Directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Jordan Peele, Wendell & Wild follows the story of Kat (Lyric Ross), a troubled teen haunted by her past, who must confront her mischievous demons, Wendell & Wild (played by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) to start a new life in her old hometown and attempt to save it.
What a great way to celebrate Halloween by having a stop-motion animated horror comedy film given to us by none other than the underrated directing legend Henry Selick. This film marks Selick’s first feature film since Coraline back in 2009 and now he is back, delivering a bizarre but dementedly fun film that is visually striking, beautifully animated, wonderfully acted, and enjoyable to watch, especially during the spooky season. Henry Selick and Jordan Peele are an interesting creative pair who made something unique and trippy together that is probably going to have a following of its own like Selick’s previous works.
It is a slightly twisted comedy about the dangers of playing with life and death while also being a chaotic series of interconnected events in a small town that was just so damn fun to watch unfold no matter how crazy things went. It definitely might not be for people who are looking for something with more depth like Coraline but I think this has a lot to offer on its own and had a lot of great work put into it.
To start off let’s discuss the stop-motion animation. It has been years since I’ve seen a proper old-school stop-motion animated film and one that looks so damn gorgeous in every single frame, with clay made characters, hand built sets, beautiful colors, and incredible textures. It was truly detailed art put on screen with great passion and imagination. It enhanced the horror and comedic elements of this film while also giving it a unique visual identity that stands out from other animated films, including Selick’s previous works. You can’t help but be enchanted by the visuals with their old-fashioned charm, and admire all the hard work the filmmakers put into making this.
Moving on to characters, we have a bunch of great faces and voices involved that bring in the fun, humor, and sometimes emotion that truly drives this film. Lyric Ross does a fantastic job as Kat, playing a very closed-off and haunted teen who has to deal with her own traumas as well as the events caused by the two demons she carelessly chooses to summon to the land of the living. You understand everything she is going through and you get to see her confront so much within herself that is displayed in a visually artistic manner. She’s definitely a compelling character you can feel attached to and feel her emotions thanks to Ross’s performance and excellent animation.
The titular mischievous demons, voiced by comedic duo Key & Peele, are just as perfect as you would expect. Every time they were on screen working off each other and other characters you can’t help but enjoy their presence as they definitely delivered the most laughs for me. I do personally wish there was a lot more of them in the film considering their names are in the title of the film but that is just me.
One stand-out character and performance I was really surprised by was Raúl Cocolotl, voiced by Sam Zelaya. Raúl is the first trans character I have seen in an animated film and not only was he a fun character on his own that helps our hero, but the way the writers treated his trans identity was perfect and above all respectful. His mother, friends, and classmates are all supportive and validating of his identity. The one time Raúl is misgendered in the film by another character, the character quickly corrects herself and moves on. It’s a brief but illustrative teachable moment; one that doesn’t need to call attention to itself.
We also have some great supporting performances from Angela Bassett, James Hong, Ving Rhames, and many others who all have fun playing their respective roles and bring these colorfully designed characters to life in this imaginative yet dark world.
This film can be darkly hilarious, bizarre, chaotic, emotional, demented, and unexpected with all that it has going on, yet it’s all connected well enough to not be messy and offers enough spooky enjoyment that anyone can get into. That being said there are times I do wish the narrative was a bit more focused on one thing rather than others. And while this film isn’t as deep or thematic as Coraline there are definitely some themes this film has that it handles well, especially when it comes to the character of Kat and the journey she endures.
This film features a great soundtrack as well as a great score by composer Bruno Coulais delivering fitting music for this kind of film.
Wendell & Wild has a lot to admire and love with how creative it is, especially with its animation. It’s definitely worth more attention than it’s getting currently and a worthy watch for Halloween that everyone can enjoy, especially those who love horror comedies. I’m going to give Wendell & Wild an A- = 93.
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