Narnia Meets Coraline In Epic New Fantasy Trailer For Wildwood
Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025.
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The Chronicles of Narnia's fantasy and Coraline's animation collide in the new trailer for Wildwood.
The upcoming stop-motion animated movie is produced by Laika, the same studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, The BoxTrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link. Wildwood is based on the 2011 fantasy novel of the same name, written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, with a story and a world that contain many parallels to The Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.
Laika has now released a new Wildwood trailer, which begins with protagonist Prue McKeel riding in a red truck that says "Wildwood Post" on the side. Prue then asks a woman named Alexandra Svik, also known as the Dowager Governess, if the story she told about her son is true. The footage shifts to happy memories of Alexandra and her son, which end in tragedy, taking her down a dark path where she is surrounded by crows, who kidnap Prue's younger brother Mac from a playground. Check out the trailer below:
With the line "the hands that created Coraline," the trailer emphasizes the intricate artistry of Laika's stop-motion animation and the many years that have gone into making Wildwood. Development began on the movie in 2011, only weeks after the novel's release, and went into production a decade later in 2021.
As for the plot, the trailer highlights Prue's quest into the magical land of Wildwood alongside her classmate Curtis Mehlberg as they make human and animal allies, but also enemies, including an army of coyotes wearing red military uniforms. Alexandra vows that she will tear apart the forest until she reclaims what it stole from her, there are shots of an epic battle between the coyotes and bandits, and Prue is told that she is not the kind of person to give up.
Some of the parallels between Wildwood and The Chronicles of Narnia can be found between the charismatic and manipulative Alexandra and the White Witch/Jadis, Curtis and Edmund Pevensie being tempted by these characters, children leaving their ordinary world behind for a magical land filled with talking animals that has fallen into disarray, and celebrating the strengths of children as they become the heroes in their coming-of-age stories.
A Compendium of Enchanted Cinema How Well Do You Know Fantasy Movies? “Magic always comes with a price.”
🪄SpellsWingardium Leviosa
🐉BeastsHere be dragons
👑KingdomsLong live the king
⚔QuestsThe hero’s journey
🔮MagicWhat lies ahead
01
Across the Harry Potter films, the boy wizard is rarely without his loyal companion — a snowy owl gifted to him by Hagrid on his eleventh birthday. What is the owl’s name?
✓ Correct! Hedwig — the snowy owl Harry receives in The Philosopher’s Stone — becomes one of his most beloved companions. Errol is the Weasleys’ ancient, accident-prone owl; Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny hyperactive owl; and Crookshanks is Hermione’s ginger cat — not an owl at all.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Hedwig. Errol is the Weasleys’ clumsy family owl, Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny owl from later books, and Crookshanks is Hermione’s cat. Hedwig is the snowy owl Hagrid buys Harry for his birthday — even getting her own leitmotif from composer John Williams.
02
In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, the farm boy Westley answers Buttercup’s every demand with the same three words — which she comes to realize actually mean “I love you.” What does he say?
✓ Correct! “As you wish” is Westley’s signature line — and the film’s emotional core. “Inconceivable!” is Vizzini’s catchphrase (prompting Inigo’s famous “You keep using that word…”). The other two were never in William Goldman’s script — the whole point is that three plain words carry all the meaning.
✗ Not quite! The answer is “As you wish.” “Inconceivable!” belongs to the Sicilian Vizzini. Buttercup slowly realizes that Westley’s endlessly repeated “As you wish” is really his way of saying “I love you” — one of the most quoted lines in fantasy cinema.
03
The 2006 Spanish-language masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth blends a fascist-era fairy tale with the grim reality of post-Civil War Spain, featuring the nightmarish Pale Man. Which director created this dark fantasy?
✓ Correct! Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed Pan’s Labyrinth, designing the Faun and the eyeless Pale Man himself. He’d later win Best Director and Best Picture for The Shape of Water. Cuarón directed Prisoner of Azkaban; Almodóvar is Spain’s great melodramatist; Rodriguez is del Toro’s close friend but made Sin City and Spy Kids.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Guillermo del Toro. Alfonso Cuarón (a fellow “Three Amigos” of Mexican cinema) directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Pedro Almodóvar makes Spanish melodramas, and Robert Rodriguez made Sin City. Del Toro’s creature designs in Pan’s Labyrinth are now iconic.
04
In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), the four Pevensie children first stumble into the snowy land of Narnia by passing through what object?
✓ Correct! It’s a wardrobe — it’s right there in the title. Lucy hides inside during a game and finds the snow and lamppost of Narnia beyond the fur coats. A magical painting actually appears in the sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; the mirror and well are red herrings from other fantasy tales.
