October Animation Preview: At long last...Wildwood

October is generally my favorite month of the year on the animation front, because it brings two big festivals with it. Animation is Film is my favorite fest each year, and always brings a slate of fantastic movies to Hollywood. AFI FEST is another October mainstay, also in Hollywood, and usually has a solid selection of animated fare alongside its more wide-ranging program.

This year, we also get, at long last, Wildwood. I genuinely can't believe it's finally, finally, almost here.

In Theaters

On October 4, a 4K restoration of the classic anime film Ninja Scroll makes its way to theaters. Originally released in 1993, the film takes place in feudal Japan and follows a mercenary swordsman who takes on a gang of ninjas with supernatural powers. This movie is a blindspot for me, which is very shameful -- it was one of the anime movies in the nineties that really popped off overseas, alongside the likes of Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Of course, I was but a wee lamb during that decade, so maybe it's forgivable. I'll definitely try to catch it on the big screen.

Ninja Scroll

Per Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like Monster Mia is finally making its way to the States on October 9. This one looks so cute, and like a great bit of family-friendly programming for spooky season. It follow Mia, who gets expelled from her school and ends up at Rotwood Academy, where she's the only human student. This is an issue, as the school's principal is very much anti-human. So Mia has to befriend her monster classmates to defend herself against the principal's schemes. Very happy this one is making it to theaters!

Monster Mia

[Viva Kids had slated Treasure Trekkers for an October 9 release, but it has been pulled from the calendar. Not sure when/if they'll end up releasing it, but hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later!]

GKIDS' wonderful Studio Ghibli Fest wraps up in October with a big one: Miyazaki's Spirited Away, which hits the big screen starting October 17. If you somehow haven't seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to catch it, and what better way than in theaters? It's one of the master's most imaginative and bountiful works, full of wild creatures and jaw-dropping animation. An obvious must.

October 23 brings the month's main event, and my most anticipated movie of the year (and also last year, since it was originally eyeing a 2025 release): LAIKA's long-awaited Wildwood. There is no animation studio on earth with a better track record than LAIKA, due in part to how rarely they release movies. Whenever they do, you know it's going to be something special, and the long wait for Wildwood promises something on an even grander scale than what the studio has delivered before, which is no small feat when you look at their previous work. There's been so much chatter about the film's PG-13 rating and runtime that clocks in at over two hours, making this the longest stop-motion movie ever made (passing Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio).

Wildwood

Based on Colin Meloy's 2011 novel of the same name, Wildwood follows Prue McKeel and her classmate Curtis, who venture into the woods to try to save Prue's baby brother, who is abducted by crows. That synopsis surely only scratches the surface, as the film's trailers have shown all kinds of interesting-looking characters, large-scale battles, and mysterious imagery. This is sure to be one of the year's most beautiful (and likely best) movies, and I cannot wait to finally see it. 

Festivals

This year's edition of Animation is Film takes place at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood October 16-18. As usual, the lineup is stunning, and features a lot of my favorite movies of the year, including Cherry and Virgin, Julián, and Viva Carmen. Since I've seen most of the movies playing there already, I'll just be covering three titles out of the fest this year: Iron Boy, Tangles, and ghost - end of night. Make sure to click over to their site if you want to see the full lineup or get yourself some tickets.

Iron Boy

AFI FEST follows hot on the heels of Animation is Film, taking place October 21 - 25 this year. The full lineup will be announced this week, so I'm not sure what all I'll be catching there yet. But the fest is opening with Wildwood, and they've already announced that Ray Gunn and Tangles are both playing there, as well. This is sort of the last big (ish) festival for awards season each year, the last festival platform where contenders can bow. This year, that might be The Mosquito Bowl? Hard to say, but here's to hoping some good animated stuff is screening.

Ray Gunn