Wilby Wonderful

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Fandom
Name: Wilby Wonderful
Abbreviation(s): WW
Creator: Daniel MacIvor (writer and director)
Date(s): 2004
Medium: film
Country of Origin: Canada
External Links: IMDB
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Wilby Wonderful is a feature-length comedy originally released in Canada in 2004. (It was later distributed in the U.S. by Film Movement.) Set on the fictional island of Wilby in Nova Scotia, the film follows the interconnected lives of the island's inhabitants over the course of an eventful 24-hour period. The catalyst for the drama is the fallout from a recent police raid at The Watch, a local hook-up spot for the island's gay community.

The six main characters are:

  • Dan Jarvis, a married, closeted gay man arrested in the raid
  • Duck MacDonald, a wise handy-man and Dan's would-be love interest
  • Sandra, a single mother with a reputation for sleeping around
  • her teenaged daughter, Emily
  • Buddy French, the police chief who has a strained marital relationship with
  • Carol French, the realtor who sells Dan Jarvis's house

The Fandom

Wilby Wonderful is considered a Canada 6 Degrees fandom. The ensemble cast includes a number of C6D staples, including Paul Gross (Buddy French), Callum Keith Rennie (Duck MacDonald), and Daniel MacIvor (who also directs). The film is particularly beloved of C6D slashers because Callum Keith Rennie plays a gay character.

Fanworks

Because the film takes place over such a short period of time, the fanfiction tends to focus either on the characters' backstories or possible events after the film's conclusion. Common themes include:

  • internalized homophobia
  • Dan and Duck living happily ever after
  • why Dan got married
  • what happened to Duck to give him such psychological insight into the other characters
  • whether or not Buddy and Carol stay married
  • whether or not Buddy and Duck ever slept together
  • whether or not Duck was at the Watch before the raid
  • what exactly goes on at the Watch

Fannish Resources

Wilbylinks was an updated version managed by isiscolo and mergatrude[1] of pearl_o's Wilby Wonderful Fanfiction Links, last updated in 2006. Unfortunately, clicking on the Delicious version results in a browser warning as of 2021, but the Wayback Machine has pearl_o's site saved.