The Willoughbys

The Willoughbys is an American CGI-animated comedy film directed by Kris Pern from a screenplay by Kris Pearn and Mark Stanleigh. The film is fased on the book of the same name by Lois Lowry.

Summary
"Four siblings with horribly selfish parents hatch a plan to get rid of them for good and form a perfectly imperfect family of their own."

- Official Netflix synopsis

Plot
The Willoughbys were once considered a proud family, full of the greatest men and women around. The reputation of the Willoughbys is sullen by the parents of the four protagonists, who love no one but each other and neglect their children terribly. Tim, the eldest of the four, essentially raises himself and his siblings on his own, but suffers the brunt of the punishment for his actions. Jane, the middle child, is the most outspoken of the bunch, and is the most often silenced by their parents. Twins Barnaby, youngest and the most intelligent, are labelled creepy for their lack of individuality from each other.

After discovering an orphan Jane insisted the siblings take in, the Willoughby parents throw all five out of the house, refusing Tim's return unless his siblings get rid of it. They leave the orphan, who was named Ruth by Tim (so without Ruth, they would be ruthless), on the doorstep of Melanoff’s candy factory at the end of the rainbow. Having never been outside before, the siblings believe the candy factory to be the perfect home, and begin hatching a plan to improve their home by ridding them of their parents. They concoct a “dream vacation” brochure for their parents, chock full with locations sure to leave the Willoughby children orphans themselves.

The parents leave immediately, leaving the siblings with no knowledge of how to prepare their own food. Thankfully, the “cheap nanny” their parents hired soon shows up to take care of them. Jane warms up to her near immediately, with the Barnabys following soon after, while Tim remains distrustful towards her. He refuses to eat her food, despite not having eaten anything for days prior to her arrival, and shortly is put into time out due to his misbehaving. Nanny begins to learn of the neglect done onto the children and rushes off to Melanoff’s factory with the children in tow when she finds out about Ruth.

Meanwhile, the Willoughby parents have survived the disasters planned for them by their children, but have gone broke. Dreading returning to their home and subsequently their children, they decide to put the age-old Willoughby house up for sale in favour of continuing their adventures. They inform Nanny of their actions and demand she figure out what to do with the children on her own.

Tim, still not quite trusting of Nanny, steals her phone to find out what she’s up to after overhearing a voicemail left by his father. He finds out about the sale and, with the aid of his siblings, manages to scare off all potential buyers. Nanny scares off the Perfect Family, saying that it's her duty to look after the kids first, parents’ wishes second, and finally earns Tim’s trust. However, prior to the potential buyers arriving, Tim called Orphan Services, believing Nanny to have ill intentions. Orphan Services arrive, making Nanny (revealed as Linda, an orphan who never found a loving home) lose her trust in Tim and his siblings and causing her to leave in tears.

The Willoughby children are separated and taken to separate homes, where the Barnabys stop inventing and Jane becomes dejected. Tim repeatedly runs away from his families and goes back to his home. However, though he made it home, it is just shown that the Willoughby house is demolished, and Tim Is eventually placed in Orphan Services Headquarters afterwards. Nanny, after the Narrator butts in and redirects her, disguises herself as a janitor to sneak into Orphan Services Headquarters to retrieve Tim and reunite the Willoughby siblings.

Unfortunately, the only way the Willoughbys can get Orphan Services off their backs is if they have parents. With the help of Nanny and Mel, the Willoughbys craft a dirigible to rescue them from the Unclimbable Alp In Sveetserlünd. The siblings leave without Nanny and Mel. Meanwhile, The Willoughby Parents Stop the Sveetserlünd Train, Causing snow to fall on the train, collasping it. Walter and Helga nearly freeze to death, The Willoughby children follow their mother's yarn and they find their parents at the top of the Unclimbable Alp. The siblings plead with their parents to come back home with them so that they could continue to be a family but their parents are still extremely selfish and steal their dirigible, crashing it and and the dirigible falls through the clouds.

The Willoughby children nearly freeze to death on top of the Unclimbable Alps as well, without a way to get them down. Thankfully, Mel and Nanny find them before they can die, having followed the dirigible. Now officially orphans, the Willoughbys are adopted by Nanny and Melanoff, living happily ever after in Melanoff’s candy factory with Ruth. The film ends with the dirigible now destructed, broken, and now belongs in the ocean, the van sinks past the damaged dirigible. Rising Up To The Ocean Surface, The Willoughby parents had survived with the van's roof and before the film cuts to black, they are devoured by a shark.

Cast and Characters

 * Will Forte as Tim Willoughby
 * Alessia Cara as Jane Willoughby
 * Maya Rudolph as Linda
 * Martin Short as Mr. Walter Willoughby
 * Jane Krakowski as Mrs. Helga Willoughby
 * Terry Crews as Commander Melanoff
 * Ricky Gervais as the Cat
 * Colleen Wheeler as Orphan Services Agent
 * Sean Cullen as the Barnabys