Strange Magic (film)

Strange Magic
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGary Rydstrom
Screenplay by
Story byGeorge Lucas
Produced byMark S. Miller
Starring
Edited byChris Plummer
Music byMarius de Vries
Production
companies
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date
  • January 23, 2015 (2015-01-23)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70–100 million[2]
Box office$13.6 million[3]

Strange Magic is a 2015 American animated jukebox musical fantasy film directed by Gary Rydstrom and produced by Lucasfilm, with feature animation by Lucasfilm Animation and Industrial Light & Magic.[4] The film's screenplay, by Rydstrom, David Berenbaum, and Irene Mecchi, is based on a story by George Lucas inspired by William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The film stars the voices of Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Elijah Kelley, Meredith Anne Bull, Kristin Chenoweth, Maya Rudolph, Sam Palladio and Alfred Molina. It follows the leader of the Dark Forest known as the Bog King (Cumming), who hates the notion of love and orders the destruction of all primroses - a flower used to create love potions. However, he begins to change his mind upon meeting the feisty fairy princess Marianne (Wood) whose heart was broken by her philandering fiancé Roland (Palladio). Meanwhile, the elf Sunny (Kelley) seeks to have a love potion made so he may make Marianne's sister Dawn (Bull) fall in love with him.

Lucas had been working on developing the project for 15 years before production began, who had long wanted to make a film for his three daughters, and described the film as Star Wars for a female audience.[5] Production was already well underway. The musical score was composed by Marius de Vries, while the soundtrack consists of numerous pop songs spanning several decades.[6] This was Lucas's first writing credit since the 1994 film Radioland Murders not to be associated with the Star Wars or Indiana Jones franchises.

Strange Magic was released in theaters in the United States on January 23, 2015 by Touchstone Pictures, making it the first Lucasfilm production to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm on December 21, 2012.[4] The film was panned by critics, who criticized its script, humor and songs but praised its animation, and was a box-office bomb, grossing $13.6 million worldwide and losing around $40–50 million. To date, it is the only Lucasfilm Animation production not to be part of the Star Wars franchise, and the most recent original project produced by Lucasfilm.

  1. ^ "Strange Magic". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Review: Strange Magic, an underrated animated musical from Lucasfilm". ScreenAnarchy. January 10, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  3. ^ "Strange Magic". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Graser, Marc (November 11, 2014). "Disney Dates Lucasfilm's Animated 'Strange Magic' for January 2015". variety.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  5. ^ Reaney, Patricia (January 22, 2015). "'Strange Magic' casts animated spell with pop tunes and fairies". Reuters. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  6. ^ Zakarin, Jordan (November 21, 2014). "The Trailer for 'Strange Magic,' George Lucas's Next Big Movie". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved December 1, 2014.