Many of the voice cast and film creatives were out in force at the red carpet preceding the screening, and were later available for a brief introduction before the film, and a Q&A afterward.
Henry Selick, Jordan Peele, and Keegan Michael Key at the US premiere of WENDELL & WILD (John Salangsang / Animation Is Film)
Pablo Lobato, Keegan Michael key, Tamara Smart, Henry Selick, and Jordan Peele at the premiere of WENDELL & WILD at the Animation Is Film Festival.(John Salangsang / Animation Is Film)
Henry Selick and Pablo Lobato doing Q&A at the US premiere of WENDELL & WILD at the Animation Is Film Festival.(John Salangsang / Animation Is Film)
Wendell & Wild
Wendell & Wild revolves around Kat Elliot–a troubled teen who has been shaped by early tragedy into a tough loner. Bounced around from one bad situation to another, she finds herself back in her home town of Rust Bank to start a new beginning in the Rust Bank Catholic School for Girls. The second-chance program she enrolls in takes on a whole new meaning when she discovers she has the power to call up demons from the Underworld and meets Wendell and Wild who give her the chance to finally undo the consequences of her childhood mistake…for a price. Henry Selick, well-known for his large body of stop-motion animation works such as Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, has once again put out a stunning example of the technique. The characters move fluidly and are wonderfully expressive, even while displaying little seams and lines inherent in the puppetry that were intentionally left in to give it more of a rough, hand-made feel. The character design by Pablo Lobato shows his background in caricaturization as it deftly shows a distinctive style which doesn’t impede the acting or distract from the storytelling.
The story packs a lot of disparate elements into only 105 minutes, and it feels like some of them get a little short-shrifted. The titular characters in particular seem like they could have used a lot more time to flesh out their life in the Underworld–-living in and around their father demon’s head, while he lies there with an amusement park on his stomach. Kat’s journey to throw off the guilt that has informed her whole young life is well-developed but even that has a lot of areas left untouched as our glimpses into her memories show additional traumatic events she never otherwise mentions. It’s also the case that many of the side characters are interesting enough to merit their own stories, whether demon hunters-turned janitor, or corrupt, power-hungry real estate developers who seem disturbingly familiar.
The voice acting is excellent with Key and Peele being the obvious standouts. Just as good however, are Angela Bassett as Sister Helley, the nun who may have more in common with Kat than she initially suspects, and James Hong who, at 93 years old, is still the go-to Asian guy in every film that he has been since the 1950s. His character, Father Best, is the only other one specifically designed by Lobato as a caricature of him, besides Key and Peele’s Wendell and Wild.
Wendell & Wild is a fun film, with all the creepy Selick touches we’ve come to expect throughout the years. Visually it’s so detailed that it seems a shame most people will only see it streaming on their televisions, but better that than not letting it find an audience at all. Ultimately, viewers may come away with the feeling that there are far worst demons than the comical Wendell and Wild, whether they are internal, as with Kat’s biting remorse, or external, wandering around in human skin and a bad toupée.
Wendell & Wild premieres on October 28, 2022, streaming exclusively on Netflix.