Cinema Society Hosts Screening of Stop Motion Oscar Hopeful “Wildwood”

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On Thursday, Andrew Saffir’s Cinema Society hosted a special screening of the latest stop motion animated feature from Laika Studios, Wildwood. The studio’s first film Coraline received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature in 2010 and, indeed, every feature film the studio has produced since  has been nominated for at least one Academy Award, so expectations are that Wildwood will be no different.

The film based the a novel of the same name written by Colin Meloy (lead singer of The Decemberists) and illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis. It follows a young girl named Pru as she ventures into a dark and magical forest to rescue her kidnapped baby brother. It’s a sweeping fantasy epic, which took the studio 16 years to create at a reported price tag of nearly $100 million.

After the screening, members of the cast and crew took the stage in the theater at the Whitby Hotel in Midtown Manhattan for a panel discussion about the making of the film. Director and producer Travis Knight praised the film’s star, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, as well as the immeasurable talents and diligent hard work of producer Sam Wilson, writer Chris Butler, costume designer Deborah Cook, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, production designer Nelson Lowry, head of animation Brad Schiff, lead animator Rachelle Lambden.

Notable guests included Lou Diamond Phillips, Edie Falco, Will Harrison (“Daisy Jones & The Six”), Titus Welliver (“The Westies”, “Bosch”), Jabari Banks (“Bel-Air”), Amita Rao (“Adults”), Maye Musk, Eunice Bae (“Your Friends & Neighbors”), Emma Myles (“Orange is the New Black”),  Nichole Galicia (“Godfather of Harlem”), Emily Tarver (“Orange is the New Black”), Vicci Martinez (“Orange is the New Black”), Jon Tenney (“The Closer”) & Leslie Urdang, Jenna Leigh Green, Sarah Himadeh (“This is Us”), Jihae (“Succession”, “Dune: Prophecy”), Precious Way (“The Rise & Fall of Reggie Dinkins”), Sarah Wynter (“24”), Michael Bonini, Lilac Emery-Haynes, Gabe Fazio (“Sherriff Country”), Ricky Paull Goldin, Don Lee, Alex Lundqvist, Tony Melillo, Cameron Moir, Robbie Myers, Kathryn Neale, Emma O’Connor, Jake Silbermann, and Tara Westwood (“Law & Order: SVU”).

The film holds a 99% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and is the current front runner for best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars. If it wins, it will be Laika’s first Academy Award.

Check out pics from the screening below and get your tickets here to see the movie for yourself in theaters.