'Marcel the Shell', 'Wendell & Wild'” enthuse the critics

As the end of the year approaches, groups of film critics from around the world are surveying the cinema landscape to make their call for the best films that will grace screens in 2022.

Emerging as one of the underdog indie favorites is the much acclaimed mockumentary  Marcel the Shell with Shoes On17 , which today added a “Best Animation” accolade from the National Board of Review (which it chose Top Gun: Maverick  Best Picture) to last week's win from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards (which bestowed  in Tár  highest recognition).

Marcel's status as a whimsical and emotional independent effort, expanding on director Dean Fleischer-Camp's successful short film of the same name and released by A24, adds to its stunning brilliance in a year that saw several critically acclaimed cartoon feature films from major studios (how Oscar favorite Pixar's Turning Red The bad guys by DreamWorks Animation and The Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) and famous directors (such as Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro, The sea beast  by Chris Williams e  My Father's Dragon by Nora Twomey , all from Netflix).

Marcel (voiced by Jenny Slate) is an adorable, inch-tall shell who lives a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie (Isabella Rosselini) and their pet, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of seashells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. But when a documentary filmmaker discovers them amidst the clutter of his Airbnb, the short film he posts online brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope for finding his long-lost family. A beloved character makes his big screen debut in this hilarious and heartwarming story about finding connection in the smallest corners.

Another warmly reviewed Netflix Original, Wendell & Wild by animation legend Henry Selick  ,  it also earned a prestige nod today as the only animated title on the African American Film Critics Association's list of the top 10 films of 2022. The stop-motion supernatural adventure made it to No. 9 (first place went to  The Woman King ).

From the deliciously evil minds of Henry Selick and producer Jordan Peele comes  Wendell & Wild , an animated story about the scheming demon brothers Wendell (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele), who enlist the help of Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross). – a tough teenager with a load of guilt – to summon them to the Land of the Living. But what Kat demands in return leads to a brilliantly bizarre and comedic adventure like no other, an animated fantasy that defies the laws of life and death, all told through the handcrafted art of stop motion.

Both films are included in the 27 animated films eligible for this year's Academy Awards.