“Strange Magic,” is the latest project from George Lucas, yes that George Lucas of Star Wars fame. “Strange Magic” is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that includes popular songs from the past six decades to help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion.
With all the focus on J.J. Abrams directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out this December, I was surprised to see that George Lucas was involved in another movie project and an animated movie no less. Talk about different. Admittedly, seeing the trailer, I had no expectations about the film and thought after seeing the previous Disney Fairy films that it would in the same vein. Well, I was soooo wrong. After a slow start, the movie hits it’s stride and you are off on a roller coaster ride.
I love that the “point” of the film is that Everybody Deserves to be Loved. The line is featured prominently on the movie poster and is mentioned quite early in the movie and is message that may not resonate for kids now but you hope they will remember when they are older. A message that finding true love should go beyond the superficial and that you never know when or where love will happen.
The movie is filled with a colorful cast of characters from the spunky Fairy Marianne ( Evan Rachel Wood), her flirty and boy crazy sister Dawn (Meredith Anne Bull), Roland (Sam Palladio) the superficial and philandering fairy who breaks Marianne’s heart, Sunny the elf (Elijah Kelly) with a big hear who secretly loves Dawn and my favorite the evil king of the Dark Forest, the Bog King (voiced by the perfectly cast Alan Cumming.) And the movie would be pretty boring without adding a sense of humor. Griselda, the Bog King’s mother voiced by Maya Rudolph in what can only be described as your Jewish mother whose purpose in life is to find her son his one true love. And for my daughter, Stuff and Thang, the right-hand goblins of the Bog King are just hilarious with their bickering.
Over the years, I have seen quite a few animated films but Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and Industrial Light & Magic brings to life the fanciful forest turned upside down with world-class animation and visual effects that features two distinct and visually stunning worlds. You would expect that the world of fairies is colorful, bright and happy looking but the dark world of bugs and goblins is also beautiful and so carefully drawn out. You can’t help be draw into both worlds but for different reasons. Fun factoid that the Fairy Rock within the Fairy Kingdom is based on a real rock on a property owned by George Lucas.
And it goes without saying that the carefully selected songs propel the story along and are integrated so well. I love that the music spans decades and genres. It not only introduces kids to music that maybe their parents or grandparents listened to but introduces parents to new music and genres. Did I mention that the songs are sung by the actors? I am sure you are wondering what were my favorite songs from the movie. I loved “Stronger (what doesn’t kill you) and of course, “Strange Magic.” In fact, I had been waiting for the song from the start of the movie and I was not disappointed.
So don’t miss STRANGE MAGIC, a madcap musical fairy tale filled with an eclectic soundtrack filled with diverse characters and creatures of all shapes and sizes. Want to know more about the making of movie, read Strange Magic Interview with George Lucas and the cast.
Strange Magic – “Creatures & Cast” Featurette
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STRANGE MAGIC opens in theatres everywhere on January 23rd!
Disclosure: NYC Single Mom attended a screening of Strange Magic to facilitate this review.
