LAIKA’s Wildwood art director Matt Maldonado and KAMP Grizzly teamed up to bring the film’s world to life with The Forest is Calling Portal Experience, debuting at the San Diego Comic-Con. Wildwood premieres in theaters on October 23, 2026, and the immersive experience takes visitors into the film’s Impassable Wilderness.
Following its premiere at SDCC, The Forest is Calling Portal Experience will travel to other US cities ahead of the film’s release.
This year’s SDCC runs from Thursday, July 22 through Sunday, July 26. The immersive experience will be set up outside the Hard Rock Hotel, located at 538 L Street in San Diego.
The Forest is Calling Portal Experience highlights include:
• The Wildwood Sigil (a magical symbol) serves as the symbolic gateway into the Portal Experience;
• Prue McKeel’s bicycle, abandoned at the forest’s edge;
• Baby Mac’s wagon, referencing the opening abduction that sets the film in motion;
• Hidden artifacts, symbols, and Easter eggs drawn from the film;
• A lush environment of evergreens, ivy, flora, and ambient sound;
• An interactive journey where guests discover where they belong within Wildwood through a personalized faction experience, digital photo, and collectible keepsake.
Wildwood features the voices of Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Arthur Knight, Maya Erskine, and Jake Johnson. The stop-motion feature film also includes the voices of Tantoo Cardinal, Rob Delaney, Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson, Len Cariou, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Angela Bassett, and Mahershala Ali.
Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) directs and Chris Butler adapted Colin Meloy’s book for the screen.
LAIKA offers this synopsis:
“After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel launches a desperate rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon. Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg, Prue navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition.
As the pair is drawn into a conflict threatening the balance of the forest itself, Prue must discover strength and belief she never knew she possessed. If she hopes to save her brother and protect Wildwood’s fragile future, she will have to risk everything.
From Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning LAIKA, Wildwood is a sweeping adventure about love, sacrifice, and the magic that reveals itself when we dare to look beyond the familiar.”
