Wildwood Trailer: Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali Voice Laika's Animated Fantasy

Laika is going back to the woods. The trailer for Wildwood has arrived ahead of the film's October 23 release, offering a first look at the stop-motion studio's adaptation of Colin Meloy's beloved fantasy novel — with Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali leading a starry voice cast.

For animation fans, a new Laika film is always an event. The studio behind modern classics has built its reputation on handcrafted, painstakingly detailed stop-motion worlds, and the Wildwood trailer suggests this may be its most ambitious canvas yet.

Into the Impassable Wilderness

Meloy's novel follows a young girl who ventures into the mysterious forest beyond her Portland neighborhood to rescue her kidnapped baby brother, discovering a hidden world of talking animals, warring factions, and ancient magic. It is the kind of richly imagined fantasy that seems tailor-made for Laika's tactile, textured approach to animation.

The trailer is dense with that world-building: towering trees, strange creatures, and the sense of a fully realized society existing just out of sight. If the footage is representative, Wildwood will be a visual feast in the truest sense.

A Voice Cast Worth the Hype

Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali are the headliners, and their involvement speaks to the project's prestige. Both are actors of uncommon range, and voice work of this caliber tends to bring out unexpected dimensions in established stars.

Strong voice casting has always been part of Laika's formula, and Wildwood looks like no exception. The trailer hints at performances pitched somewhere between warmth and wonder — exactly the register a story like this demands.

October 23 Cannot Come Soon Enough

With an October 23 release, Wildwood is positioned as the season's family-friendly fantasy epic — a handcrafted alternative to the month's horror and awards fare. For anyone who believes animation is at its best when it is made by hand, this is the fall release to watch.

Laika's films have always been labors of love in the most literal sense — each frame built by hand, each set a miniature world. That craftsmanship is part of why the studio commands such devotion: in an industry increasingly dominated by digital animation, Laika's stop-motion feels like a statement of purpose. Wildwood, with its enchanted forest setting, gives the studio's artists a playground worthy of their talents, and the trailer's glimpses of that world suggest years of meticulous work are about to pay off.

The October 23 date also sets up an interesting box-office dynamic, positioning a handcrafted fantasy against the season's bigger, louder offerings. Laika has never chased opening-weekend records, but its films tend to find passionate audiences that sustain them. Wildwood looks ready to continue that tradition.