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Wendell and Wild
#340: Link and Josué discuss Wendell and Wild, covering topics like trauma, survivor’s guilt, family dynamics, and shadow integration. Plus, the power of good representation and stop motion animation.
Transcript
Josué Cardona 0:11
Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here Geek Therapy. We believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about. My name is Cardona. And I’m joined by link Keller.
Link Keller 0:21
Hello, friends,
Josué Cardona 0:24
friend, its just me,
Link Keller 0:26
and the listeners
Josué Cardona 0:27
and the listeners. Yep. Just you and me today when we know, every every week we try to practice what we preach here at Geek Therapy. So we try to look at examples in media that we can dissect and see how we can connect them to basically overanalyze the hell out of them and pick them apart. It’s delicious. It’s so good
Link Keller 0:50
delicious. yumyumyum
Josué Cardona 0:52
So it was your turn to choose our our subject this week, and we’re going to talk about the film. Wendell and wild on Netflix.
Link Keller 1:05
Yes.
Josué Cardona 1:06
Which I described to someone earlier as Key and Peele. Spooky demon stuff. Stop Motion.
Link Keller 1:14
That’s basically it. We did it, good job, go us!
Josué Cardona 1:17
sold, right if it you like that. I mean, that’s all I needed to know.
Link Keller 1:23
Yeah.
Josué Cardona 1:25
Tell me more about Wendell and wild.
Link Keller 1:28
Wendell and wild is a stop motion animation. Horror comedy. It is directed by Henry Selick, who you may know from Coraline Corpse Bride Nightmare Before Christmas.
Josué Cardona 1:47
So I guess he’s the only one that does stop motion.
Link Keller 1:50
He’s, he’s the big guy. Yeah. And, and then written, in part by him and Jordan Peele. I watched a couple of behind the scenes stuff earlier today in preparation. And what I did not know is that this has been a project since like, 2015. This has been in the works for a long time. Jordan Peele started working on this before get out came out, which is honestly crazy for me to think about, because I feel like it fits in with his works really well. But yeah, it is a story about a young girl, Kat, who has dealt with some pretty heavy stuff. And she has personal demons named Wendell and wild, played by or voiced by Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key. And it is a really sweet story. And the animation is gorgeous. I had a really fun time watching it. And I have watched it a lot, because the child I care for really likes it. And so we have watched it many times.
Josué Cardona 3:10
I have a question. And you said it was in the works since 2015. Does that mean like it was in pre production in 2015? Or have they been?
Link Keller 3:18
I think this was like an idea that Henry had, that this is something that he wanted to do. And he said that he had been a huge fan of Key and Peele, like their comedy show. And he was basically like, I would like to work with them on this. And sort of sent out the feelers is like, it turns out, like they have, like totally meshing ideas about storytelling and characterization and what is funny, and what is scary, and so a good match, they came together, and they created this beautiful work of art that we get to enjoy now, like, seven years later.
Josué Cardona 4:01
I mean, it takes so long, right? To do stop motion.
Link Keller 4:05
Yes, it does.
Josué Cardona 4:07
It takes like, you do like a second a day or something depending on right, it’s a lot it can be because he had to reposition everything and move them and,
Link Keller 4:15
and they did some like really, technically impressive shots, like, doing stop motion in of itself is very intensive, but having the characters moving and also having the camera moving, and having background pieces moving. And, you know, all that stuff is it takes it takes a long time. You know, you spent a really long time doing character design, because that’s the heart of an animation. And so yeah,
Josué Cardona 4:48
yeah, I saw how things were rigged up. I had never seen a stop motion done that way. Yeah.
Link Keller 4:54
it’s so cool right?
Josué Cardona 4:55
Like all these cranes and stuff and moving things around, and I was like, oh, that’s and they’re pretty big too. There was one shot I remember towards the end, where I think it’s Raul is, is looking at the like a car that’s driving away, like the camera moves behind him. And then like, it focuses away from him. But yeah, he’s still there. And then you see the like, they just moved all that stuff like, like they move three different things simultaneously in you know, in micrometers over and over and over again and kept taking pictures until Yeah, now it’s visually really impressive. It looks really cool. Like it Ah, yeah. Other than being beautiful. What do you want to talk about?
Link Keller 5:43
Well, let’s get into some spoilers.
