LAIKA 3D Prints More Than 142,000 Facial Expressions for Wildwood
For Wildwood, LAIKA used Fraunhofer IGD’s Cuttlefish software and Stratasys J750/J850 systems to produce more than 142,000 replacement facial expressions with controlled color and texture for stop-motion animation.
3Dnatives reported on November 2, 2026, that LAIKA Studios used more than 142,000 3D-printed facial expressions for its stop-motion feature Wildwood. The studio’s replacement-animation process swaps facial components between frames, requiring large numbers of parts with different expressions, skin tones, and fine details.
The workflow combined Fraunhofer IGD’s Cuttlefish full-color printing software with Stratasys J750 and J850 PolyJet systems. Cuttlefish converts model color and texture data into print data and helps maintain consistency between parts, where small color or surface variations could appear as flicker in a sequence.
The figure of more than 142,000 comes from LAIKA rapid-prototyping director Brian McLean and describes production output, not a comparative printer benchmark. The project shows a roughly decade-long LAIKA–Fraunhofer collaboration moving research-grade color management into sustained feature-film production.
Key facts
- LAIKA produced more than 142,000 replacement facial expressions for Wildwood.
- The workflow used Cuttlefish with Stratasys J750 and J850 PolyJet systems.
- The software processed color and texture data to support visual consistency across sequential frames.
Context
The project demonstrates full-color print control and repeatability operating at feature-film production scale rather than remaining a laboratory workflow.
