every single detail in these films have been thought out to such a degree you need multiple viewings to appreciate all of them.

I hold Laika Studios in the same regard as George Miller, a filmmaker who also has boundless imagination, respect for his audience and a refusal to compromise. His films may not be seen by as many people as they should, but I always come away from them grateful for their existence and my being alive to see them. The best films awaken your senses. Even as violence and carnage fill the screen (and “Wildwood” has that), I get emotional just witnessing the passion and showmanship involved. The final battle sequence took me back to 2003 when I saw “Lord of the RIngs: The Return of the King” multiple times, a film that, like Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” thrills me to the point of tears. “Wildwood” is pure adventure, both for the audience and the people who made it. That such joy in the process of making a film–a film seven years in the making, no less–-can have such equally impactful feelings for the viewer is cause to celebrate… everything. 

(P.S. - I know the film is based on a book by the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy. I have a feeling the majority of the people in the audience I saw it with were Decemberists fans. I got stuck walking alongside a loud couple on the way out who were nitpicking the changes made with the film. I have no perspective on the adaptation. I only know the film and that’s the thing that I love.)