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Wildwood was the first of a trilogy, which was followed by Under Wildwood in 2012 and Wildwood Imperium in 2015. If the movie is a success, there may be more Wildwood on the way.
Laika, the maker of fine stop-motion cartoon animations such as Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, has revealed its most recent job: an adjustment of Wildwood, the 2011 YA novel by Colin Meloy, singer/songwriter of the indie rock band the Decemberists, and shown by his other half Carson Ellis. The movie will be directed by Travis Knight, president of Laika and the director of the outstanding Transformers spin-off Bumblebee.
I had not heard of the book before this early morning, however the main summary sounds like its right up Laikas alley, which is to state a modern-day fairy tale thats simply dark enough to offer some thriller: “Beyond Portlands city limitations lies Wildwood. Prue might think shes too old for fairytales, however shes just found herself at the center of one. One filled with weird talking animals, roguish bandits, and powerful figures with the darkest objectives.”
Sounds like Laika to me, and the studio must have believed so too because Variety reports that Laika really optioned the rights to Meloy and Ellis book back in 2011, quickly after it was published. Its taken the studio a full years to finally start production on the stop-motion animated adjustment, however that truly just goes to demonstrate how much it has stayed interested in the task during all these years. Knight is likewise a native of Oregon, and Wildwood is extremely Portland-y, which also probably assists. (According to Wikipedia, literary critic Anna Minard called the characters “bespectacled, bike-riding, vinyl-browsing, Kurosawa-referencing kids,” so, yeah.).
One of Carson Ellis lovely illustrations from the Wildwood series.Image: HarperCollins
I hadnt heard of the book before this early morning, but the official summary sounds like its ideal up Laikas street, which is to say a modern-day fairy tale thats just dark enough to use some suspense: “Beyond Portlands city limitations lies Wildwood. Sounds like Laika to me, and the studio needs to have believed so as well since Variety reports that Laika really optioned the rights to Meloy and Ellis book back in 2011, soon after it was published. Knight is likewise a local of Oregon, and Wildwood is extremely Portland-y, which also probably assists.
