The Willoughbys
Convinced they’d be better off raising themselves, the Willoughby children hatch a sneaky plan to send their selfish parents on vacation. The siblings then embark on their own high-flying adventure to find the true meaning of family.
Context
Instead of running away from home, frustrated siblings Tim (Will Forte), Jane (Alessia Cara) and the Barnabys (Seán Cullen) use their ingenuity to achieve independence in The Willoughbys. The source of their troubles is parents who twirl each other around in evening gloves and three-piece suits, too love-struck and self-centered to give their kids proper attention.
Director, co-writer and executive producer Kris Pearn (CloudywithaChanceofMeatballs2) wasinstantly intrigued by the tone of Lois Lowry’s 2008 children’s novel. “It reminded me of some of the books and movies I loved as a kid growing up, from the works of Roald Dahl and MordecaiRichlertoTheGooniesandS tandbyMe,”hesaid. “Stories where kids aren’t always nice and parents aren’t always nice. There is a really funny, subversive thread through her writing that feels contemporary. In a world where there’s a lot of helicopter parenting, I love this idea about the opposite Lowry’s canon encompasses 40-plus titles, including Newbery Medal winners Number the Stars and The Giver. “I’ve always written different kinds of books and I try to go back and forth between things that are serious and profound to things that are lighter-hearted,” she said. “Most often my books have wonderful parents because I had wonderful parents and I hope that I was a wonderful parent. However, when I wrote The Willoughbys, I created terrible parents, which was sort of fun. But the children triumph in the end.”
Beginning her text with “Once upon a time,” Lowry parodied children’s classics like H eidi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and James and the Giant Peach. With such stories in mind, the siblings conclude that their parents are holding them back from their destinies. Thus they trick Mother (Jane Krakowski) and Father (Martin Short)
into taking a couple’s excursion abroad. When an array of unwanted visitors arrive on their
doorstep, the kids quickly realize the countless disadvantages of being modern-day “orphans.” With guidance from a lovable nanny (Maya Rudolph) and a generous candymaker (Terry Crews), they chase after their folks.
“I thought the story was really quirky and refreshing,” said Aniket Natekar, one of the film’s lead animators. “It reminded me of folklore because it has a ‘Hansel and Gretel’ vibe.”
Composer Mark Mothersbaugh — who has worked on approximately 150 films — added, “The story went beyond the guardrails that are set up at every other studio.”
To further heighten the comedy in the film’s self-awareness, executive producer Ricky Gervais narrates as a world-weary cat. “He’s playing a character,
but it sounds very much like him because he’s a brilliant comedian who likes to poke fun at us humans,” said Pearn.
Unlike the Willoughbys, The Cat roams freely between the bustling city and the family home, an antiquated, museum-like setting inspired by the documentary Grey Gardens and memories from Pearn’s upbringing in London, Ontario, Canada. Pearn was raised on a goat farm, but during his youth, his grandparents were hired to be the caretakers of a stately local mansion. “This was a weird old Victorian house, and it had all these nooks and crannies and stairways and bats and weird animal heads on the wall,” he said. “I was terrified of the house, but I loved being on the grounds and running around. Exploring in a place like this was a kid’s fantasy.”
