And you thought George Lucas had gotten out of the movie business.
The creator of Star Wars made a lot of noise a few years ago about retiring from his mega-franchise (right when he sold it to Disney) to make smaller, indie-style flicks. A big-budget animated musical doesn't seem much like an independent film, but to be fair, this has been in the works since before the Lucasfilm sale.
It's called Strange Magic, and it's being animated by the same team at Industrial Light and Magic that did Rango in 2011. (Remember how that was such a big deal, because it was the first time ILM animated an entire film?) Lucas cooked up the story for Strange Magic and serves as an executive producer.
The movie is loosely inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, telling the story of a battle for a powerful potion involving woodland creatures including goblins, elves, fairies and imps. Lucasfilm describes it as a "hilarious misadventure," and notes that instead of original songs, it uses popular tunes from the last 60 years. Later in the same press release, it's announced that all of the music — both the songs and the orchestral score — is being overseen by Marius de Vries. De Vries performed a similar role, reworking popular music, for a little movie called Moulin Rouge.
Hmm. A story by George Lucas paired with music by the Moulin Rouge guy. Should be interesting, to say the least.
An eclectic group of actors provides the voices for the fantasy creatures, drawing from backgrounds in television, film and stage. They include Alan Cumming as the Bog King (the big, pinecone-ish guy in the photo above), Evan Rachel Wood as Marianne (the little one in the middle), Maya Rudolph as Griselda (the Elf on the right), Kristin Chenoweth, Sama Palladio, Alfred Molina, Elijah Kelley, Bob Einstein, Peter Stormare and newcomer Meredith Anne Bull.
Pixar alum Gary Rydstrom, known for the short films Lifted and Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation, directs Strange Magic, working from a screenplay by David Berenbaum (writer of Will Ferrell's Christmas comedy Elf), Irene Mecchi (an industry heavyweight who worked on The Lion King and Brave), and Rydstrom. It's produced by Mark S. Miller, a visual effects aficionado who worked on a number of blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Contact, and Minority Report.
It seems like Lucas picked his production team from a roster of Disney and ILM background players who've been waiting for their chance to step into the spotlight. We'll find out how they do when Strange Magic is released by Touchstone Pictures on January 23, 2015.
Touchstone Pictures is, like Lucasfilm and Pixar, another arm of Walt Disney Studios.
Photo : Lucasfilm Ltd.
