8 Things You Didn't Know About Strange Magic: Interview With George Lucas And Cast

I had a chance to screen Strange Magic early last week with some NYC press and was so thankful for the chance. I knew that by doing so, I would be given the opportunity to sit down with the one and only … George Lucas. We talked about the Strange Magic cast and what his hope was for the new animated flick.

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Strange Magic: Exclusive Interview With George Lucas And Cast

HOLY MOLY GEORGE LUCAS!!!!!!!! Ok sorry – I got that out of my system. It was such a pleasure to sit down with the Strange Magic cast and crew. We had lots of laughs and everyone was truly very personable. The meeting was actually rather intimate which was a treat.

George has created a brand new storyline and it’s all about life and love – about magic and unexpected heroes. I’m going to give my full review on the film in a few days — look out for that post in a bit. For now, I wanted to tell you a little bit about my interview and give you some insight about the creation and process of putting together Strange Magic.

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Strange Magic:

George Lucas made Strange Magic because he finally wanted to make a movie geared towards his daughters. SURE — he’s made action-packed adventures that heavily target boy. Heck! He’s been doing that for DECADES. But this movie icon felt it was fine time to start concentrating on the other gender. Strange Magic still has sword fighting and battles and the intense moments that we have all grown to know and expect… but the overarching theme makes this movie highly female in his view. Love is love is love and that’s what little girls wants to see.
If it was up to George, the entire film would have been expressed through song. Can you imagine? George wanted the entire script to be one song after the other. His writing team sat him down and made him realize that SOME SCRIPT was needed to push forward the story. So, they met somewhere in the middle. Ok, it’s actually skewed more towards George. By his count, he estimates songs take up 70% of the film.
The team wanted to be sure to incorporate songs from ever era. Look out for tunes from Beyonce and Elvis! My bet is this new generation will be looking up songs from that “new artist”. You know… the one our parents used to listen to. 🙂
Some of the cast members did not meet until LAST WEEK. Yes! You read that correctly! Because Strange Magic is an animated film, the actors record their parts separately. So, it actually isn’t unusual for this to happen. Most cast members meet during the promotional portion of the process. I still always find this so interesting!!
One of the main messages of the film? Don’t judge a book by its cover. George Lucas said that every generation needs to be reminded of this fact every now and then. It isn’t simply a given. The children need to be told and retold. This movie was his way of contributing to that notion.
If you look for it… there is actually a similarity between Strange Magic and Star Wars. YES! I’m serious!! The Dark Side of the Force vs. the Light Side of the Force is comparative to the Dark Forest and the Fairy Kingdom. George believes that nothing exists without this balance. So, when he was conceptually building out this world, he knew he wanted a “dark” and a “light” area.
The actors can see themselves in their animated versions. And well, their friends and family can too! When Elijah Kelly’s mother saw the film for the first time, she noted that Sunny has “her nose”. Isn’t that funny?! Same thing happened to Meredith Anne Bull. She admitted that she saw some similarities to Dawn but insists once she has time she will analyze the film in more detail to make sure!
Guess who hasn’t watched the film yet — Sam Palladio! Sure, he’s seen bits and pieces but he really wants to enjoy Strange Magic with the public. He wants to see it for the first time at the premiere. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to do it! I have NO SELF CONTROL.

The Strange Magic Cast

Director Gary Rydstrom
Meredith Anne Bull (voice of “Dawn”)
Sam Palladio (voice of “Roland”)
Evan Rachel Wood (voice of “Marianne”)
Alan Cumming (voice of “Bog King”)
Elijah Kelly (voice of “Sunny”)
Music: Marius De Vries

What a TREAT to be able to sit and chat with the Strange Magic Cast! I absolutely adore Alan Cumming. While he is predominately known for his roles on Broadway (and ahem, X-Men if you are a hardcore fan like me) , the actor admitted that he really enjoys doing work geared towards children. It’s been quite some time since he worked on the Spy Kids series and was so pleased to be asked on board for this project. In fact… he hopes to continue in this genre! I will watch whatever than man does! I LOVE HIM!!!

Looking for some fun activity sheets to do with the kids? Simply right click on the image below and save it to your desktop. Then print as many copies as you’d like!