Eagle Making Of Featurette for Laika’s ‘Wildwood’ Magical Adventure
by Alex Billington
October 26, 2025
Source: YouTube
“Known throughout Wildwood as The General. She embodies power & unshakeable grace.” Laika revealed a fascinating 3-minute making of featurette for their next stop-motion animated movie called Wildwood – now set for release sometime in 2026. We featured the very first teaser for this back in 2024 – they’ve been developing it for years and it’s only now finishing up. The character of Prue was revealed in the first look – Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her friend Curtis are drawn into a hidden, magical forest near Portland after Prue’s baby brother Mac is kidnapped by crows, led by a mysterious woman. The voice cast includes Jacob Tremblay as Curtis, Carey Mulligan, Awkwafina, Mahershala Ali, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Jemaine Clement, & Richard E. Grant. This promo focuses on their famous stop-motion studio (based in Portland) figure out how to create the magical Golden Eagle character. They built 2 extraordinary puppets used in filming. “Meet The General, voiced by Angela Bassett, a fierce warrior and leader of the skies. Behind the scenes, the brilliant artists at Laika Studios are hand-crafting a character that soars beyond the screen through breathtaking stop-motion animation.” Can’t wait to see more. I love watching videos of stop-motion animation craft, always astonishing what they make.
Here’s the first look featurette for Travis Knight’s new film Wildwood, direct from Laika’s YouTube:
You can rewatch the 2024 promo video for Laika’s Wildwood movie right here for the original reveal.
Step inside Laika’s Wildwood, where a powerful golden eagle commands the skies and magic takes flight. Wildwood – based on Colin Meloy’s illustrated book series – will see Prue McKeel leave behind her home of Portland, Oregon, venturing into Wildwood on a dark quest to save her baby brother, who’s been pilfered by a murder of crows. Wildwood is once again directed by filmmaker Travis Knight, who is also CEO of Laika, and director of the the movies Kubo and the Two Strings and Bumblebee previously. The screenplay is written by Chris Butler (ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings, Missing Link). Based on the graphic novel series written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis. Produced by Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight. Made by Laika Entertainment’s animators based in Portland, Oregon. There’s no final release date for Wildwood yet – expected to arrive in early 2026. Stay tuned for updates – head to the film’s official site.
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