Strange Magic, a pop-music musical magical fairy tale loosely based on classic “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” hits theaters nationwide today Friday January 23rd, 2015. From the mind of George Lucas and directed by Gary Rydstrom, Strange Lucas takes audience members on a fantastical musical journey through 6 decades of popular music with a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps. The music of the film is the propulsion of Strange Magic, George Lucas originally intended for the entire love story to be told exclusively with music with an original song slate of over 100 songs. Now edited down to just 25 poignant songs, Strange Magic is an upbeat, sing-a-long with a moral that every generation needs to hear.
I had the opportunity of screening Strange Magic review in the Skywalker Ranch 300-seat screening room in Marin County just last week with none other than George Lucas, Gary Rydstrom and Elijah Kelley (who plays Sunny in Strange Magic). I was impressed with Strange Magic, it is visually appealing, entertaining and contains a great moral. Not being sure what to expect, I was happily impressed with the very obvious George Lucas type of characters in the film. Sitting somewhere between slightly slimy and cutesy-wootsey lies the characters of Strange Magic with a realism and beauty I appreciated. And the music? I sang along the entire time.
Dawn (voice of newcomer Meredith Anne Bull) is serenaded by Sunny (voice of Elijah Kelley) with “3 little birds”On top of the amazing soundtrack in Strange Magic, the all-star cast really makes the colorful characters come alive. The cast includs Alan Cumming (CBS’ “The Good Wife,” Broadway’s “Cabaret”) as Bog King, Evan Rachel Wood (“The Ides of March”) as feisty fairy Marianne, Elijah Kelley (“Hairspray,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”) as lovelorn elf Sunny, newcomer Meredith Anne Bull as Marianne’s lovesick sister Dawn, Sam Palladio (ABC’s “Nashville”) as heartbreaker Roland, KrisƟ n Chenoweth (Broadway’s “Wicked”) as the poƟ on-making Sugar Plum Fairy, Maya Rudolph (“Big Hero 6,” “Bridesmaids”) as Bog’s mum Griselda, Alfred Molina (“Chocolat”) as the Fairy King, and Bob Einstein (HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Peter Stormare (“Fargo”) as Stuff and Thang, Bog’s loyal goblin assistants.
During the exclusive interviews with George Lucas, Gary Rydstrom and Elijah Kelley after the film screening it became very apparent that creating Strange Magic was a passion project a long time in the making for everyone involved, but most especially for George Lucas as you can read in my exclusive George Lucas interview. Hearing about the passion and intent to create a fun, upbeat story that everyone can enjoy was inspriing. I hope you all take your families to see Strange Magic this weekend!
