Wildwood is an incredible technical achievement with great storytelling but no one is watching. Do audiences care about the creative process any more?
Imagine developing a film for sixteen years and spending seven of them on the stop motion animation process for a film that director Travis Knight promotes as an anti-AI movie. This is handcrafted meticulous filmmaking that, as Laika Studios have done in the past, takes stop motion to another level. Sure, the level of craft, detail and collaboration is astounding, but it would also mean very little if Wildwood wasn’t backed by an enthralling and gripping coming of age story.
Every ingredient is there for a hit, but the film came with minimal fanfare up until perhaps a few weeks before release, and since then has struggled to make waves at the box office. In terms of box office successes this year, we’ve seen plenty of tried and trusted IP getting sequels doing well. We’ve also seen big creative swings like Digger tumble at the box office too. Still, something like Digger divided audiences and especially critics, whilst Wildwood has been greeted with almost universal acclaim by the fans and critics who have actually seen it. So why didn’t it hit? That it didn’t, is a travesty.
The success of The Odyssey earlier this year could have been down to a number of factors, including the lure of Christopher Nolan, the highly recognisable source material (whether you know it inside out, or merely select highlights) or the epic scale. Another reason some felt contributed to The Odyssey’s success was how fresh it felt in the context of modern blockbuster cinema. Why? Well, because it was so focused on practical, in camera filmmaking. We know this is a Nolan (near) fetish. If there’s a practical way to shoot something live, on set, he’ll do it. Major moments and sequences within the film even left audiences dismissing them as being so inconceivable to shoot practically, that they must have been CGI, only for behind the scenes videos to prove otherwise. The Witch sequence, transforming Odysseus’s soldiers into pigs was shot practically (even to my surprise). For some viewers that earthiness and tangible reality of a few hundred extras marauding through giant sets and real locations was new to them.
So, with all that in mind, it felt like the novelty of old school filmmaking for younger audiences might have proved beneficial to something like Wildwood. Cinema, media, content, it’s all at a crossroads. We’ve already seen an overreliance on CGI and streamlining, shortcutting processes led to a production line mentality within studios. It’s why so much “content” gets pumped out on streamers and star filled movies are almost instantly forgotten. Remember Electric State? Even now I’m trying to use the top of my head to think of examples of that ilk, but I’m struggling. Red Notice, Red One, and (press the) red (power button on your TV). They get made, they come out, they disappear like mist. Most look horrible with uniform cinematography and grading to suit streaming viewers tastes and preferences (which often don’t actually ring true).
Wildwood has had a few sticking points always bound to potentially derail a film. Much of the featurette material came out at the last minute in what seemed like a late focused marketing push. I vaguely recall seeing a serviceable trailer months ago that looked okay but perhaps didn’t pop in a way that would attract kids, nor look interesting enough to fully intrigue adults. There’s also the issue that the stop motion was so good, many probably assumed it was just another CGI animated movie in the Pixar vein, lacking the bold colours and obviously colourful characters often associated with the studio. The film as an entity just didn’t have much hype beyond long term Laika Studios (Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings) fans. Most of the buzz it is now getting (which sadly still isn’t enough) is primarily word of mouth spreading because it’s frankly magnificent.
There’s also the disconcerting prospect that the creative process and methods won’t earn you extra brownie points. Does Average Joe in the multiplex care if Wildwood took sixteen years to make, versus a more cookie cutter and young kid friendly animation film that everyone at their kid’s school wants to go see? Wildwood is based on a novel, but it’s not as instantly recognisable as Harry Potter or Narnia, or The Hunger Games for example. The film itself also takes a more mature approach, not talking down to the younger audiences and pulling no punches either. It’s pure 80s style, harrowing kids cinema here. Not quite Artex in the Swamp of Sadness in The NeverEnding Story but still, some might deem this too dark for younger kids, whilst grownups might just dismiss it as a kids movie and not give it a try. In fairness my 9 year old daughter handled it better than this old crying wreck did by the end.
The very immediate threat of AI puts the creative arts and artists at risk. We absolutely should be singing the praises of Wildwood from the rafters because the sheer gargantuan effort that went into making this, and the passion from so many cross collaborating departments gives this film much of its heart and soul, offering the perfect platform for a good script, with rollicking adventure, tragedy, morality and coming of age. Audiences sometimes need to care how the film was made and how much effort was put into a film that goes completely against prompt based “filmmaking.”
Even when it may come to a mixture of real filmmaking techniques with AI touch ups or flourishes (not that I’d ever say there’s much “flourish”) it doesn’t matter because inevitably, if you get away with it, or cut costs, streamline a process or three, you’re more likely to go back for more and more. Before you know it you’ve nixed entire departments, maybe cast, composer, and more and relied on an AI majority. Which isn’t creative and isn’t human. There comes a tipping point soon where an AI film made by people good at writing prompts, might be a financial success and people watching are satisfied it’s scratched an itch. If you want disposable content, you’re not a million miles from that already. Still, for cinephiles films like Wildwood are our lifeblood.
The question is, will anyone (besides Laika and Travis Knight) spend another seven years animating a movie? How many more times does Christopher Nolan get the freedom to make whatever he wants however he pleases? Audiences for the most part are still largely rejecting AI within movies as seen with the recent high profile release in China of Sanxingdui: Future Past which was fully made using AI to deliver a large scale “spectacle.” Despite short AI reels and AI Tik-tok content being so common (and irksomely popular) around the East and West, thankfully the audiences out in China weren’t willing to pay good money to see an abominable display of the Uncanny Valley at feature length.
The response to Grok’s first scenes of their AI-generated, Elon Musk-endorsed riposte to Chris Nolan’s, The Odyssey ranged from scorn to bafflement. We’ve had mixed evidence as to whether audiences are turned by the quality of a film too, albeit there seems to have been a growing acknowledgement that the MCU was in need of a creative jumpstart and the DC universe was unimaginative. Spider-Man: Brand New Day addressed that and made mega bucks. Likewise the seeming indifference to streaming originals beyond a few weeks of passing interest, also suggest disposable films are becoming tiresome. It’s just a shame that some great films that should have widespread appeal still fall by the wayside.
Aside from brilliant animation and wonderful voice acting from the eclectic cast, Wildwood also benefits from a really great throwback score filled with recurring themes that brings to mind Joe Hisaishi and an ability to glide so effortlessly between so many emotions, from reflective pieces to the bombast of battle. The film overall is a wonderful melding of styles, encompassing the gothic wonder of early Tim Burton, to vintage Pixar, to Studio Ghibli’s boundless imagination to the heart filled coming of age adventure and hand built worlds of Jim Henson (notably The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth). It’s also a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen, and hopefully it’ll have a second wind from somewhere and stay in theatres a little longer. Of course, as cinema history has taught us, for many films it’s all about legacy and the long game, and if Wildwood isn’t remembered in 10-20 years, that will indeed be tragic. I’m confident it’ll stand the test of time.
Have you seen Wildwood? What did you think of the film? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
