The Willoughbys Return

Template:Infobox/Film

***The Willoughbys Return*** is a 2026 Canadian-American computer-animated comedy film directed by Kris Pearn and co-directed by Rob Lodermeier from a screenplay by Pearn, Mark Stanleigh, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart and a story by Pearn and Josh Singer. Based on the book of the same name by Lois Lowry, it is the sequel to *The Willoughbys* (2020) and stars the returning voice talents of Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Alessia Cara, Terry Crews, Seán Cullen, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, and Ricky Gervais, who also narrates the film, They are all joined in by Peter Dinklage, Emily Perkins, Jimmy Fallon, and Haley Bennett, voicing new characters introduced in this film.

*The Willoughbys Return* was released on Netflix on March 15, 2026, and received critical acclaim upon its release, like its predecessor.

## Synopsis

Nearly five months after the near-death experience in Sveetserlünd (a parody of Switzerland) in the first film, the four Willoughby children-Tim, Jane, Barnaby A, and Barnaby B-have all been adopted by their former nanny Linda and the joyous candymaker Commander Melanoff, and are now living in his factory at "the end of the rainbow" (really a rainbow made of Pixie Stix-esque candy). Ever since being adopted, the Willoughby children are living a better life full of love and affection, and even sometimes exciting things happen to them, such as Jane starting a part-time career as a pop singer. While taking a drive across the country to one of Jane's concerts, the Willoughbys and their adoptive parents accidentally run into a man named Tilian Turmoil, who is a sugar-obsessed man with greed that desires to become the "King of Sweets" following a wacky visit to Melanoff's factory when he was younger, and plots to use a powerful, magical stone called the "Lowry Gem", which he intends to steal from his former friend Denis Jacobson, to do so. The Willoughbys and company will have to break the Lowry Gem to stop Tilian from becoming a supreme ruler over all things sweet or else they will have to kiss their new home in the factory goodbye. Meanwhile, the Willoughbys' abusive biological parents Walter "Father" and Helga "Mother" Willoughby, who have survived the shark attack, are returning to the mainland in search of their children, hoping to fix the broken relationship they have together.

## Voice cast

* Will Forte as Tim Willoughby, the rational, protective, but loving eldest child of the Willoughbys.
* Maya Rudolph as Linda a.k.a. The Nanny, an eccentric, jovial babysitter who initially looked after the kids as their temporary caretaker hired by their biological parents Walter and Helga Willoughby but later on becomes their adoptive mother and Commander Melanoff's wife. She is also a former orphan on the run with no family of her own.
* Alessia Cara as Jane Willoughby, the fun-loving middle child of the Willoughbys with a passion for singing and currently a part-time pop singer.
* Peter Dinklage as Tilian Turmoil, a greedy, sugar-obsessed man that wishes to become the King of Sweets and puts his plan into motion via the Lowry Gem magic stone.
	+ Gabriel Jack voices a younger Tilian Turmoil
* Emily Perkins as Grace, a young teenage girl whose parents own a bakery in Michigan and befriends the Willoughbys while on their journey to stop Tilian.
* Terry Crews as Commander Melanoff, the joyous owner of Melanoff's candy factory, Linda's husband, and the adoptive father of the Willoughbys and a baby named Ruth (who is named after his ex-girlfriend).
* Martin Short as Walter "Father" Willoughby, the Willoughbys' former neglectful biological father and Helga's husband.
* Jane Krakowski as Helga "Mother" Willoughby, the Willoughbys' former neglectful biological mother and Walter's wife.
* Haley Bennett as Ruth, Commander Melanoff's ex-girlfriend who once dumped him for a gelato-making man, and whose namesake is given to Melanoff's adopted baby daughter.
* Seán Cullen as Barnaby A and Barnaby B Willoughby, the "creepy" dirigible-inventing twin boys and youngest children of the Willoughbys.
* Jimmy Kimmel as Denis Jacobson, the protector and guardian of the Lowry Gem and a former friend of Tilian's.
	+ Antonio Raul Corbio voices a younger Denis
* Ricky Gervais as The Cat, a talking blue tabby cat, and the narrator of the film.
* Nancy Robinson as Irene Holmes.
* Kris Pearn as Spoons McGee.
* Mark Stanleigh and Josh Singer as Jane's Bodyguards.