I have always had a deep fondness for stop-motion animated films. They have a distinguishable, enchanting quality that sets them apart from other animated films. Some of the best and most notable of these films are Coraline, A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. These films have one prominent thing in common: director Henry Selick.

He has recently directed another film to add to this highly rated collection. Wendell & Wild released on Netflix October 21st, 2022. It centers around a young teenage girl, Kat (Lyric Ross), and her struggles with losing her parents to a car accident and going into the foster care/juvenile correctional systems. She comes to be entangled with two demon brothers, Wendell and Wild, who are scheming their way to the land of the living.

Who better to voice the demon brothers than Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key. There is a certain level of absurdity that the characters Wendell and Wild have that Peele and Key are expertly able to capture. They do an excellent of job of portraying the darker side of the characters, as well. They can balance the humor and the horror that these characters embody so well, making it a true delight whenever they come into a scene.

I was elated when I found out that Jordan Peele would not only be starring in this movie but was also a producer for it. In recent years, Peele has made a name for himself as a modern horror director. Learning that he and Henry Selick would be producing and working on this movie gave me high hopes that we would see a more complex and scarier side to this type of film. Wendell & Wild also features a PG-13 rating, something that is not typically common for this type of movie. With the addition of mild cursing, the imagery and thematic content wasn’t necessarily the darker, more complex story I was anticipating it would be.

While Wendell & Wild follows an original narrative, the film is often oversaturated with different themes and storylines struggling for attention. Themes of juvenile correctional facilities to prison facilities, capitalism, and gentrification all are stacked up against Kat’s narrative. While these themes are important and play a part in the movie, it felt like they were trying to do too much with not enough room to accommodate everything.

The animation makes this movie stand out. Balancing between traditional stop-motion animation design and techniques and pop-up book-like design, Wendell & Wild is always visually engaging. A standout from the movie was the scene in which Kat and Sister Helley (Angela Bassett) confront Kat’s memories. A dazzling combination of stop-motion animation and CG brought the audience into the horrors that Kat was facing.

Wendell & Wild is an amusing film, filled with magnificent animation and top-notch voice performances. I’m already scheduling in time this weekend to rewatch it and catch the little details I’m sure I missed on the first watch. Any fans of stop-motion animation, or animation in general, are bound to enjoy this film.