Laika’s Wildwood took five years to make, with more than 230 puppets, a team of 49 animators and more than 1,000 artists contributing in some form. For director and Laika CEO Travis Knight, that labor-intensive production points to a central distinction: technology can help artists make a film, but he objects when it takes over the work of making art.
A handmade film built with new tools
Wildwood is Laika’s most ambitious film yet, following work including Coraline and ParaNorman. Its scale is visible in the puppets alone: 36 were made for its main character, Prue. The production’s many contributors and long schedule offer a different picture of filmmaking from the quick results often promised by generative AI.
That does not mean Laika avoids technology. Knight describes the studio as using computers and other tools, including pencils, paintbrushes, 3D printers and computer workstations. In his view, the tools matter because artists use them to make decisions and bring their work to life.
Wildwood also advances the studio’s stop-motion craft. Some puppets have diaphragms that animators can use to suggest breathing. Their limbs have more advanced musculature, and the production uses more flexible materials for clothing, hair and fur. Together, these changes help make the film look more lifelike than Laika’s earlier work.
Where Knight draws the line on generative AI
Knight’s objection is about who does the creative work. He is steadfastly against technology taking the artist’s place, especially when a system is trained on material artists have made and then produces something in response. He describes that process as theft and says its output lacks the soul, spirit and humanity of work made by people.
His argument also centers on the experiences behind human stories. Loss, grief, heartbreak and difficult choices are not merely subjects to reproduce, he says; they are experiences people have lived through. Knight argues that a person telling a story about those experiences can speak to what they mean in a way a computer cannot.
This distinction helps explain why Laika’s use of advanced puppets and production tools does not, for Knight, conflict with its handmade approach. Those tools give animators more ways to shape a performance. Generative AI raises a different question when it is asked to create in place of the people whose work and lived experience make art meaningful.
Hollywood’s AI debate reaches beyond animation
The discussion around AI in Hollywood extends beyond how an animated film is made. The source describes concerns about digital replicas of movie stars, studios training models on films and shows, and major players investing in the technology. Against that backdrop, Laika’s physical, artist-led process makes its position especially visible.
Knight does not frame his view as opposition to every use of AI. He sees the technology as extraordinary and recognizes that it could bring substantial benefits in medicine and science. At the same time, he expects disruption and worries that some possible outcomes could be devastating.
That leaves responsibility as a central part of his position. Knight hopes people can recognize where the technology may help humanity, use it responsibly and push back against its dangers. His optimism is qualified by concern that people have not generally shown themselves to be good stewards of powerful technology.
What Wildwood represents
Wildwood’s production details give Knight’s argument a tangible setting: animators work with individual puppets, materials and mechanisms to create movement on screen. The film’s technical advances serve that human process, while his criticism of generative AI focuses on systems doing the artist’s work.
The distinction is not a claim that filmmaking should reject new tools. Instead, Knight’s position asks what a tool is being used to do, and whether artists remain the makers of the work. For Laika, the craft of stop-motion remains tied to the people who design, build and animate its characters—and to the human experiences that inform the stories they tell.