As we reported a few weeks ago, now that George Lucas has made a clean break with Star Wars, he's freed himself up to make other movies. And the first one on his to-do list is an animated musical called Strange Magic. It's an unexpected move to be sure, and one that somehow managed to fly completely under the radar.
Strange Magic tells the story of a clash between two fantasy/woodland realms over a powerful potion that can change their world forever. The movie boasts an impressive cast that includes Alan Cumming as the big bad, Evan Rachel Wood, and Kristin Chenoweth.
Lucas wrote the story and executive produced the film, leaving the directing chores to Pixar alum Gary Rydstrom. Even though Lucasfilm is part of Disney now — which means Lucas could have conceivably brought his movie to Disney's animation arm or maybe even Pixar — he opted to have Industrial Light & Magic produce the film.
Yahoo! Movies posted the first official trailer for the movie today, and you may be as surprised as we were to discover how madcap it is. The highly detailed art direction lends itself to a more serious story than what this trailer suggests, so it will be interesting to see if Lucasfilm can pull off a balance between the two.
Strange Magic will be in theaters on January 23, 2015. Until then, enjoy these brand new high-res stills from the movie courtesy of Lucasfilm.
