Netflix Slates The Twits Adaptation, Unveils Full Cast

Netflix has slated the debut of its adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits for October 17 and unveiled the full voice cast.

Previously announced cast members Johnny Vegas, Margo Martindale, Emilia Clarke and Natalie Portman will be joined by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Ryan Lopez, Timothy Simons, Nicole Byer, Jason Mantzoukas, Alan Tudyk, Mark Proksch, Rebecca Wisocky and Charlie Berens.

The film is directed by Phil Johnston (Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph). Co-directors are Katie Shanahan and Todd Demong. Johnston and Meg Favreau are co-writers. The animation is done by Jellyfish Pictures (The Boss Baby, The Bad Guys).

Talking Heads’ David Byrne and Paramore’s Hayley Williams have each written and produced songs for the film. Byrne has written and produced three original songs to be performed by the cast: “We’re Not Like Everyone Else,” “Lullaby” and “The Problem Is You.” Byrne and Williams co-wrote and performed the end title song, “Open the Door.”

“This was a fun project,” Byrne said. “Like other Roald Dahl books, this one has its share of dreadful characters—this time two of them are front and center. Kids (and adults) love that they can vicariously imagine their own worst impulses played out, harmlessly, in a punky fun story. So, when I was approached to write some songs for this movie, I immediately said, ‘Let me give it a try and see if you like what I come up with.’ Phil was wonderfully clear what each song needed to express and what the character was feeling at that moment. I reached out to Hayley Williams to collaborate on the end credits song, and we both agreed that it should serve to remind us that there is heart and connection in the story after all the unpleasantness depicted by Mr. and Mrs. Twit. Hayley was inspired by Beesha’s story and came up with some lyric ideas, and I set them to tune and boom.”

“Being a part of this movie is like one pinch-me moment after another,” Williams commented. “My favorite Roald Dahl book growing up was The Twits. I’m drawn to learning about twisted characters like Mr. and Mrs. Twit and The Wormwoods from Matilda. The way Phil and Daisy adapted the original story was really exciting to me, as was the animation style. It feels like a cautionary tale—and also a really lovely depiction of chosen family and community, which is one of my favorite topics. I owe David Byrne for pulling me into the music for this. It was so fun and so surreal starting a song from scratch with him.”

Johnston added, “I still can’t quite believe that I spent the last few years collaborating with David Byrne, a musical hero of mine since I was 13. From the first demo he sent me, on which the featured instrument was a 100-year-old banjolele, I knew I was going to love the songs he wrote. Throughout the process, my collaboration with David has been incredibly fun and surprisingly easy, probably because I’ve been stealing from him for so long. When David and I started talking about an end credit song, the first potential collaborator David brought up was Hayley Williams. The first word I said was ‘yes.’ Followed by ‘please.’ I still can’t quite believe that two of my favorite songwriters wrote a song together for The Twits. The saying ‘never meet your heroes’ simply does not apply here. I met two of them, and boy howdy, it’s been a dream come true.”