A couple of weeks ago, the world at large learned of the existence of Strange Magic, an animated adventure based on an idea by George Lucas that had quietly been developing at his Lucasfilm company under the aegis of director Gary Rydstrom. With the movie arriving in the US in a couple of months, the trailer has now appeared.
Strange Magic is set in a world where the kingdoms of the magical and the mysterious are linked but never meet. Then an interloper crosses the border and all manner of chaos breaks out, mostly to do with a powerful potion that both sides wish control over.
Loosely based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the film is powered along by pop songs that apparently help tell the story, even if it all seems a little basic in terms of plot. The cast includes Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Kristin Chenoweth, Maya Rudolph, Sam Palladio, Meredith Anne Bull, Alfred Molina, Elijah Kelley, Bob Einstein and Peter Stormare and arrives in US cinemas on January 23. As for when it’ll make it over here? That’s anyone’s guess right now.