George Lucas is taking a big departure from his “Star Wars” franchise to introduction Lucasfilm’s newest animated project, “Strange Magic.”
The filmmaker wanted to put his own spin on the classic fairytale and thus “Strange Magic” was born. Gary Rydstrom, he director of “Strange Magic”, spoke to Yahoo! Movies about Lucas’ vision for the film.
"[Lucas] really wanted to make a beautiful fairy tale with goblins and elves, and do it in a way that only this company can do," Rydstrom said. “He had been working on it for a long time.”
“Strange Film” tells the story of two worlds who are brought together after forbidden love potions smash down the barriers that separate them. According to Yahoo, one world called the kingdom is home to “fairies, elves, imps and all sorts of creatures,” while the dark forest is where the “nasty” creatures live.
The overall message Lucas wanted to emphasize in the film is you can “finding beauty in strange places.”
However, moviegoers shouldn’t expect “Strange Magic” to resemble a Pixar Film. Rydstrom explained to Yahoo that Lucasfilm didn’t want to lose their identity amongst Disney’s other animation studios.
The director also claimed “Strange Magic” will have memorable “pop culture” references that people of any age will enjoy.
“I remember when Labyrinth came out and how exciting that was. There was a magic to that,” Rydstrom said. “This has the same vibe to me.”
Lucasfilm’s “Strange Magic” will be released to theaters on Jan. 23, 2015. Check out the official synopsis below courtesy of IGN:
“Strange Magic is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream. Popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion. Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and Industrial Light & Magic, which created the CGI animation for 2011’s Academy Award®-winning film Rango, bring to life the fanciful forest turned upside down with world-class animation and visual effects."
