Keegan-Michael KeyandJordan Peelekeep popping up in all sorts of places now thattheir eponymous comedy show has come to a close. Their latest project features the comedic duo teaming up with acclaimed animation directorHenry Selickfor a stop-motion animated movie based on an original idea from Selick. The trio is currently engaging in creative discussions although no buyer is in place just yet.
AsVarietyreports, Selick, Key, and Peele will team up forWendell and Wild, an animated comedy “about two scheming demon brothers who must face their arch-nemesis, the demon-dusting nun Sister Helly, and her two acolytes, the goth teens Kat and Raoul,” in Selick’s words. The project is a reflection of his attraction to dark and twisted tales, as can be seen in his filmography which includesThe Nightmare before ChristmasandCoraline. Selick will co-writeWendell and Wildwith Peele, and will also be directing and producing the picture.
While Selick is obviously well versed in the world of animation, Key and Peele aren’t exactly strangers. Both have performed a number of voice-acting roles including characters onBob’s Burgers, and Key has roles in bothThe Angry Birds MovieandSupermansion. The duo is currently at work on bringing about an animated series based on their Critiquer’s Corner characters “Vandaveon and Mike.”
Selick also has a few other projects in the works, including another collaboration withCoralineauthorNeil Gaiman. He’s also looking to resume his work on directing an adaptation ofAdam Gidwitz’s“A Tale Dark and Grimm”for FilmNation; the project was paused due to an illness in Selick’s family. Though Selick spent a good amount of time - two years, all told - on his original storyThe Shadow Kingat Disney afterCoraline, the studio opted to pass on it. Selick describes it as follows:
“Originally much darker, it became the story of a shy boy who learns to use his ridiculously long fingers to make living hand shadows and ultimately save his jealous brother from a shadow monster."
Further explaining his propensity for darker material, Selick elaborated:
“We are who we are,” he says. “Charles Addams cartoons, the original ‘Twilight Zone’ series, Ray Harryhausen’s stop-mo monsters, Disney’s ‘Night on Bald Mountain,’ Charles Laughton’s ‘The Night of the Hunter,’ the original ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ – these were the things that caught and held my attention as a kid. Used to be what I liked was a small percentage of what was being made. These days, everything is dark, darker, darkest.”
Hopefully as studios and audiences go darker, it will further open up the doors to creatives like Selick who thrive within the shadows.
