From a satirical book for the little ones by the famous American writer Lois Lowry comes the animated film The Willoughby Family. Available from 22 April streaming on Netflix it is directed and scripted (together with Mark Stanleigh) by Kris Pearn known for his work with Piovono polpette 2 – the rematch of 2013 leftovers.
Lois Lowry is a writer with great fortune in the United States and who in Italy has seen the publication of the dystopian series for children, The world of Jonas, for those of Giunti, whose first volume, “The Giver – Il donatore”, has become also a film The world of Jonas.
The Willoughby Family looks with great irony at the more modern family where parents and children don’t seem to need each other. Thus, feeling neglected by parents too busy looking after themselves and essentially selfish, the four Willoghby boys – Tim, the twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and sister Jane – instead of demanding more attention, put in place an alternative plan. The strategy is to get rid of the two by sending them on a long and adventurous vacation. The main characteristic of this trip is that you have to leave absolutely without children. Both parents have no doubts and loaded the car with each order of luggage, they leave without looking back. Left alone the four, however, are flanked by a nanny who was sent precisely by the parents to look after them. But social services intervene and the young Willoughby decide to flee. Thus begins for them a journey that redefines the sense of family for the Willoghby.
The film is produced by Bron Animation, the Canadian company that in 2019 contributed to the making of the animated film The Addams Family. Being available on Netflix it is also possible to listen to it and appreciate it with the voice of the original voice actors. Characters such as Martin Short and Ricky Gervais (who plays the role of storyteller here) or even Jane Krakowski and Will Forte took part in the project. The young Canadian singer of Italian origins Alessia Cara is instead Jane one of the Willoughby brothers, who loves to sing. Many also in Italy have noticed her for her participation in the single Nerd Heart of the album by J-Ax and Fedex, “Communists with Rolex”. We owe the appearance of the characters to the designer Craig Kellman who has worked on successful films such as Madagascar, Hotel Transylvania and also The Addams Family.