Animation studio Laika is gearing up for the release of its upcoming stop motion movie Wildwood, and to build the hype, fans have been blessed with a new poster. Simple yet stunning, the design captures the magic of stop-motion in a wonderful return to form for the studio.
The best movie posters often feature minimalist design and bold visuals, but the underrated star of the Wildwood poster is one ingeniously worded phrase. In a world battling the AI slop invasion in cinema, the simple tagline, "From the hands that made Coraline," is a refreshing reminder of the tactile beauty of human-made design.
The poster features the main character, Prue McKeel, on a mission to rescue her baby brother from a swooping sea of crows. Behind her looms the towering figure of antagonist Alexandra Svik, set beneath the film's stunning wordmark made of warped vines and untamed foliage.
While the design is simple and features plenty of white space (which I would typically chastise as the cardinal sin of poster design), the design carries an authority that lets the character design and art style shine. Spotlighting the "hands" behind the craft, the poster radiates a natural, unmistakably human-made quality that doesn't shout for attention with garish design.
As a huge fan of Laika's work, from Coraline to Kubo and the Two Strings, it's safe to say I'm pretty excited to see what Wildwood has in store. After the AI controversy surrounding Eli Roth's Ice Cream Man and Netflix debating hosting AI films, Laika's signature animation style is a breath of fresh air that has momentarily restored my wavering faith in cinema.
