Marcel the Shell With Shoes Entering the Oscar Race – CNET – ApparelGeek

A24’s adorable little mollusk Marcel the shod shell is heading to the Oscars. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the animated film directed by Dean FleischerCamp was approved for consideration in the Animated Feature Films category by the Executive Committee of the Motion Picture Academy’s Animated Shorts and Features Branch. Marcel the Shell will be able to compete with other recently approved competitors, including Apollo 10 1/2: A Childhood in the Space Age and eternal spring.

Originally, it was feared that the little shell wouldn’t qualify under the Academy’s strict animation rules. Having stop-motion characters by itself isn’t enough to satisfy their requirements, as the rules state that “animation must be in no less than 75% of the frame’s running time. Additionally, a narrative animated film must have a significant number of the main characters animated.” Apollo 10 1/2 was initially crippled because of these directives, and it was thought that Marcel the shod shell would face similar blockages. The film features only two main characters, Marcel and his grandmother, both animated in a live-action environment.

The film was a critical success, however, and when it received additional material, the Academy gave the green light.

Marcel the shod shell told the touching story of Marcel (Jenny Slate) and her grandmother Connie (Isabelle Rossellini) who lived in a thriving community of other seashells until an unforeseen event saw them all swept away. The two find themselves alone with each other as company, hoping to see their family again until a documentary filmmaker named Dean moves into the Airbnb where they are staying and discovers them. With his camera, he documents Marcel’s life, making him an internet sensation and helping him on his journey to find his lost family.

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Of the three new entries, eternal spring met with the least resistance from the rules and will also represent Canada in the Best International Feature Film category. The film is a documentary using a mix of live action and animation to tell the story of the 2002 hijacking of a television station by the spiritual group Falun Gong in order to counter government propaganda in China.

More information on Marcel the shod shell

Released in theaters at the end of June, Marcel the shod shellThe success of was a feel-good story in its own right. The film was an adaptation of Fleischer-Camp and Slate’s 2010 series of shorts that went viral, even spawning its own book series. They had the chance to develop their stories with the feature film, working with the Nails Bros. (Killer Klowns from Outer Space) to animate it and A24 to distribute it. Upon its debut on the festival circuit and later in theaters, it immediately won over audiences and critics and still holds 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Nick Paley helped write the screenplay with Slate and Fleischer-Camp. The designer duo and Rosselini are also joined by Rose Salazar, Thomas Mannand Nathan Fielder in the film, accompanied by a brief appearance by 60 minutes‘ Lesley Stahl like herself. Marcel the shod shell can currently be purchased or rented digitally or purchased on Blu-ray through A24. Check out the trailer below.