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Wendell & Wild
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Wendell & Wild
| image = Wendell & Wild poster.jpg
| caption = Promotional release poster
| director = Henry Selick
| screenplay =
| based_on =
| producer =
| starring =
| cinematography = Peter Sorg
| music = Bruno Coulais
| editing =
| production_companies =
| distributor = Netflix
| released =
| runtime = 105 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'Wendell & Wild' is a 2022 American stop-motion horror comedy film directed by Henry Selick from a screenplay written by Selick and Jordan Peele (who also serve as producers), based on Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman's unpublished book of the same name. It stars Keegan-Michael Key and Peele as the titular characters with Lyric Ross, Angela Bassett, James Hong, and Ving Rhames in supporting roles. The film marks Selick's first feature film since 'Coraline' (2009).
'Wendell & Wild' had its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022 and is scheduled to be released in select theaters on October 21 before its streaming release on October 28 by Netflix. The film received positive reviews from critics who welcomed Selicks return and praised the stop-motion animation and characters.
Premise
Two scheming demon brothers, Wendell and Wild (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele), enlist the aid of 13-year-old Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) to summon them to the Land of the Living.[https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/second-wendell-wild-teaser-introduces-kat/ Second 'Wendell & Wild' Teaser Introduces Kat]
Voice cast
* Keegan-Michael Key as Wendell[https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/netflix-tunes-the-dial-to-demonic-with-wendell-wild-teaser/ Netflix Tunes the Dial to Demonic with 'Wendell & Wild' Teaser]
* Jordan Peele as Wild
* Lyric Ross as Kat Elliot
* Angela Bassett as Sister Helley
* James Hong as Father Bests
* Ving Rhames as Buffalo Belzer
* Sam Zelaya as Raul
* Tamara Smart as Siobhan
* Seema Virdi as Sloane
* Ramona Young as Sweetie
* Michele Mariana as Sister Daley / Sister Chinstrap[https://www.animationmagazine.net/events/wendell-wild-world-premiere-reps-animation-in-tiff-special-presentations/ 'Wendell & Wild' World Premiere Reps Animation in TIFF Special Presentations]
Additionally, Natalie Martinez, Tantoo Cardinal, Igal Naor, Gary Gatewood, Gabrielle Dennis, David Harewood, and Maxine Peake have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Production
Development
On November 3, 2015, it was reported that Henry Selick was developing 'Wendell & Wild', a new stop-motion feature with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, based on an original story by Selick. On March 14, 2018, the film was picked up by Netflix. In a July 2019 interview, Key described the voice acting process, where "Jordan and I came in and did a session against static at recording booths, sitting looking across at Jordan and it's lots of ideas flowing, cutting each other off to keep that organic feeling. That usually ends up on the cutting room floor as you find the voices and you want a little refinementsome rhythm. We spent a good deal of time with an initial scene that Henry wrote discovering the characters and the framework of the scene. And then he uses that as inspiration to keep writing". Pablo Lobato served as lead designer on the stop-motion puppets. On June 4, 2020, Bruno Coulais was confirmed as the composer. On March 14, 2022, the cast was revealed by Netflix on YouTube.
Animation
On June 15, 2020, production was being done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, with lead writer and voice actor Peele explaining he, "had an absolute blast working with Henry Selick and the crew for 'Wendell & Wild'. I cannot wait for you to discover this film". In an October 8, 2020 interview with 'The Hollywood Reporter', the film's producer, Gotham Group CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, elaborated on the project by saying, "we're mid-production in Portland, Oregon, where the crew has suffered through fires, most recently, COVID and a lot of political and social unrest. It's been a very challenging movie." Editing was done by Robert Anich, while Peter Sorg served as cinematographer.[https://uk.linkedin.com/in/peter-sorg-02463998 Peter Sorg Biography][https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertanich Robert Anich Biography] By February 2021, production on the film was ongoing in Portland.Release
'Wendell & Wild' had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022 and is scheduled to be released in select theaters on October 21, 2022, before its release on Netflix on October 28, 2022. On November 6, 2018, Netflix announced the film was scheduled to be released in 2021. On July 18, 2019, Key announced the film was planned to be released in late 2020. On January 14, 2021, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos revealed that the film's release would be moved to "2022 or later", to meet Netflix's criteria of releasing six animated features per year. Simon & Schuster would adapt the screenplay to novel form, to tie into the film's release.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 'Wendell & Wild' holds an approval rating of 91% based on 11 reviews with an average of 7.1/10 On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the films has a score of 73 out 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally positive reviews".
Chase Hutchinson, of 'Collider', gave a positive review, saying "when it all comes together, 'Wendell & Wild' ends up feeling liberating, both artistically and thematically, with top work from all involved." Sarah Bea Milner, of '/Film', also gave a positive review, writing "move over 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' there's a new stop-motion horror flick in town." Michael Rechtshaffen, of 'The Hollywood Reporter', further praised the film for being "a fresh, highly original concoction of playful Grand Guignol proportions." Radheyan Simonpillai, of 'The Guardian', wrote "the more characters Selick has to work with, the more room there is for his deliciously strange and comic visual craft." In a positive review, for 'RogerEbert.com', Brian Tallerico wrote "there's no denying that this is a world that animation fans will just want to explore, to live in, to savor. It's been too long since we got a window into Henry Selick's brain and it's still an amazing view.
Meagan Navarro, of 'Bloody Disgusting', gave a lukewarm review, writing "it's an entertaining, if a bit overstuffed, romp through hell and back, with memorable characters and amusingly macabre hijinks." Esther Zuckerman, writing for 'Vanity Fair', said the film "is slightly too convoluted with some world-building short-changed, but it twists and turns to a place of genuine emotion and a rousing call to take down the ghouls of the real world rather than the demons of the underworld." 'The Playlist'
References
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