Wendell and Wild, a 2022 movie which was directed and produced by Henry Selick who was the same director & producer of Caroline, follows the story of teenage girl Kat Elliot and her struggles with guilt (and demons). When the movie first came out, it was hyped up because Henry Selick was working on it. Yet, was the movie just as good as it was predicted to be? So of course I, who loves to watch movies fashionably late, decided to watch it for the first time four years later.
To dive a bit deeper in the plot, Kat Elliot lost her parents when she was eight due to a car accident. Five years later from the incident, she is labeled a juvenile delinquent who blames herself for her parents death. She is haunted by survivor guilt, which becomes a main focus of her character. Because she is labeled as a delinquent, she is sent to an all girls catholic school. Soon enough, she gets into trouble with some demons, who tell her she’s a “hell maiden” who can summon them to the living world. In exchange, they’ll revive her parents. This is, of course, a simplified version of what sets her on her journey. The plot itself sounds like a very interesting concept, one that holds plenty of potential. But after watching the movie myself, it feels as though there were numerous things missing.
In the first scene it dives right into her parents death, showcasing the events leading up to the car incident. Yet the movie lacks the climax. It feels predictable from the very beginning, and leaves no shock value for the audience. Now, this is a very common opener for movies. It’s for the purpose of showing the main characters tragic backstory, invoking sympathy for them. Yet this movie seems to strip away the tension of it all, leaving bare lines like “this looks bad. Let’s pull over,” which lays out the storyline for you. I’m not saying that there needed to be insane shock value, but the impact for their deaths just wasn’t there.
Immediately after this, it cuts to the “underworld” where the demons live. At least, that’s what it’s believed to be? There’s no real context to what’s going on. And even when you think, this ought to be explained later, it won’t. Where this “underworld” is set, it shows one huge demon with an amusement park on his belly. It shows spirits screaming on rides, and two small demons on his head. One can suspect that this is just one place within that underworld, yet it’s never quite explained in the movie. The movie struggled with world building, it was produced in a way that was hard for the audience to understand. It’s a recurring theme of; what the hell is going on? The movie cuts between these paranormal, demon-like beings, and our main character interacting with the school. The plot feels like a mess throughout most of the movie, and it only causes deeper confusion for the watcher.
The pacing is another issue. The movie deserved more time to lay out its story, but it didn’t. It felt compacted, and almost rushed. It was clear that they didn’t have enough time to fit in everything they wanted. Things were confusing, important scenes felt fast, characters didn’t feel fleshed out. Character development felt minimal; and for a stop motion film with no real actors, one could comment “the acting sucked,” (Something my mother said when watching it). Watching a story that had such an interestingly complex idea fall apart due to lack of time, hurt to see. Yet this is about the flaws AND strengths of the movie. So what might those strengths be?
One thing the movie did wonderfully was character design. The style was unique, and the stop motion only amplified that aspect. The characters themselves were also a fresh breeze into the character design world. It’s not often you see young black women as main characters, especially a punk rock character who doesn’t just feel like a big stereotype. Kat Elliot’s design was great. I totally geeked out seeing her as a huge character design nerd myself. Her punk-rock style really amplified her edgy personality.
Her style showed how she wasn’t afraid to be out there, how she had that rude edge to her, and it separated her from the other characters. Which showed how she was “different” than the other kids there. Showing a piece of the characters personality just from their style is key to a good character design, and her emerald green hair put in a odango style really tied everything together. Why? Because it looks sick!
The other characters’ designs were also well done, not only was each design unique in facial structure, yet when put in uniforms they still let their personality shine through that. Whether it be the students, the demons, the nuns, or other side characters, the designs were spectacular. This is not in a sense that the designs were very intricate and “pleasing” to the eye. But in a way where you could tell they put a lot of thought into each character’s personality and how their design should correspond with that.
The movie also did a great job with its diversity and representation. The casts of characters were very diverse, not only in ethnicity but also structure. We had characters that were short and somewhat stubby, long and stretched out, thicker ones, thinner ones, disabled characters. It was honestly great to see so many different people compacted in one movie. And it didn’t feel like it was shoved down my throat. “Look at us! We have a movie with a diverse cast! Praise us!” It just felt normal.
And my favorite representation they added, was their queer representation. Kat’s friend she makes in the story, Raul, is a trans male going to the same catholic school. Not only is it rare to get trans representation at all in media, but seeing trans male representation felt like a big win for a community that barely gets acknowledged. The thing that I love about his character is that, yes, he’s trans. But it’s not made a big deal. He’s still treated as just another character in the story. They don’t treat him differently than the others, and they don’t make his whole character revolve around his gender identity.
The diversity was the thing that really made the whole thing shine, it was wonderful to see and watch. It really pulled the movie together, and made up for the flaws that were presented, which still allowed for a decent watch.
Overall the movie wasn’t the greatest, best a 6.5/10 for me. Yet hearing different perspectives is important, so I encourage those who read this to watch the movie, and see what you do and don’t agree with. I hope that this article inspires others to watch Wendell and Wild, and determine your own opinion with the movie.
