Review - Wendell & Wild
Directed by: Henry Selick
Written by: Henry Selick, Jordan Peele
Starring: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Lyric Ross, Angela Bassett, James Hong
Running Time: 105 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5
From acclaimed American director Henry Selick who brought the world animation classics like “Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline”, comes “Wendell & Wild” a spooky inclusive tale about family, life and death through the lens of a thirteen year old BIPOC teenage girl.
Wendell & Wild tells the story of two demon brothers from the underworld as they employ the help of a down on her luck Kat (voiced beautifully by Lyric Ross) in order to escape Hell and into the land of the living. Kat, a teenager who happens to listen to punk rock (and has the attitude to boot). She’s moody and angsty, internalizing her trauma and lashing out in unhealthy ways. Kat finds herself as a victim of the broken judicial childcare services following her parent’s untimely death. Her story is one of inclusiveness, and Kat serves as an avatar for orphan children who have been discarded and pushed to the wayside. Her guilt and shame is what Wendell & Wild prey on to get her to do their nefarious bidding.
“It’s been exactly thirteen years since Henry Selick’s last film project, and it’s safe to say he hasn’t lost a step. “Wendell & Wild” feels fresh and profoundly modern in a way that only a Jordan Peele screenplay can deliver. The result is a new animation feature that feels brave and exciting for a new generation of movie-goers.”
During the Q+A after the movie, Jordan Peele recollected a core memory from his childhood where his mother gifted him a small Nightmare Before Christmas toy which he loved so dearly. Fast forward to roughly 40 years later fresh from the success of Get Out, Henry Selick called up Peele one day and asked if he would be interested in collaborating on a new feature film he was creating. It was an easy yes. Peele alongside Angela Bassett, James Hong and Ving Rhames also employs the help of his long time collaborator Keegan-Michael Key to voice the title characters. Development on the film took 10 long years.
The animation and world-building by Henry Selick is a sight to behold, and the performances from a largely BIPOC cast are all wonderful. The banter and chemistry between Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key is one of the film’s many highlights and harkens back to the best episodes of Key & Peele. All of this comes together to form a new animation classic just in time for this year’s Halloween.
