From The Mind of George Lucas Strange Magic In Theaters January 23

Love Blooms As George Lucas

Brings Us Strange Magic

In Theaters January 23rd

strangemagic23group

We all love to be loved don’t we? We all want to be in love? For me it was and is what my entire life revolves around. The love of my life, my hubby of 25 years, the love for my children, family and friends keeps a smile on my face and give me a reason to wake up every morning. When I was asked to preview Strange Magic I basically ran…not walked ot the theater. Although the characters had me a little worried that the movie might be scary for my eight year old daughter I am happy to report they were just fine and some actually became quite lovable. From the mind of George Lucas (and featuring the talents of Evan Rachel Wood, Alan Cumming, and more!) comes Strange Magic— a tale of magic, a tale of misunderstandings, and most of all, a tale of love!

 

 

Strange Magic tells the intertwining stories of several fairies, elves, goblins, and other creatures in a mystical forest divided between Darkness and Light. At the center of it are Marianne, a fairy princess who becomes jaded against love after her fiancee Roland is caught cheating, Sunny the elf, a hopeless romantic whose unrequited love for Marianne’s sister Dawn dampens his otherwise cheerful demeanor, and the Bog King, ruler of the dark half of the forest. When the Sugarplum Fairy is set free and a love potion gone wrong joins all the wrong couples together, it’s up to Marianne and Sunny to set things right (while learning a thing or two about love themselves along the way!)

Inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and set to a rollicking soundtrack of popular songs from the last sixty years,Strange Magic is an ode to love like you’ve never seen before. From the film’s opening notes (Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love With You, a personal favorite) to its big finale (a well-placed sequence featuring, among others,  Wild Thing) you’ll be clapping your hands, tapping your toes and singing along as Strange Magic takes you on a wild and exciting ride!

 

You and your family will definitely love Strange Magic— we sure did! Check it out in theaters starting today, January 23. See you at the movies!

Disclosure: Diane Sullivan was invited to a press screening of Strange Magic. All opinions are that of DS and honest. Contact Diane Sullivan at ELGEorgia@aol.com and .@3decades3kids everywhere else. No compensation was given for this post.

 

Let’s Chat With Strange Magic Creator George Lucas and Cast @StrangeMagic #StrangeMagic #GeorgeLucas

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.

Are you planning to see the movie?

http://strangemagic-thefilm.com/#home

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.