Laika, maker of stop-motion animated movies like Coraline and Kubo, the Two Strings has announced its newest project. It is a n adaptation Wildwood, the 2011 YA novel written by Colin Meloy (singer/songwriter for the indie rock band t he Decists) and illustrated by Carson Ellis. Travis Knight, President of Laika and director of the Transformers spin-off Bumblebee, will direct the film.
Advertisement
Although I had never heard of this book before, the official summary sounds right up Laikas alley. It is a modern fairy tale with just enough suspense to keep me awake at night. Wildwood lies beyond Portland's city limits. You are not allowed to go there. It is not something you are supposed to even know exists. Prue McKeel will soon enter this magical land. Her baby brother Mac, taken by a massacre of crows deep in the forest depths, has been taken and Prue McKeel along with Curtis, her classmate, is going to find him. Prue may think she's too old to enjoy fairytales but she just found herself in the middle of one. It is filled with bizarre talking animals, roguish bandits and powerful figures with darkest motives.
It sounds like Laika to my ears, and Variety reports that the studio thought so too. Variety reports that Laika purchased the rights to Meloy & Ellis' book in 2011, just a few months after its publication. Although it took the studio over a decade to start production on the stop motion animated adaptation, that just shows how much the studio has been interested in the project throughout all of these years. Wildwood, a Portland-born actor, is also a native Oregonian. Wikipedia says that Anna Minard, a literary critic, described the characters as "bespectacled", bike-riding and vinyl-browsing children with Kurosawa references.
Wildwood was the first part of a trilogy. It was followed by Under Wildwood (2012) and Wildwood Imperium (2015). Wildwood may have more sequels if the film is a hit.
Are you curious about where our RSS feed went. The new one can be found here.
