'The Wingfeather Saga' Season 2 Promises High Adventure Rooted in Faith

Based on the bestselling four-book epic children’s fantasy series by Andrew Peterson, The Wingfeather Saga Season 2, recently launched on the Angel Studios app and the Angel Studios website.

The largest crowdfunded animated family series in history is an episodic animated program that chronicles the adventures of the Igiby family as they uncover family secrets and take on the powerful yet mysterious ruler Gnag the Nameless.

The series features superb voice talent including Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid), Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), and the addition of Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings) and Matthew Rhys (The Americans) for Season Two.

Directed by Chris Wall, an animation veteran who previously produced 16 movies for the Veggie Tales franchise, Season 2 features seven episodes highlighted by the Igbys facing new perils, exploring new lands, and forging friendships grounded in hope.

I recently sat down with Wall to discuss why he sees animation as the best vehicle for this type of adventure story, the importance of exploring the concept of consequences for our actions and choices, and why he cried when reading the book series to his children.

If you were trying to convince someone to take the time to sit down and watch an episode or hopefully the entire series of The Wingfeather Saga what would you say to encourage them? What would your sales pitch be?

As a dad, I have lots of options. Why should I choose this? There's lots of good things to watch for the family. And I think there's also a built-in suspicion about recommendations from friends when it's not on Netflix, or it's not on Disney, or it's not on something that you're familiar with. I had the same experience actually way back in 2020 when a friend recommended The Chosen TV series about the life of Jesus. And I was like, where is it? Angel Studios? I don't know those guys. Nah, I'm good. Back then you actually had to watch it on an app. You kind of have to overcome that.

For every family, there's a feeling of if it's not out in the world in a wide way, why should I know about it? In my own journey with our family, there's lots of products, movies, and TV shows that have been that way. Where people had to recommend it a couple times. And then you have a look and you go, how did I not know this? How could I have missed this? It was such a rewarding experience. And I think with Wing Feather, what we've seen already from families that have jumped in on this is it's a show they can all watch together and really dig deep into. That there's enough meaning and complexity of choice in the characters and the story for adults and teenagers to get into, but accessibility in the characters and experiences they're having in the family that kids are right in with.

For every creative person such as yourself, there always seems to be a moment, a trigger, a tipping point where you say to yourself, “I have to be a part of this! I have to do this series!” What was that moment for you?

I'm so glad you referenced that. I think that for any storyteller it is such an important part to never tell a story that you're kind of into. It should always be one that moves you deeply. I was friends with Andrew Peterson, the author, in his songwriting capacity. That's what he's most known for. I had actually gotten to do some music with him over at Veggie Tales. In 2008, he handed me the first book in the series and said, “I've always wanted to write a fantasy series like the ones I enjoyed as a kid. I wanted to write in the vein of (J.R.R.)Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.” And so he gave me a copy, and of course I immediately felt obliged to read it with my kids.

And I just found it to be fantastic. First I was like, wow, you're actually an author? It’s like people that take on multiple roles. You kind of question Steve Martin when he goes from stand-up comedy to playing a banjo. Do you actually play? Oh, you really do play! And so, we get to read along the series through the books. There's four books in the series. And I would say by that second book, I was doing it as a read aloud with my kids. And it started to really deeply affect me. I had these big emotional moments of reading and my kids saying, “Dad, keep reading!” I'm trying to, but I'm trying not to cry, so leave me alone!” And the beauty and power of the story, and any of us that step into a big story, you want it to end well.

And so I think when the fourth book came out in 2014, I was so hopeful that it was going to land in a place that was as satisfying as the journey we were on. And it did. I think when a story has a great ending, it means a lot. And so I think fans over the years, like our own family, completing this journey and seeing just the power of, of what the story was going towards, deeply moved me. And so in 2015, I approached Andrew and said, hey, what if we went and chased this thing together? I had finished my time producing Veggie Tales and had spent a lot of time in prayer, asking God what's the next steps? And I felt the next thing was to go partner with him (Andrew Peterson), not just option the material and go produce it myself, but actually do it with him so we could maintain this amazing balance of authenticity with this whimsy while being a full fantasy series. So, Andrew and I partnered together, formed our company, Shining Island Productions, and began to pursue it. We then went on a long journey to the first season coming out about a year and a half ago.

