film – Paper Places

If ever an exhibition at a museum whetted the appetite to see a film, then this new show at the Design Museum in Kensington definitely does. I did not know what to expect when climbing the stairs to the second floor of the museum but, I promise you, there is a treat in store.

The new stop-motion, animated film, Wildwood, will be released in the UK next week. And I can’t wait to see it. I’m sure I’ll be swept away by the story and the amazing visual effects but now, because I’ve been to this exhibition at the Design Museum, I’ll understand a little of the incredible amount of hard work and detailed planning which went into the creation of the film.

Looking at these pictures you don’t really get a sense of the scale but I can tell you, the objects are tiny! Each little prop has been carefully crafted from a huge variety of materials. The film, well, what I’ve seen of it in the clips, has a naturalistic yet stylised feel. You have the idea you are stepping into a real world but it is magical, where everything is heightned and filled with fantastical creatures.

The sets are very intricate and filled with carefully made details such as ivy leaves of all sizes, plants at different stages of decay and bark painted with many different colours.

Amazing to see the inner workings of ‘characters’ such as the horse and you can see the engineering ‘skeleton’ which operates the puppet.

Some close-ups of the characters – and, centre, another display showing the mechanics and body of the puppet.

The details you can see in each interior are amazing. Every tiny prop was crafted and painted to create that feeling of antiquity and usage. Well, as you can gather, I was impressed by this exhibition and delighted to see the work close up. Now I want to see the film!

LAIKA presents WILDWOOD: The Exhibition at the Design Museum runs until 10th January 2027.

I confess I’ve not seen ALL of Wes Anderson’s films but can attest that the ones I have seen were filled with amazing images and situations which linger in the memory long after the credits have rolled and it’s time to leave the cinema. Above is the spectacular model for the Grand Budapest Hotel which was a gloriously witty, stylised (and Oscar-winning) film.

Wes Anderson has hung onto everything. Above is the spectacular painting ‘Boy with Apple’ which channels the best renaissance painting but was created by British artist Michael Taylor specially for the Grand Budapest Hotel.

From his very first short film, The Bottle Rocket, (when he discovered that the production company has rights over all the props and costumes) he understood the importance of keeping control over items created for films; and ever since he has kept storyboards, costumes, props and memorabilia from his films. Nearly thirty years’ worth of items have been stored in a vast space in Kent and now they have been removed from boxes and displayed for all to see. The curators of the show have done a great job in presenting everything and clips from films are shown on screens too, giving context to the objects.

The little puppets and models for his epic stop-motion films, Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) and Isle of Dogs (2018) are glorious to view. Apparently it was the talented puppet makers and craftsmen of the UK which drew Wes to the UK to make these films.

You might recognise, above, the Royal Tenenbaum props and costumes, or artwork from Moonrise Kingdom.

So, my resolution for 2026 is to watch all the Wes Anderson films I’ve not seen and revisit the ones I have. I think, having seen this show, my experience of the films will be all the richer.

The show is on at the Design Museum until 26th July 2026.

Tag: film

I urge everyone to go to the Design Museum in Kensington to see the astonishing exhibition of sets, figures and props created by LAIKA design studio for the new film Wildwood. Such a treat to go behind the scenes, see how each tiny piece was made and then animated for this new stop-motion film.