Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2022)

We have family in town, and there are children present. The weather is stifling, and we were trying to find something to do. Something indoors.

The idea of seeing a movie came up. I knew I'd have to compromise in order to find something kid-friendly, but I was not about to succumb to any Minions or Lightyear pap. I sat through the first Toy Story way back when, when I was stuck in a room with a bunch of people. The movie was preferable to the typically banal small talk going on. Toy Story is well done, but hardly my idea of motion picture entertainment. Minions looks like something I would run to avoid.

I was mulling it over, and had come to the conclusion that I would stay home instead of going to something I knew I wouldn't like. It would be a much better time for everyone.

Thanks once again to Joe Dante and Josh Olson. Last week's The Movies That Made Me guest was Dean Fleischer-Camp, the creator of Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, and co-writer/director of the new feature film based on the character.

Fleischer-Camp was a genial guest, and though I had been completely ignorant of the Marcel short films, I was interested enough to watch the trailer to the new feature. This is an independent production from the usually-reliable A24 movie studio. As luck would have it, Marcel was playing at a theater near me.

Once the family unit saw the trailer, they were as hooked as I was. We saw Marcel the Shell With Shoes On yesterday.

This lovely little gem is heartwarming, but also heartrending. It's a sweet and potent tale of a little shell who, along with his grandmother, was left in a house when the couple who lived there broke up and moved away. The rest of their family was lost in the move.

Marcel is a shell who looks upon the world with wide-eyed wonder. His simple observations and reflections of life are deeply inspiring.

Hoping to locate his lost family, Marcel goes to the internet and becomes a sensation, and is featured on the news show, 60 Minutes, and is interviewed by Leslie Stahl.

There are digital effects, sure. You can't escape them in today's cinematic climate. But Marcel's world is largely made up of handmade sets and clay animation. I was filled with joy when I saw The Chiodo Brothers in the credits. I've enjoyed their work since the eighties, when I thrilled to silly-yet-endearing opuses like Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Critters.

We were all captivated by Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, and you will be too. It's so easy to slip away into Marcel's world, and it's kind of a bummer to come back to ours.

I also enjoyed Dean Fleischer-Camp as a guest on The Movies That Made Me. It's great to see young directors give their respects to Joe Dante. Dante is a godfather to directors like Fleischer-Camp, who grew up on Gremlins and Small Soldiers. Hollywood has turned its collective back on Joe. He should be doing big fantasy movies. Dante's final studio film, Looney Tunes Back in Action, was a huge flop. The know-nothing executives interfered with the production and according to Joe, made numerous changes. Then when the movie failed, guess who gets the blame?

Written by Mark Sieber