There are some animated films that seem to arrive almost overnight, and then there are those projects we spend years watching slowly make their way toward the screen. For animation fans, both “Wildwood” and “Ray Gunn” have certainly fallen into that latter category.
Now, after years of development, production updates and waiting to see these worlds finally come together, both films are preparing to take a rather major step forward. LAIKA’s “Wildwood” and Brad Bird’s “Ray Gunn” will make their world premieres at the 70th BFI London Film Festival this October, joining an expansive lineup of films, television and more from across the world.
For LAIKA fans in particular, “Wildwood” has been a long time coming. Directed by Travis Knight, the film marks the stop-motion studio’s next major feature and arrives after a considerable wait following 2019’s “Missing Link.” Based on the fantasy novel by Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis, the project has been one animation fans have been watching closely as LAIKA prepares to bring another ambitious handcrafted world to life.
Yet “Wildwood” won’t be the only highly anticipated animated project making its first bow in London.
Brad Bird’s “Ray Gunn” is also set to have its world premiere during the festival. The Netflix animated feature marks another major original project from the filmmaker behind “The Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” making Bird’s return to animation more than enough reason for the project to have remained on plenty of animation fans’ radars.
Having the two films make their world premieres at the same festival makes this year’s London Film Festival particularly interesting for animation. LAIKA has built its identity around extraordinarily detailed stop-motion filmmaking, while Bird has spent decades leaving his mark across some of modern animation’s most beloved films. Their newest projects may be completely different beasts, but both represent the return of creative voices whose next animated features have been awaited for years.
They are also joining a rather massive celebration of film. The 70th BFI London Film Festival is set to present 251 features, shorts, series and immersive works representing 88 countries, with 33 world premieres included across the program.
The festival itself runs October 7 through October 18. For animation fans, however, the opportunity to finally see “Wildwood” and “Ray Gunn” move from projects we have spent years hearing about to finished films ready for audiences makes this year’s event especially exciting.
After all that waiting, two very different animated worlds are finally ready to open their doors.