Let's Chat With Strange Magic
Creator George Lucas and Cast
Recently I had the privilege of attending a Q & A with the cast and crew of Strange Magic-- creator George Lucas, director Gary Rydstrom, music director Marius DeVries, and stars Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Elijah Kelley, Meredith Anne Bull, and Sam Palladio-- and there was plenty to learn about the hard work that went into creating the movie! Pinch me! What an incredible room filled with talent.
George Lucas in particular, who spent fifteen years bringing his vision of Strange Magic to life, had a lot to say about the inspiration behind the film. "What I wanted try to do," Lucas revealed, "was tell a story using the lyrics of existing songs." He added that "originally I wanted it to be all music, like an opera"-- while that unfortunately didn't work out, Lucas admitted that "about 75% of it is still music."
The music of Strange Magic truly is the backbone of the film, and cobbling together a movie that depends so heavily on its songs was certainly no simple task for music director Marius DeVries. According to DeVries, over 400 songs were recorded during the creative process of Strange Magic and, though some did not make the cut in full, you may notice their presence in the film's score (also by Marius DeVries.) That said, DeVries admitted that he "wanted there to be as little score as possible. Once you've committed to telling a story by song, I think you should try to stick to that as closely as possible." Of course the music was close to my heart, since hubby and I chose, "Can't Help Falling In Love With You"..as our wedding song, twenty-five years ago!
On the subject of Strange Magic's story, it is unabashedly a love-centric tale, and as such has quite a few important messages about love for its viewers. The movie professes acceptance and love not only for others, but for yourself as well-- an aspect that the film's stars weighed in on as one of Strange Magic's more powerful lessons. "The things that make you different are the things that make you beautiful," said Evan Rachel Wood (who plays Marianne), while Elijah Kelley (Sunny) added that he felt the movie showcases that "no matter how weird and strange you feel like you are, there's somebody out there who's weird and strange like you." Artfully summing up the cast's opinions on the moral of Strange Magic, George Lucas stated that "the story is about the difference between infatuation and real love. Real love is on the inside-- it's with somebody you can share things with that can last you your whole life." Need I say more?
Strange Magic hits theaters this Friday, January 23.
Disclosure: Diane Sullivan was invited by Disney to attend this press conference in NYC. All opinions are that of Diane Sullivan. No compensation was given for this post. We love Disney and want to share it all with our readers. Contact me at ELGEorgia@aol.com and everywhere else as .@3decades3kids.
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