Josué Cardona 5:47
Yes.
Link Keller 5:47
So for our listeners, if you have not seen this movie, you can keep listening. That’s fine. I don’t mind. But if you want to watch it, you should. It’s really good.
Josué Cardona 5:56
Yes.
Link Keller 5:58
Basically, it opens with Kat and her parents, and they’re in this town and her parents are doing a special event to try and raise money for the town and to promote growth and all this stuff. And it’s very sweet. And they clearly care about the people that they are around. And then a terrible accident happens. And both of her parents die in a car crash. And she gets shipped off to foster care functionally. And she becomes a little delinquent and gets in trouble and all this stuff. And several years later ends up going back to this town to the Catholic girls school, which is doing a new program called ‘break the cycle’ where they are taking in delinquent children to give them a second chance to succeed. And she’s part of that program. But this town that she’s returning to is is destroyed her parents brewery has been burned down and it was like, bad, which she didn’t know about. And basically, everybody’s moved away. And it’s just the school and then a corporation that is trying to open a for profit prison. And
Josué Cardona 7:32
explicitly. It’s not like, it’s not like a metaphor for prison. It’s not like, you know, we’re, we’re trying to you know, it’s kind of a stretch now it’s, it’s an actual prison, and they lay out their business model,
Link Keller 7:45
which is, which is to get money for, quote, quote, marks help children, but to set them up for failure so that then they go to the prison and they have funds from they make money off of prisoners.
Josué Cardona 8:03
And there’s zero rehabilitation and low quality food, housing, and etc.
Link Keller 8:11
Yes, it is. It is the darkest version. I mean, prison in general is pretty fucking dark already. But that like they lean into is like this is we’re here to do evil and it’s fun. And we’re gonna get filthy, filthy rich off of it.
Josué Cardona 8:29
Yeah, you don’t know what the school to prison pipeline is. Let’s lay it out for step one.
Link Keller 8:35
Step one. Destroy town. Step two. Fuck them kids. Yeah, so it Kat is a hell Maiden,
Josué Cardona 8:54
what?!
Link Keller 8:54
which is she has a connection to demons. And her her two demons are Wendell and wild and...
View all episodes
By Geek Therapy Network#340: Link and Josué discuss Wendell and Wild, covering topics like trauma, survivor’s guilt, family dynamics, and shadow integration. Plus, the power of good representation and stop motion animation.
Transcript
Josué Cardona 0:11
Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here Geek Therapy. We believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about. My name is Cardona. And I’m joined by link Keller.
Link Keller 0:21
Hello, friends,
Josué Cardona 0:24
friend, its just me,
Link Keller 0:26
and the listeners
Josué Cardona 0:27
and the listeners. Yep. Just you and me today when we know, every every week we try to practice what we preach here at Geek Therapy. So we try to look at examples in media that we can dissect and see how we can connect them to basically overanalyze the hell out of them and pick them apart. It’s delicious. It’s so good
Link Keller 0:50
delicious. yumyumyum
Josué Cardona 0:52
So it was your turn to choose our our subject this week, and we’re going to talk about the film. Wendell and wild on Netflix.
Link Keller 1:05
Yes.
Josué Cardona 1:06
Which I described to someone earlier as Key and Peele. Spooky demon stuff. Stop Motion.
Link Keller 1:14
That’s basically it. We did it, good job, go us!
Josué Cardona 1:17
sold, right if it you like that. I mean, that’s all I needed to know.
Link Keller 1:23
Yeah.
Josué Cardona 1:25
Tell me more about Wendell and wild.
Link Keller 1:28
Wendell and wild is a stop motion animation. Horror comedy. It is directed by Henry Selick, who you may know from Coraline Corpse Bride Nightmare Before Christmas.
Josué Cardona 1:47
So I guess he’s the only one that does stop motion.
Link Keller 1:50
He’s, he’s the big guy. Yeah. And, and then written, in part by him and Jordan Peele. I watched a couple of behind the scenes stuff earlier today in preparation. And what I did not know is that this has been a project since like, 2015. This has been in the works for a long time. Jordan Peele started working on this before get out came out, which is honestly crazy for me to think about, because I feel like it fits in with his works really well. But yeah, it is a story about a young girl, Kat, who has dealt with some pretty heavy stuff. And she has personal demons named Wendell and wild, played by or voiced by Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key. And it is a really sweet story. And the animation is gorgeous. I had a really fun time watching it. And I have watched it a lot, because the child I care for really likes it. And so we have watched it many times.
