Compared to What?
In 2010, the world met Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, a tiny anthropomorphic shell fitted with even tinier pink shoes, a sole googly eye, and a can-do attitude. The short film featuring Marcel was an endearing mockumentary about the trials and tribulations of a single shell’s life. The eponymous character did things like drag a piece of lint around on a hair like a dog while saying, “A lint is a shell’s best friend.” The short garnered 11-million views on YouTube and a legitimate cult following. The enthusiastic shell with many a quotable one-liner became a household name and the original short eventually begat a few short sequels, a couple spin-off storybooks, and, well over a decade later, an actual movie.
This live action, stop-motion hybrid appropriately named Marcel the Shell With Shoes On gives the one-inch-tall shell the feature treatment by digging into what makes the character such an endearing delight. Namely, his quizzical approach to the oh-so-big world around him, his surprisingly deep philosophizing about life and his place in it, and the various sight gags built around a shell navigating a world at a completely magnetized scale. Unfortunately, we never do get to see Marcel hang glide on a Dorrito.
A gravelly Jenny Slate returns to voice the character, working alongside co-writer and director Dean Fleischer-Camp to craft a worthwhile expansion of Marcel’s story. The basic premise of the conceit remains intact: Marcel is interviewed by an off-camera documentarian (Fleischer-Camp). Bad jokes and the occasional contemplation about the meaning of life ensue. Inquires about existence as a shell reveals poignant musings on life as a human, the film digging into the tough realities of loss and sacrifice, a theme underscored through Marcel’s relationship to his Nana Connie (Isabella Rossellini). Their familial bond is the soil from which Fleischer-Camp’s film bloom, managing to be sentimental sans melodrama; a potent deconstruction of the relationship between grandparents and grandkids.
Marcel’s feature film operates as both a prequel and sequel to the previously-released shorts in his YouTube sensation videos exist within the telling of this story. Here, they propel Marcel to become an overnight internet sensation. Much like in real life, the world cannot get enough Marcel. In the hopes of reuniting with his family, Marcel attempts to leverage his fifteen minutes to track down his parents, only to discover that internet fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Disappointment awaits.
Though small in stature – and runtime – Marcel’s movie delivers the goods that fans of the series want in spades, striking a pleasant balance between Marcel’s cutesy charm and his sometimes gloomy introspection. It more than justifies the existence of a feature, expanding on what makes this character such a force for positivity. He’s especially welcome in such bleak times – particularly when the multiplexes (and TV streamers) seem so choked up on nostalgia and looking back. Though not necessarily made with kids in mind first and foremost, the PG-rated film will likely delight audiences of all generations, its effortless appeal positioned to charm old and young for different reasons.
CONCLUSION: ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ will invariably enchant audiences, regardless of whether they are already familiar with the one-inch talking shell or not. Director Dean Fleischer-Camp and co-writer Jenny Slate have created an animated delight with heart-on-its-sleeve pathos and plenty of deeply-felt laughs.
B+
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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