Laika’s ‘Wildwood’ Lands a Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score as Critics Hail a Stop-Motion Masterpiece

Laika has spent nearly 2 decades building a reputation as one of the most ambitious animation studios in the world. Its stop-motion features have become beloved for their handcrafted artistry, and its newest film, ‘Wildwood’, has been one of the most anticipated animated releases of the year.

The project has been a long time coming. Laika announced plans to adapt Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s novel in September 2011, just weeks after the book’s release, but production wasn’t confirmed until September 2021, with Travis Knight set to direct and Chris Butler writing the screenplay.

That patience appears to have paid off in a big way. ‘Wildwood’ held its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11, and early reviews have been glowing. The film debuted with a perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews at the time of writing. It also holds an impressive score of 85 on Metacritic.

If it maintains that perfect rating, it will become the first Laika film to earn a 100% critics’ score. That would place it above the studio’s previous highest-rated films, ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ at 97% and ‘Coraline’ at 91%.

Laika’s ’WILDWOOD’ debuts with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes 🍅 Described as one of the best animated films in years. https://t.co/unfxgoKJxI

— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) October 11, 2026

Reviewers have been quick to call ‘Wildwood’ a career high for the studio. The Hollywood Reporter described it as Laika’s most ambitious effort to date and possibly the company’s masterpiece, while Variety called it both a formal achievement and a generation-crossing crowd-pleaser.

TheWrap marveled at the sheer technical feat behind the film, suggesting it ranks among the most astonishing animated films ever made. Several outlets have already named it the best animated film of the year.

There are places you don’t go. One choice changes everything. Watch the Teaser Trailer for Wildwood now, and see the movie in theatres everywhere October 23. #Wildwood https://t.co/1COoQT3REY

— LAIKA (@LAIKAStudios) May 13, 2026

Some critics noted that the battle sequences rival the scale of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Game of Thrones’. Even reviewers with reservations, such as Screen International, felt the dazzling animation more than made up for a familiar story.

Not every critic was fully sold. IndieWire’s David Ehrlich praised the film as an antidote to the worst trends in modern animation but felt the narrative was chaotic, while The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw expressed reservations about the screenplay.

Critics also warned that ‘Wildwood’ goes to dark places. The PG-13 film features character deaths, violence, and war on screen. The film follows Prue McKeel, voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, a teen girl who sets out to rescue her baby brother after he is abducted by a murder of crows. Her journey takes her into a secret and dangerous world.

The voice cast also includes Jacob Tremblay, Angela Bassett, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, and Tom Waits. Knight produced the film alongside Arianne Sutner. The scale of the production was monumental. The team created 142,000 individual 3D elements, and filming stretched across more than 3 years.

At 2 hours and 12 minutes, ‘Wildwood’ is also the longest stop-motion animated movie ever released. It marks Laika’s sixth stop-motion feature since 2009. ‘Wildwood’ will also screen at AFI Fest later this month before arriving in U.S. theaters on October 23, distributed by Fathom Entertainment. Its London premiere joined Brad Bird’s ‘Ray Gunn’ as one of the festival’s biggest animated events.

With critics already calling it an Oscar front-runner, the film heads into release with serious momentum. The real question now is whether audiences will turn out to match the rave reviews.

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