The Willoughbys
The Willoughby’s is the latest animated movie from Netflix. Netflix scored a few nominations in the animated categories of the Oscars last year, so it’s no surprise that they are continuing the trend of original animated content. The premise of this movie is focused on the family, The Willoughby’s. The parents, simply referred to as Father (Martin Short) and Mother (Jane Krakowski) have an abundance of love for each other, but have no love whatsoever for their children.
Tim (Will Forte) is the oldest child and yearns to be loved by his parents and to make his Willoughby ancestors proud. Jane (Alessia Caro) is second in line and she doesn’t care for her parents all that much. The twins are both called Barnaby (Sean Cullen), if that gives you any idea at how little attention the parents pay to their own kids. They couldn’t even bother to come up with a second name.
The kids hatch a plan to get rid of their parents by sending them on an exotic and dangerous vacation. While the parents are away, the Nanny (Maya Rudolph) fills their house with food, fun, and song. She has a big personality that clashes immeasurably with the gloomy haze the Mother and Father have left in their wake. The rest of the movie revolves around the children learning how to trust adults and attempting to figure out how to better the situation with their uninterested parents.
The Willoughbys is kooky and a little off putting at first, but once you get used to the rhythm of the movie, it becomes incredibly entertaining. For all of it’s zany and colorful characters, The Willoughbys is a sweet story about finding your family and what it means to actually be a family. There are some very neat animation scenes, in this stop motion-esque flick. A scene wherein a baby gets caught on a conveyor belt in a candy factory reminded me of how Wes Anderson might structure a scene. The jerky, quick movements in the animation style mirror the darker and more morose elements of the story.
The narrator who is a cat (Ricky Gervais), informs you at the beginning that this isn’t your typical happy go lucky animated film. It is true that there are some moments that get quite dark. I especially liked that when given the chance to change and be better, some characters plowed ahead with selfishness and disdain instead. This animated movie won’t be for everyone, but it has a lot of valuable messages about family and your relationship with your parents.
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like darker themes
2. You like animation
3. You like zany movies