Josué Cardona 3:10
I have a question. And you said it was in the works since 2015. Does that mean like it was in pre production in 2015? Or have they been?
Link Keller 3:18
I think this was like an idea that Henry had, that this is something that he wanted to do. And he said that he had been a huge fan of Key and Peele, like their comedy show. And he was basically like, I would like to work with them on this. And sort of sent out the feelers is like, it turns out, like they have, like totally meshing ideas about storytelling and characterization and what is funny, and what is scary, and so a good match, they came together, and they created this beautiful work of art that we get to enjoy now, like, seven years later.
Josué Cardona 4:01
I mean, it takes so long, right? To do stop motion.
Link Keller 4:05
Yes, it does.
Josué Cardona 4:07
It takes like, you do like a second a day or something depending on right, it’s a lot it can be because he had to reposition everything and move them and,
Link Keller 4:15
and they did some like really, technically impressive shots, like, doing stop motion in of itself is very intensive, but having the characters moving and also having the camera moving, and having background pieces moving. And, you know, all that stuff is it takes it takes a long time. You know, you spent a really long time doing character design, because that’s the heart of an animation. And so yeah,
Josué Cardona 4:48
yeah, I saw how things were rigged up. I had never seen a stop motion done that way. Yeah.
Link Keller 4:54
it’s so cool right?
Josué Cardona 4:55
Like all these cranes and stuff and moving things around, and I was like, oh, that’s and they’re pretty big too. There was one shot I remember towards the end, where I think it’s Raul is, is looking at the like a car that’s driving away, like the camera moves behind him. And then like, it focuses away from him. But yeah, he’s still there. And then you see the like, they just moved all that stuff like, like they move three different things simultaneously in you know, in micrometers over and over and over again and kept taking pictures until Yeah, now it’s visually really impressive. It looks really cool. Like it Ah, yeah. Other than being beautiful. What do you want to talk about?
Link Keller 5:43
Well, let’s get into some spoilers.
Josué Cardona 5:47
Yes.
Link Keller 5:47
So for our listeners, if you have not seen this movie, you can keep listening. That’s fine. I don’t mind. But if you want to watch it, you should. It’s really good.
Josué Cardona 5:56
Yes.
Link Keller 5:58
Basically, it opens with Kat and her parents, and they’re in this town and her parents are doing a special event to try and raise money for the town and to promote growth and all this stuff. And it’s very sweet. And they clearly care about the people that they are around. And then a terrible accident happens. And both of her parents die in a car crash. And she gets shipped off to foster care functionally. And she becomes a little delinquent and gets in trouble and all this stuff. And several years later ends up going back to this town to the Catholic girls school, which is doing a new program called ‘break the cycle’ where they are taking in delinquent children to give them a second chance to succeed. And she’s part of that program. But this town that she’s returning to is is destroyed her parents brewery has been burned down and it was like, bad, which she didn’t know about. And basically, everybody’s moved away. And it’s just the school and then a corporation that is trying to open a for profit prison. And
Josué Cardona 7:32
explicitly. It’s not like, it’s not like a metaphor for prison. It’s not like, you know, we’re, we’re trying to you know, it’s kind of a stretch now it’s, it’s an actual prison, and they lay out their business model,
Link Keller 7:45
which is, which is to get money for, quote, quote, marks help children, but to set them up for failure so that then they go to the prison and they have funds from they make money off of prisoners.
Josué Cardona 8:03
And there’s zero rehabilitation and low quality food, housing, and etc.
Link Keller 8:11
Yes, it is. It is the darkest version. I mean, prison in general is pretty fucking dark already. But that like they lean into is like this is we’re here to do evil and it’s fun. And we’re gonna get filthy, filthy rich off of it.
Josué Cardona 8:29
Yeah, you don’t know what the school to prison pipeline is. Let’s lay it out for step one.
Link Keller 8:35
Step one. Destroy town. Step two. Fuck them kids. Yeah, so it Kat is a hell Maiden,
Josué Cardona 8:54
what?!
Link Keller 8:54
which is she has a connection to demons. And her her two demons are Wendell and wild and...