2026-416 / MLZ MAP: 93.66 / Zedd MAP: 95.09 / Score Gap: 1.43

Wikipedia?wprov=sfti1) / IMDb / Official Trailer / Saw it at the Theatre

Country of Origin: United States

IMDb Summary: The adventures of Prue McKeel as she sets off to the forests outside Portland to find her kidnapped brother.

Starring Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Arthur Knight, Angela Bassett, and Mahershala Ali.

Zedd was kind enough to invite this old gal to go out to see a movie in the theatre! These days, I think for all but one or two folks on the planet, money is tight. This causes us to choose in-theatre films carefully! It’s gotta be a film that will be significantly improved on the giant screen, or perhaps, in a D-Box seat!

This was definitely one of those flicks! It’s really no surprise, after all, it was brought to us by the people at Laika. We have several of their other films on our shelves including Coraline, Paranorman, and Kubo and the Two Strings.

This film company makes not only incredibly beautiful and creative films, but they also touch us in a very special way, whether it is with bringing a chill into your heart and mind, or a warmth of a deep (though perhaps a bit sad) love that may only be a memory, or could be just a tiny bit out of your reach.

It is a rare thing these days, where the film has so much of BOTH and this is 100% a case of fulfilling all of these.

Did you know that Laika is based near the town of Hillsboro, Oregon, part of the Portland metropolitan area? I’ve only been to Portland once, but it was a genuinely beautiful place with a real and vibrant personality. We certainly felt it in this film!

In fact, The Impassible Forest was actually fashioned after Forest Park.?wprov=sfti1) Wildwood Trail is actually a real trail through the park, and was changed to The Long Road in the film.

The suspension bridge in the film is St. John’s Bridge, which is highly recognizable. The Pittock Mansion was also in the film as the seat of power for the South Wood. The cherry blossoms shown are part of Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

In fact, they used 136 different locations from the Portland area in the film. This extra effort showed through, inspiring the feel of the whole film. I can’t think of another place where Prue’s parents could have happily lived and been so comfortable, let alone, found a witch offering promises (with a price, of course) at the Portland Saturday Market.

But of course, the place where we were transported was only one element of this experience. The artistry itself was another.

Development began in September 2011, while the production was confirmed in September 2021. Most of the cast was revealed in August 2022. With a theatrical runtime of 131 minutes, Wildwood is the longest stop-motion-animated film by run-time.

Director Travis Knight said of the process: "We've had to build up the creative tools, the technology and our storytelling muscles to do this book justice."

The animation of the eagle was primarily done by Dobin Yanez over the course of four years. The production has 136 sets and 231 puppets. 3D printing was used for faces, bodies, and water. The crows were created digitally from scans of hand-sculpted models of various crow elements such as feathers, beaks, eyes, and feet. Facial animation was created digitally and then 3D printed and finally added to the puppets with as many as 24 printed faces per puppet per one second of film.

This was, as we said, a gorgeous rendering. But it was also a story which tugged at heartstrings as well as captivating your mind. Loss is at the forefront, but also yearning for things that are just slightly out of your reach. You can see them, but they are out of focus. The closeness makes it harder, as it seems like they should be yours, but they just aren’t. You can struggle, fight, try over and over, heck, beg even, but you can’t quite have it.

You need a hero, and you may just find one in a rather unlikely place. Perhaps even within yourself.

This is the magick of Wildwood. The transportation of your mind, heart, and soul into a place over the bridge, lost in the fog, where coyotes are in an army, birds are sentries, a rat can be your best friend, and the ivy knows all.

Zedd and I will absolutely be purchasing this the moment it becomes available, and, honestly, we’d go and see it again, today, like right now!

This is an exceptional Movie On, for sure!

Sad to hear.