The Willoughbys: Review by @Kush_Hayes
When first presented with the idea that I would have to review, The Willoughbys, Netfilxs newest addition to their streaming empire, I was less than enthusiastic. The fact of the matter I miss seeing things intended for a more mature audience. And while every voice talent in this film does a great job, its never a thing that draws me to an animated film. Im happy to say Im good about keeping an open mind and was thoroughly surprised and entertained by this film from the first opening minutes going forward.
The story is based on a book by the same name from 2008 by Lois Lowry whose work goes back as far as 1977 and is about a married couple, whose love for each other is unchallenged and also never reaches beyond that space. What that means is as soon as they discover theyre parents, and yes its absurd to think they had no idea they were pregnant, they immediately dismiss their offspring and go back about their lives. They also manage to have three more children and pay them less than the minimum attention thats mandated by law, forget about just being a good person. The movie makes great strides to detail what horrible people these two are. And the children are pretty much on their own. And the children are pretty desperate for a whole new life.
Upon having a whole other child dropped off on their doorstep the Willoughby Children at first decide to welcome the child in, they are immediately kicked out of the house by their own parents who are tickled at the notion that they didnt think to do this sooner. The Children set off to find a home for the new orphan while contemplating the meaning of being orphans themselves. The Oldest child, who is played by Will Forte, shows signs of anxiety, mania as well as PTSD on this adventure. Because these children conservatively range between nine and five, they dont what to do and leave the child on the doorstep of a candy factory. They also then get the idea to trick their parents into going away on a world trip without them. Its pretty simple and almost easier to do than it was to set up the execution of the plan. Despite literally hating their own children they somehow manage to do one responsible thing and hire a nanny, “the ‘not best’ nanny”, but a nanny anyway.
This is actually the best case scenario for the children although they are still unaware that their parents hired this nanny, played by Maya Rudolph with lots of warm and fuzzy feelings and you actually feel like the kids are going to ok. The Nanny, who goes by Linda, admits she isnt the best, but soon discovers she is much better than what they were previously dealing with before her as she learns of the abuse bestowed upon them including starvation, neglect, being captive in a storage room for coal just to name a few. She also finds out about the twice abandoned orphan left at the candy factory and goes out to find her. Just to move things along, we find out the Candyman, played by Terry Crews is not only an ok dude, but is more than happy to adopt the orphan. The Nanny helps him out with a more proper diet for the child than just the sugar and candy surrounding the candy factory. We see the kids instantly take to Linda and even Tim, the Oldest, finally loosens up and accepts her as his new mother figure. And because we need some conflict, Social Services comes into the picture and the children are separated. This movie is already crazy but we manage to get crazier in our third act as we try to reunite the children and resolve the movies conflicts set in motion.
The animation in this is simply fantastic. Its a shame that todays current climate of a total global pandemic is keeping this from being seen on as big a screen as possible as exhibited at our local megaplexes. I am unfamiliar with Foreshadow Films previous work, but their collaboration with BRON Animation is a team up that I want to see more from in the future. The blend of CGI and Stop Motion animation makes you hope this gets a big screen release when things come back to as close to normal in the near future. As you can or cant imagine most of the film is light hearted and fun but then we get scenes where Social Services surrounds the Willoughbys home and the tension is thick. Fantastic scene as well that should be focused on. Assuming we have an Industry Trophy Ceremony in Feb 2021, I hope this movie is included in the Best Animated Feature category.
As I stated above, I had no idea what this was, meaning I didnt really have any expectations, but I dont think you can attribute that to why I enjoyed this film. The Willoughbys is a great family film with several recurring gags that you dont tire of as well as miles of heart that explores serious issues people are growing up with today. Themes explored include, adoption, abandonment, institutionalization, abuse and neglect just to name a few. In the end, and maybe it sounds corny out of context, but it doesnt have to be about the family we’re given, but the family we choose.
Four out of Five Blueberries
Rated PG for rude humor and some thematic elements
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