12 years after the character’s three-minute debut on YouTube, indie film distributor A24 is giving Marcel The Shell With Shoes On the feature-length treatment.
The original shorts’ co-creator, director Dean Fleischer-Camp made his theatrical debut when the full-length adaptation of his 2010 short film debuted at the Telluride Film Festival last year. He’s also cast as the voice of documentary filmmaker Dean, who follows Marcel’s journey to find her family. Comedian and actress Jenny Slate (Bob’s Burgers, Zootopia) has returned as co-writer and producer on the film, as well as reprising her role as the voice of the titular morose shell.
Nick Paley joins the two as a third writer on the film, and additional cast members include Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel), Thomas Mann (Kong: Skull Island), and Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet). Additionally, 60-Minutes host, Lesley Stahl is featured as herself.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, the original musical stop-motion short, won several awards at film festivals like AFI Fest and the New York International Children’s Film Festival. Fleischer-Camp and Slate would go on to create two sequels to the original short film in 2011 and 2014, announcing in 2014 that they were planning a full-length film. The pair also published a book, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me, in 2011.
Seven years later, the film debuted at Telluride, and Marcel The Shell With Shoes On screened at SXSW last month as well. The full length features new music and has received a warm reception from critics so far.
A24 will release Marcel The Shell With Shoes On in the U.S. on June 24.