Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is too wholesome to be real. It’s not unlike the Paddington movies in that regard -a highly whimsical, big-hearted, family-friendly story about an optimist underdog. However Marcel is both much more emphatically cute and more dramatically measured than Paddington or other family-oriented movies starring an animated character -it can draw in children but play more meaningfully to adults. There’s a cool pace to it, a distinct style of execution and mood, a mild humour -it’s distributed by A24 after all, so these things aren’t unexpected. Yet it maintains a healthy degree of child-like fancy without featuring any of the traditional markers of childrens’ movies that can be overwhelming sometimes. It is entrancing and lovely.
The concept comes from a series of short internet films and subsequent childrens’ books by Dean Fleischer Camp (who directs the movie) and Jenny Slate (who stars as the voice of Marcel) -both credited writers. Essentially, Marcel is a tiny anthropomorphic shell with a googly eye (those seem to be in this year) and a pair of shoes. He has a little drawn-on animated mouth and moves about through stop-motion. The mockumentary movie, with Fleischer Camp serving as the mostly unseen documentarian, tells of how Marcel, who lives in a human-sized home, belonged to a large community of shells that went missing when the original owners (a briefly seen Rosa Salazar and Thomas Mann) broke up and moved away. Only Marcel and his Nana Connie (voiced by a wonderful Isabella Rossellini) remained. Marcel has since concocted a number of clever ways of getting by, such as rolling around in a hollowed-out tennis ball and using various Rube Goldberg machines to retrieve food and supplies; and has also rented out the house as an Airbnb. The world of the film relies on a kind of Scooby-Doo logic where nobody really questions this one-inch tall sentient seashell. He just kinda vibes, hangs around, makes jokes, and religiously watches 60 Minutes with Nana Connie.
All of this is played with an off-the-cuff spontaneity –parts of the script were improvised- that mimics well its’ desired format while allowing the audience to live and breathe in Marcel’s curious little world. There’s a lot of inventiveness to just the architecture of it all –Nana Connie’s bedroom being simply an open jewelry box, the potted plant as their garden, the thimbles they sit on to eat dinner. A dusty glass table to them becomes a skating rink, an inhaler is a slide, a teacup a bathtub, and Marcel’s favourite decoration is a little marble in a net. It’s a charming new way of looking at everyday objects in the same vein as Studio Ghibli’s Arietty –Marcel even goes into danger similarly armed with a sewing pin. The movie has a lot of fun with its’ scale and how the characters relate to their environments. Marcel has the ability to walk up the walls leaving tiny footprints behind. And one of my favourite little funny details is when Marcel is talking to someone on Deans’ phone, Nana Connie is sitting on one of the keys of his laptop and you can make out the string of ZZZZs being run in the background on his open document.
Although it very much could get away with it, the movie is not a simple day-in-the-life exposé of this little shell, its’ main emotional thrust concerning the search for Marcel’s family. In the process of this, echoing the effect of the shorts a decade ago, Marcel becomes an internet sensation. He hosts a livestream politely offering what information he has, but in what amounts to a mild indictment of internet culture, no one much seems to care beyond the abstract –and in fact more than a few people track down his house. This film is too innocent to illustrate maliciousness or targeted doxing on their part (mostly it’s just kids taking selfies); but it’s enough of an infringement on Marcel’s peaceful ambience that it evokes real anxiety. Because he’s so small, the little stakes feel all the more serious.
Fleischer Camp and Slate do such an apt job establishing the mood and character for Marcel as well, a rather simple little guy with the most earnest personality in the world. Slate voices him in a timid yet bubbly whisper to imply youth, and it’s honestly a wonder it isn’t grating. Perhaps its’ because the film around the character has such a sincere sense of identity or that the design of Marcel is so unexpectedly adorable. There’s something too in Marcel’s quavering, occasionally awkward presentation that does wonders to emphasize the sadness of the character and his situation. Marcel is so happy-go-lucky, but his attitude betrays a sincere longing and loneliness, and a fear of even more loss -he’s incredibly protective of Nana Connie. It makes for a cutting, if perhaps easy, character to empathize with. And I can’t believe I’m saying that about a one-inch shell with a googly eye! But Fleischer Camp deserves a lot of credit for relating that notion so believably -his interactions with Marcel are some of the films’ best moments, especially where Marcel turns the documentary format around on him, insisting he open up too on things like his career and his separation -which brought him to the Airbnb in the first place.
There’s a subtle kinship between Marcel and Dean, a connection in their mutual isolation and uncertainty. Underpinning much of the film is a profound arc that manifests for both of them about finding a sense of peace with what they’ve gone through -it’s true for Nana Connie as well. The reward is obviously greater and more cathartic for Marcel but it still translates impeccably without the movie ever dwelling in the intricacies of his emotions and thoughts -that’s a hell of a thing to pull off! It is quietly one of the great coming-of-age films of the year, packaged in what is often fairly standard family movie plotting, albeit with unique artistic and stylistic instincts. And where those are concerned, the movie manages some astounding moments of beauty and heart -like one shot that frames Nana Connie in the shadow of an open window, dust flecks moving poignantly in its’ light.
According to Fleischer Camp, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On will be eligible for Oscar consideration in the animation category next year. That seems a bit tricky considering the animated components are restricted to those items Marcel interacts with directly, and Marcel and his nana themselves of course. There’s also not much hope given how early in the season this is and how Disney tends to strangle that category, but Marcel is a movie you can’t help wanting to see great things for (again, not unlike the Paddington movies). And the animation that is there is lovely, Marcel one of the most strongly-defined characters of the year. There’s a simplicity to it, a sweet modesty in design and layout that defies the complex machinery of modern animation for its’ DIY, home-grown roots. It arrives with its’ own humble charm, this movie, its’ own endearing perspective, ingenuity, humour, and thoughtfulness. A rare thing indeed for an idea birthed on the internet.
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