The Willoughbys Review & More - Tooned Up #3
Welcome to a very special episode of Renegade Pop Culture’s animation-focused podcast, Tooned Up! For this episode, co-hosts Mike and Cameron are joined by special guests PJ Campbell from Schmoes Know and the PJ Campbell Network, and Evan Degraff from Famous Last Words, who provide their expertise and knowledge on the medium of animation and movies in general, and we were so grateful to have them on the show! This week, we chat about Netflix’s The Willoughbys, HBO Max’s upcoming launch, and whether or not Sony can make a live action adaptation of One Punch Man work. Cameron also catches us up on the news, and everyone sings the praises of Captain Underpants. Yep, it’s another episode of Tooned Up, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Since I have seen the Willoughbys, I thought I’d offer some of my thoughts on the film and a couple of the other topics covered by the podcast team here, since I wasn’t on the show (ed. note: this is Keona speaking). First off, Netflix’s latest animated feature is a visual feast! I really liked the colorful aesthetic and the stylized animation they utilized for the film, which reminded me of stop-motion or claymation. Character design is also unique and interesting, especially as the film hits its stride in the second act. I also enjoyed the musical score and soundtrack in this film, as it fit the movie perfectly, and the voice cast is uniformly stellar.
However, I felt that there was a bit of dissonance between the way the movie presents itself and it’s actual plot. For instance, early on in the film, the narrator (a talking cat voiced by Ricky Gervais) tells us that the movie is a different sort of tale, one that isn’t centered around a happy family. It hints at a darker edge than most animated features, and while it’s certainly true that the Willoughbys start off as a very dysfunctional family, the movie never becomes too bleak or cynical, and the wacky humor throughout the film keeps it from getting too dark.
In fact, it’s a downright sweet story about the Willoughby children—Tim, Jane, and the Barnaby twins—learning to trust in each other and forge stronger familial bonds with each other even though their disgustingly neglectful parents are hateful, selfish people who make no effort to take care of their own children. Despite this, the Willoughby siblings come together over the course of the movie (after tricking their parents into taking a long vacation away from them), and as the story covers more fantastical ground, it’s the bond between the kids that serves as the heart of the narrative.
For me, the Willoughbys was a decent movie with a great visual style and voice cast, some dark undertones, and a triumphant ending where the kids finally discover their true family. It’s not perfect, and I found the more manic segments (the candy factory, for example) a bit grating, but overall, it’s a fun watch.
As for HBO Max’s upcoming launch, I’m extremely intrigued by their animation offerings, which include new Looney Tunes shorts (yes!), Studio Ghibli’s lineup, the entire South Park series, Rick & Morty, Robot Chicken, Crunchyroll’s anime library, and much more. It’s already a great collection of animated shows, and when you combine that with a growing selection of original series like Jellystone (which is about Hanna-Barbera’s original characters like Yogi Bear and Magilla Gorilla), I think it’s worth the $15/month price point. Being that I’m already an HBO Now subscriber, I think Max is a no-brainer, but we’ll see how it all turns out.