Tucked away behind Maurice, Puss in Boots and bargain basement fare like Tad the Explorer 2 and Big Trip 3 was the oddest thing I saw all holidays.
It’s called Marcel the Shell with Shoes on. I know!
Marcel started out in life small – a four-minute stop-motion film about a talking shell. With shoes on. There were two more shorts, and now this full-length feature.
Photo: Screenshot
All the films were directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp, who wrote them with Jenny Slate, the voice of Marcel. She sounds like a smart six-year-old, which I suppose is the point.
We’re told Marcel used to live with a bunch of other little shells – well mostly shells – but now there are just Marcel and his grandmother Nana Connie. Connie is voiced by Isabella Rossellini.
Is this the year of unexpectedly brilliant performances from middle-aged actresses?
It seems so. The other major speaking role – apart from Dean Fleischer-Camp himself, who spends the whole film trying to keep out of his own documentary – is long-time stalwart of TV current affairs show Sixty Minutes, Lesley Stahl.
Now I have to confess that when I saw there was a film in the smaller local cinemas called Marcel the Shell with Shoes on I wasn’t too excited by the prospect.
It felt like one of those arty cartoons from East Europe that used to clutter up the BBC schedules back in the Sixties.
But it turns out I couldn’t be more wrong. It’s absolutely adorable.
In fact, any film that can get you engaged in something as unlikely as a small clam-shell with one animated eye is clearly something special.
And I’m delighted to report Marcel the Shell with Shoes on has been nominated for every award going this year. If there were any justice….
Well you know how that phrase usually turns out. But, despite your probable prejudices – which I admit I fully shared – I urge you to winkle out Marcel if you can find it. It’s a winner.
