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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Directed by
Dean Fleischer-Camp
Produced by Caroline Kaplan, Paul Mezey, Elisabeth Holm, Jenny Slate, Terry Leonard, Andrew Goldman, and Dean Fleischer-Camp
Screenplay by Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, and Nick Paley Story by Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, and Elisabeth Holm Based on the character created by Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate
Produced by Caroline Kaplan, Paul Mezey, Elisabeth Holm, Jenny Slate, Terry Leonard, Andrew Goldman, and Dean Fleischer-Camp
Screenplay by Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, and Nick Paley Story by Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, and Elisabeth Holm Based on the character created by Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate
With:
the voices of Jenny Slate, Isabella Rossellini, Dean Fleischer Camp, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, and Lesley Stahl, Conan O'Brien, Brian Williams, Andy Richter, Nathan Fielder, Jessi Klein, and Peter Bonerz
Cinematography:
Eric Adkins and Bianca Cline
Editing: Dean Fleischer-Camp and Nick Paley
Music: Disasterpeace
Editing: Dean Fleischer-Camp and Nick Paley
Music: Disasterpeace
Runtime:
90 min
Release Date: 15 July 2022
Aspect Ratio: 1.55 : 1
Color: Color
Release Date: 15 July 2022
Aspect Ratio: 1.55 : 1
Color: Color
The anthropomorphic shell named Marcel, created by comedian/actress Jenny Slate (Obvious Child) and her former husband Dean Fleischer Camp, makes the jump from viral video sensation to full-on film star. Slate voices Marcel and Fleischer Camp voices himself in this mockumentary about a filmmaker named Dean who moves into an AirBnB after his marriage breaks up and makes a documentary about the one-inch-tall talking shell, and his grandma shell, that he discovers living in the home. The meta, intentionally silly concept succeeds at striking a whimsical and heartwarming chord. The whole enterprise could have easily devolved into a cutesy, precious, saccharine disaster, but the filmmakers know how to manipulate audience heartstrings with a gentle touch.
The charming, unadorned stop-motion animation by The Chiodo Brothers enables characters designed to keep us entertained for the short duration of a YouTube video to sustain a 90-minute feature. And Isabella Rossellini, who voices the character of Nanna Connie, lends the picture some gravitas. While I'm not the target audience for this movie, I was impressed by how emotionally engaged I was with the simple characters and slight story. Watching it in a sold-out cinema surrounded by much younger folks, I was also aware of how the generations behind mine, who are often dismissive of classic melodramas, embrace the sentimentality of a film like this in spite of, or probably because of, the blatant artifice of the conceit. Perhaps for them, the fact that this character is so "unreal" on his surface somehow enables the film's emotions to come across as more authentic.
The charming, unadorned stop-motion animation by The Chiodo Brothers enables characters designed to keep us entertained for the short duration of a YouTube video to sustain a 90-minute feature. And Isabella Rossellini, who voices the character of Nanna Connie, lends the picture some gravitas. While I'm not the target audience for this movie, I was impressed by how emotionally engaged I was with the simple characters and slight story. Watching it in a sold-out cinema surrounded by much younger folks, I was also aware of how the generations behind mine, who are often dismissive of classic melodramas, embrace the sentimentality of a film like this in spite of, or probably because of, the blatant artifice of the conceit. Perhaps for them, the fact that this character is so "unreal" on his surface somehow enables the film's emotions to come across as more authentic.