Every year, studios churn out hundreds of hours of children’s entertainment that isn’t worth a damn. When my daughter was younger (she’s now a wise and learned 8-year-old), these frenetic and overly loud programs and movies were the bane of my existence. Oh, how I longed for the days when we could finally watch something with real feeling and heart, something that spoke to us both and offered a bridge between generations – or, at the very least, something that didn’t make my head spin or make me reach for my anxiety medication.
I admit I might be overdramatizing the torture and exaggerating the pain that is children’s programming, but anyone who has kids or grandkids can likely relate on some level to what I’m talking about and has no doubt suffered this fate on at least one rainy weekend in their recent lives. But fear not, friends, for a new hero has arrived – a champion capable of many feats despite his diminutive size. It is indeed my honor to introduce Dean Fleischer Camp’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – the best little guy to hit the screen since Gizmo took on the gremlins of my youth.
It all starts when Dean (Camp, as a version of himself) discovers a one-inch talking seashell named Marcel (voiced by Jenny Slate) living in the AirBnB he’s been renting following his divorce. Marcel is a kind-hearted and curious little shell who takes very good care of his aging grandmother Nana Connie (voiced by Isabella Rossellini), who suffers from dementia and other debilitating health problems.
Fascinated by Marcel’s story, Dean begins to film him and his everyday activities and eventually uploads them to YouTube as a series of documentary shorts. As it turns out, the house was once occupied by an entire colony of shells, including Marcel’s parents and extended family, but was tragically broken up when the former owner packed up his sock drawer (with everyone in it) and moved away.
What begins as a sincere search for Marcel’s family quickly becomes an internet sensation, culminating in Marcel and Nana Connie being interviewed by their hero Leslie Stahl for an episode of 60 Minutes (yes, Marcel and Nana Connie are huge Leslie Stahl fans; does it get any cuter than that?). Along the way, Marcel’s world expands to allow all kinds of love in, but he also confronts his deep feelings of loss and loneliness he feels over his family and his ailing grandmother.
Filmed as if it’s a legitimate documentary, Marcel uses a combination of animated shells and live action elements (people, sets, etc.) to bring its story to life in a way that redefines the term “whimsical.” Camp’s use of wide shots to convey how small Marcel and Nana Connie are in comparison to the vast world around them contrasts perfectly with the shallow-focus close-ups that highlight their big personalities and even bigger hearts. Every inch of Marcel is overflowing with so much kindness and humanity that it’s bursting at the seams – but where other films would beat us over the head with saccharine and generic “feel good” moments, Marcel runs the gamut of emotions and does so with honesty and openness.
My challenge to you is to not only sit down with the kids or grandkids for family movie night but also grab the biggest grump within shouting distance and plop them down to watch Marcel too. I’d wager that by the end of the movie, it’ll be the grump with the biggest smile on their face.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.