October 22, 2026, 16:46 UTCNewswire.com

How Full-Color 3D Printing Brings LAIKA's Wildwood Characters to Life

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For a decade, LAIKA has used Cuttlefish®, the full-color 3D printer driver developed by Fraunhofer IGD, to achieve the precision and consistency required for advanced color replacement animation in stop-motion filmmaking

Every subtle smile, raised eyebrow, and emotional expression in LAIKA's upcoming feature Wildwood is shaped by extraordinary artistry, craftsmanship, and advanced full-color 3D printing. For a decade, LAIKA has used Cuttlefish®, a full-color 3D printer driver developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD. The software converts LAIKA's sophisticated digital 3D models into optimized print data, enabling the studio to produce precisely colored facial expressions that bring its stop-motion characters to life. Wildwood opens nationwide in U.S. theaters on October 23, 2026 and releases in Germany November 5, 2026.

LAIKA is one of the world's most renowned stop-motion studios. Its five previous features - Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link - received Academy Award® nominations in the Animated Feature Film category. Kubo and the Two Strings won the BAFTA® Award for ‘Best Animated Film' and Missing Link was awarded the Golden Globe. With Wildwood, LAIKA presents what the studio describes as its most challenging and ambitious production to date.

The collaboration began around a decade ago, when LAIKA discovered Fraunhofer IGD's research on full-color 3D printing through a scientific publication. LAIKA's Director of Rapid Prototype Brian McLean had just received the Scientific and Engineered Oscar® plaque for ‘pioneering the use of 3D printers in stop motion animation' and was looking for ways to continue to advance the studio's groundbreaking 3D printing and replacement animation pipeline. Initial test prints with Cuttlefish® demonstrated the software's potential and led to a long-term licensing partnership that continues today.

"We quickly realized that Cuttlefish® could deliver the quality required for professional stop-motion productions. Its use in international film productions today is a powerful example of how research finds its way into creative applications," says Philipp Urban, Head of Research and Development 3D Printing at Fraunhofer IGD. LAIKA previously used the 3D printer driver on the Academy Award®-nominated film Missing Link. Wildwood continues the collaboration.

Precision in Every Expression

Stop-motion films are created frame by frame. To animate a character's facial expressions, LAIKA uses 3D printing to produce different facial expressions for each frame, up to 24 different faces per second. Even the slightest color deviation or surface inconsistency would become visible in the finished film.

Developed by Fraunhofer IGD, Cuttlefish®'s 3D printer driver, combined with Stratasys J750 polyjet 3D printers, are at the heart of LAIKA's award-winning replacement animation workflow. The software converts digital 3D models, including their color and texture information, into optimized print data. This enables LAIKA to reproduce colors, textures, and fine geometries precisely and consistently, even on very small parts. Cuttlefish® incorporates specially developed methods for texture sharpening, surface optimization, and color processing.

For Wildwood, LAIKA again used Cuttlefish®, while Fraunhofer IGD implemented numerous enhancements to meet the production's demanding requirements. "Using Cuttlefish®, LAIKA produced more than 142,000 bespoke facial expressions printed on Stratasys' J750 and J850," says McLean. "Wildwood is an amazing cinematic experience; the scale, scope, and emotional impact of this film are unprecedented in animation. In order to accomplish a story of this complexity, we needed a process that could create intense and deep emotional facial performances, with rich skin tones and fine details, and the only way that was possible was through artists blending technology and innovation into a seamless practical effect."

From Research to the Big Screen

What began with a scientific publication on full-color 3D printing has grown into a long-standing partnership with one of the world's leading stop-motion studios. The collaboration with LAIKA illustrates how software developed through applied research can become an integral part of international film production. The expertise behind Cuttlefish® also contributes to applications in medical technology and industrial manufacturing.

The demanding requirements of stop-motion animation continue to drive the development of Cuttlefish®. Methods that prove themselves in film production can later be transferred to other applications. "A studio like LAIKA sets some of the most demanding requirements in full-color 3D printing. Technologies that prove themselves in this environment can create value across many other industries," Urban says. When Wildwood reaches the big screen, audiences will see its characters come to life. What they will not see: Behind countless expressions are facial components printed by LAIKA using Cuttlefish®, a 3D printer driver developed at Fraunhofer IGD.

Inspired by the acclaimed novel written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, Wildwood brings an expansive fantasy world to the screen through LAIKA's singular approach to stop-motion filmmaking. Characters, environments and intricate details are physically crafted and animated by hand, frame by frame, creating a world that feels both fantastical and unmistakably tangible.

Wildwood features a voice cast led by Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue McKeel and Jacob Tremblay as Curtis Mehlberg, alongside Academy Award® nominee Carey Mulligan (Shame), Academy Award® winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award® winner Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians), Jake Johnson (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Charlie Day (The Super Mario Galaxy Movie), Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Jemaine Clement (Avatar: Fire and Ash), Maya Erskine (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon), Tom Waits (Seven Psychopaths) and Academy Award® nominee Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).

For more information:

Cuttlefish® website: https://www.cuttlefish.de/

The emotional power of the human experience brought to life one frame at a time through ingenuity, the artists' hands, and innovation.

(© LAIKA)

Stratasys' polyjet technology, Cuttlefish® advanced 3D print slicer, and LAIKA artists crafted and animated unprecedented stop-motion facial performances through 3D-printed replacement faces.

(© LAIKA)

About LAIKA:

Founded in 2005 and based in Oregon, LAIKA is an award-winning animation studio and Certified B Corporation driven to tell bold, original stories that stand the test of time. Renowned for its distinctive artistry, innovative filmmaking and pioneering use of technology, LAIKA has redefined the possibilities of stop-motion animation.

The studio's five films - Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link - were each nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. LAIKA's next animated feature, Wildwood, premieres October 23, 2026. The studio has also expanded its storytelling into live action film and television.

About Fraunhofer IGD :

The Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD has been setting standards in visual computing - image- and model-based informatics - for more than 30 years. Its roughly 260-strong staff support companies and institutions across manufacturing and mobility, healthcare, bioeconomy, infrastructure and public services, and maritime economy sectors. Fraunhofer IGD provides specific technological solutions and support for strategic development. Its researchers carry out problem analyses, design hardware and software, develop prototypes, and implement interactive visual systems. The focuses are human-machine interactions, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, interactive simulation, modeling, and 3D printing and scanning. Fraunhofer IGD has been engaged in high-level research since 1987, supporting change in society and the economy with application-oriented solutions developed at its facilities in Darmstadt and Rostock.

SOURCE: Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD

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