Did you always see this as an animated series or could it perhaps have been a live action series? 

A lot of fans, including myself, dreamed of the big Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings live action version. A lot of times live action is super expensive and hard to get right. For every time that you have a good Lord of the Rings fantasy series, you have a number that doesn't work, that just doesn't fulfill expectations. It's a hard place to get. And so, that was one thing. The second was … obviously I had a lot of experience in animation And I had a particular way that I thought we could produce a series visually that would be distinct and give us a real place to make something in any genre that's the cheaper version of someone else's work. You just always show up that way.

Let's produce something different. Let's do something that's visually distinct. And then I think the question is always why animation? What can you do in animation that you can't do in live action? Well, one thing in animation you can do is you can do things that are more abstract, and in our case, painterly. And what that does is it invites the audience to engage your imagination, to fill in details that you're not giving them.

With that said, we were more drawn to the old 2D animated films that allowed your mind to kind of fill in the gaps.

This is obviously a family show. What are some themes from The Wingfeather Saga that parents can take and comfortably show to their kids?

Janner, the lead character, loves books. He loves reading about adventures and imagines himself as a hero, taking on the quest. But then when that arrives, he immediately wants to not be a part of that journey. Whereas his younger brother, Tink, is impulsive and ready for adventure at any moment. He wants to leap first, ask questions later. And then their sister, Leeli, she works with a crutch. She was injured when she was an infant, and so her right leg doesn't work right. But that does not hold her back from keeping up with everything that her brothers want to do. And then along the journey, very quickly, we realize that Leeli has insight in understanding the world that they don't. Eventually we see that she's able to kind of unlock certain kinds of magic between them that is really special.

So seeing siblings that can work together, play together, have adventures together, while facing great and terrible evil that has real stakes. And I think that's one of the things that I loved about the story and we love about the series, is that there are consequences, that the world is not safe. Andrew and I wanted stories that would kind of thrill and delight yet have consequences to actions and choices.

Season 2 of The Wingfeather Saga is coming up very soon. What can you share with me about the Igiby family as they continue to discover the secrets of their family history?

Season 1 was the beginning of this journey, meeting these characters in this setting of a little seaside town and clip wood. Everything is safe, a little bit normal. Relatively. And then it becomes unsafe and they have to begin to understand certain family secrets that are unpacked. And by the end of the season, they're set on a journey. They will never go back. So largely, the first season captures the first book. I've had a lot of folks ask me, ‘Hey, I want to read the books first before I watch the series.’ Well, go read the first book and then you can jump into the first season. With Season Two, the adventure is underway. Episode One of Season Two is literally like a shot out of a cannon, and off we go.

It’s a bit like Lord of the Rings where we have to start in the Shire and have to kind of begin our journey. But once we're off, we don't stop. Season 2 absolutely picks up right there and takes audiences on a seven episode journey that will take them on a significant, but not the complete journey of Book 2 of the series. It's funny because we're still finding so many fans that have just not watched the TV series yet. We're still welcoming all these folks into Season 1, even as we're about to launch Season 2.

After audiences have had a chance to watch an episode or hopefully the entire Wingfeather Saga series, what would you like to see them get out of the experience? What is your greatest hope for the series?

For families, hopefully there's conversations about their identities and their role in the world. I think like every good story, it's what's my path? What am I supposed to be about? And I think our culture tells us to solve that in our own hearts. To kind of follow your heart, a bit of Disney kind of false news. And instead, we believe that those identities and that our journey in the world can be found in our families than in our community and imbued by our creator that there are grander things for us than what we might imagine ourselves. And if we're willing to see that in these characters as some fight against it, frankly, and make their own choices, it comes with terrible consequences.

Others are kind of fitful along the journey, on whether they want to take on the role that has been given them by their family, community, and the Creator. But one of those paths leads to deep satisfaction and contentment while the other doesn't. I think that's one of the larger themes in the series. As a family, that is useful in conversations about whether I follow what I want to do or do I submit to a curiosity about the path that our God has us upon? That echoes from my community and through my family. We look outside of ourselves for those places of deep satisfaction rather than inside, which often leads to selfish choices and heartbreak. 

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