Wildwood is Laika's new PG-13 stop-motion dark fantasy film, directed by Travis Knight, based on Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis's 2011 novel. It opens theatrically Friday, October 23, 2026. Knight said the screaming baby in the abduction scene is voiced by his own son, Arthur Knight, whose diaper-change crying was recorded on an iPhone.
Laika is known for handcrafted stop-motion and long production timelines; Knight said the film took 16 years to make. The baby kidnap scene is central to the plot: teenager Prue McKeel takes her baby brother Mac out against her parents' rules, and he is abducted by a murder of crows working for the grief-stricken governess Alexandra, sending Prue and her friend Curtis into the Impassible Wilderness to rescue him.
Travis Knight did say his own son's diaper-change screams were recorded on an iPhone and used for the baby kidnap scene in Wildwood. The baby Mac is voiced in the film by Arthur Knight.
CTravis Knight recorded his own baby crying during a diaper change… and that scream is in a movie opening this week.
LThat is the most Laika thing I've ever heard. Handmade movies, hand-recorded screams.
CKnight directed Wildwood, the new stop-motion dark fantasy. He told DiscussingFilm his son Arthur voiced the kidnapped baby in the abduction scene.
LAnd the recording happened because Arthur hated having his diaper changed. Dad just… pulled out an iPhone.
CThe Hollywood Reporter says the scene plays as frightening as anything in Hitchcock's The Birds. And it's a real baby, genuinely unhappy.
LWhich is the creepiest thing, actually. It's not a sound designer reverse-engineering a cry. It's pure infant grievance.
CThe most authentic audio since someone recorded their own dog for a werewolf.
LBut there's a real story behind it. The movie took sixteen years to make. Knight said it started back when Obama was a first-term president.
CAnd the plot? A teenager takes her baby brother out against her parents' rules, crows working for a grief-stricken governess steal him, and she goes into the Impassible Wilderness to get him back.
LCrows as kidnappers. That's so specific and so dark for a PG-13 animated film.
CAP is more mixed on it. They say the stop-motion world is incredible, but the story can't match it.
LI think the diaper-cry story alone tells you everything about the care in this thing. A whole industry of foley artists, and the director records his own kid.
CAnd the son gets a voice credit in a major film. Arthur Knight, professional screamer.
LImagine the school talent show story.
CWildwood opens Friday, October 23rd. PG-13, Laika's first.
LMeanwhile, a rumor is flying that Katy Perry has a new single with Tove Lo coming next Friday. One account says TMZ reported it.
CThe claimed title is "To The Light," with a video about two witches getting rid of their darkness. I couldn't confirm that one.
LTwo witches finding the light, out October 30th. If true, that's a very specific Halloween-week drop.
CBut no official word yet from Katy's camp or TMZ that I could find. So it stays a claim for now.
LAnd there's also a lovely fan post from someone who met a crew member who worked with P1Harmony in LA.
CShe said the person "really emphasized how sweet" Keeho is, and told her she's "really supporting the best group possible."
LThat's the kind of small, human thing that actually means something if you've been following a group for years.
CSomeone who worked with them, with no reason to lie, going out of their way to say that. That's better than any official quote.
LAnd nothing to fact-check there either. Just a fan sharing a moment.
CFrom a baby's scream to a crew member's kind words about Keeho, that's the segment. On Repeat.