It’s been more than 10 years since director Henry Selick’s last film Coraline, but he’s finally back with Wendell & Wild. The spooky animated film reunites the beloved Key & Peele comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele,  who give life to the titular demon duo. You’ll be able to hear their voices — and see Selick’s gorgeous stop-motion vistas when Wendell & Wild hits Netflix on Oct. 28. 

The titular Wendell and Wild are two prisoners who are trapped on the scalp of a giant demon named Buffalo Belzer. Soon enough, they escape from their hellish prison and embark on a quest to enter the world of the living — with the help of a rebellious young woman named Kat. For writer/director Selick, the mischievous pair had some unexpected real-life inspirations. “It was inspired by my sons when they were little and they were, you know, demonic at times,” Selick tells Tudum with a chuckle. Initially Selick intended to turn the concept into a short story, but when it evolved into a film, his own television habits helped him find his stars. “I found out about [Key & Peele] and started watching the first couple of seasons,” Selick says. “And I pitched a few things, including Wendell & Wild, because it's sort of like, Wendell and Wild, Key and Peele. It just seemed like a natural fit.”

Once the pair had been brought on board (with Nope and Get Out filmmaker Peele also serving as co-writer), Selick wanted their presence in the film to be obvious. “I wanted Wendell & Wild to be caricatures of Key and Peele,” he says. “I felt it was important — it was going to be a reunion of them as a comedy duo.” The crew turned to include famed graphic designer Pablo Lobato (whose work you may have seen in The New Yorker and The Washington Post, among others). “He designed all the characters and initially, we started with much more Picasso-esque designs because that's what he's known for,” Selick says. “That will be for them in their demonic form, in the underworld. They'll be a little more dimensional when they're in the Land of the Living.”

The same is true for the characters themselves as their relationship with Kat and the Land of the Living evolves. To find out where they ultimately wind up, you’ll have to watch the film. But one thing’s for sure, the three-dimensional versions of Wendell and Wild have already escaped a much more certain fiery demise during the film’s production in Portland, Oregon. “Two summers ago, we had forest fires come so close we had to evacuate all the puppets from the studio,” Selick says. “We need the puppets, because they're very valuable and hard to make, and they take a lot of time. So we rescued all the puppets just in case.” 

Wendell & Wild hits Netflix Oct. 28; it will also play in select theaters starting on Oct. 21 — just in time for a demon’s favorite time of year.

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