The last animated movie that I watched on Netflix was Klaus in 2019.  That was my favorite animated movie from that year.  Is Netflix on a roll with animation?

If The Willoughbys are any indication, the answer to that question is a resounding yes!

The four Willoughby children, Tim (Will Forte), Jane (Alessia Cara), and the twins both named Barnaby (Seán Cullen) have bad parents.  I mean…really bad parents (Martin Short & Jane Krakowski).  Parents who neglect them and ignore them.  So the Willoughby children decide that the would be better off by themselves and they choose to orphan themselves by sending their horrible parents on an adventure around the world.  However, the parents hire the children a Nanny (Maya Rudolph) who may have an issue as well.

This movie reminded me very much of an animated version of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, only flipped backward.  There are some dark tones here as some terrible things are done and happen, but there is a positive theme underneath the negativeness.  It is also a very funny film, narrated by the Cat (Ricky Gervais).

The animation is very well done and the colors are off the charts.  The rainbow color theme is just the opposite of Lemony Snicket book series.

The Willoughbys is based as well on a children’s book and comes together extremely well.  It actually is a bit predictable, but it gets to that place in such an entertaining manner that I could forgive a few expected beats in the plot.

It did take awhile to get started, but once the film got going, I was engaged in what it was showing me.  A great voice cast, colorful animation and a clever written script made up for the predictable plot.  The Willoughbys is a fun time for a family.

4.25 stars