✗ Not quite! The answer is a wardrobe — literally named in the title. Lucy Pevensie pushes past the coats and steps out into snowy Narnia by the lamppost. (A magical painting does pull the children into the sea in the later film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — but not here.)
05
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) made Oscar history as the first fantasy film to win Best Picture, sweeping every category it was nominated in. How many Academy Awards did it take home?
✓ Correct! Return of the King won all 11 of its nominations — tying Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) for the all-time record, and becoming the first (and so far only) fantasy film to win Best Picture. Remarkably, it earned zero acting nominations yet still swept the board clean.
✗ Not quite! The answer is 11 — a perfect clean sweep. Return of the King tied Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins ever and broke fantasy’s long Best Picture drought. Fellowship of the Ring won 4 and The Two Towers won 2; the finale took everything it was nominated for.
06
In the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean films, Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination playing a swaggering, kohl-eyed pirate captain reportedly inspired by Keith Richards. What is the character’s name?
✓ Correct! Captain Jack Sparrow — Depp’s loose-limbed, rum-soaked performance earned a surprise Best Actor nomination for The Curse of the Black Pearl. Will Turner is the blacksmith hero (Orlando Bloom), Davy Jones is the tentacle-faced villain (Bill Nighy), and Hector Barbossa is the mutinous rival captain (Geoffrey Rush).
✗ Not quite! The answer is Captain Jack Sparrow. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is the earnest blacksmith, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is the squid-faced sea villain, and Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is the cursed rival. It was Depp’s Sparrow — modeled partly on Keith Richards — who earned the Oscar nod.
07
Jim Henson’s 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth features a teenage Jennifer Connelly navigating a maze to rescue her baby brother from the flamboyant, wild-haired Goblin King Jareth. Which rock legend played Jareth?
✓ Correct! David Bowie played Jareth, writing and performing the film’s songs including “Magic Dance” and “As the World Falls Down.” Tim Curry famously played the demon Darkness in another Ridley Scott fantasy, Legend (also 1985-86). Jagger and Sting are rock icons but never donned Jareth’s glittering cape and wild wig.
✗ Not quite! The answer is David Bowie. Tim Curry played the towering devil Darkness in the rival fantasy Legend around the same time. Bowie not only starred as Jareth the Goblin King but composed and sang the soundtrack — “Magic Dance” remains the film’s signature number.
08
In the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story, the young warrior Atreyu journeys across the dying realm of Fantasia and befriends a furry, dog-faced luckdragon who carries him through the skies. What is the luckdragon’s name?
✓ Correct! Falkor (Falkor the luckdragon) is the friendly, scale-and-fur covered dragon who aids Atreyu and Bastian. Artax is Atreyu’s horse, lost heartbreakingly in the Swamp of Sadness; Gmork is the wolf-like servant of The Nothing; and Bastian is the real-world boy reading the story who is ultimately drawn into it.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Falkor. Artax is Atreyu’s beloved horse (the Swamp of Sadness scene scarred a generation), Gmork is the menacing wolf-beast serving The Nothing, and Bastian is the bullied boy reading the book. Falkor is the soaring luckdragon — one of fantasy cinema’s most cherished creatures.
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Archmage of the Silver Screen — or still lost in the labyrinth?
Wildwood features a star-studded voice cast that includes Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue, Jacob Tremblay as Curtis, Carey Mulligan as Alexandra, Mahershala Ali as Brendan the Bandit King, Angela Bassett as the golden eagle General, Awkwafina as Septima the rat, Richard E. Grant as the wise Owl Rex, Charlie Day as Dmitri the coyote, Amandla Stenberg as the bandit Niamh, Jake Johnson as Prue and Mac's father Mr. McKeel, and Maya Erskine as their mother Mrs. McKeel.
Travis Knight directed the project after previously directing and producing Laika's Kubo and the Two Strings, along with producing the studio's ParaNorman, The BoxTrolls, and Missing Link. He also directed Bumblebee and Masters of the Universe, the latter of which was released earlier this year. Wildwood was written by Chris Butler, who worked on all the aforementioned movies with Knight except for The BoxTrolls and Bumblebee. This is Laika's first movie in seven years, with the last one being Missing Link in 2019.
Wildwood releases in theaters on October 23.
- Release Date
- October 23, 2026
- Director
- Travis Knight
- Writers
- Chris Butler, Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy
Cast
-
Peyton Elizabeth Lee
Prue McKeel (voice)
-
Jacob Tremblay
Curtis Mehlberg (voice)
-
Carey Mulligan
Alexandra (voice)
-
Brenden (voice)
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