The Willoughbys (2020)

Directed by: Kris Pearn, Cory Evans, Rob Lodermeier | 90 minutes | animation, adventure | Original voice cast: Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Alessia Cara, Terry Crews, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, Seán Cullen, Ricky Gervais, Brian Drummond, Kris Pearn, Fiona Toth, Michael Dobson, Nancy Robertson, Kathleen Barr, Kiefer Bahrich, Islie Hirvonen , Colleen Wheeler, Bonnie Riley | Dutch voice cast: Tjitske Reidinga, Soundos El Ahmadi, Paul Groot, Johnny Kraaijkamp Jr., Patrick Martens, Vajèn van den Bosch, Murth Mossel, Wart Kamps

Somewhere in America live the last descendants of the noble Willoughby family. The family has traditionally been recognized by its chic homes, well-bred manners and mind-boggling mustaches. Unfortunately, the last descendants consist of a mother and a father (without an impressive moustache) who, like turtledoves in love, only care about each other. Their four children are wasting in the big house. So how do you solve that as a wasted child? Simple, you send your parents on a super-dangerous vacation in the hope that they don’t return.

In animation film ‘The Willoughbys’ we see whether this plan works a bit. Very occasionally we follow Father and Mother Willoughby, who are barely aware of any super danger during the holidays. We spend most of our time with the abandoned children, who have to deal with eccentric nannies, turned up orphans, the orphan tracing service, uniformed candy manufacturers, flying sky structures, unstoppable rainbow vomit and much more.

In ‘The Willoughbys’ one scene logically follows the other, without you having the idea that it serves a greater whole. As a viewer you never know where you stand, so you can enjoy yourself along the meandering story. If there is an overarching element, it is more in the message. ‘The Willoughbys’ has something to say loud and clear about family relationships, especially their less common forms.

Both in loose elements and in humor ‘The Willoughbys’ is indebted to well-known predecessors. We see elements from (among others) ‘Despicable Me’, ‘Home Alone’, ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’. The humor draws mainly from the postmodern American animation culture of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Jokes for young and old, a lot of cultural references and a lot of unfocused craziness.

Visually, this animation film is never special, although the combination of straight lines and bright colors looks fine. In the voice cast, the most surprising is Ricky Gervais as the blue-black cat, who provides the events with sarcastic commentary on his Ricky Gervais’. A nice addition to a film that is also quite nice. But also no more than that.