Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (short film series)


Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a trilogy of American 4-minute stop-motion animated mockumentary short films about an anthropomorphic seashell. The short films were directed, edited and produced by Dean Fleischer Camp who co-wrote with Slate. Fleisher Camp and Slate released a 2021 feature film of the same name about the title character with Slate reprising the role.

Premise

The three short films show the everyday life of Marcel, an anthropomorphic seashell outfitted and dressed with a single googly eye and a pair of miniature shoes.

Short films

Production

The character of Marcel came at an unexpected time. Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer Camp were attending a wedding and were sharing a single hotel room with a group of friends. Things began to feel claustrophobic and tensions began to rise when Slate began voicing her needs in the voice that would come to be that of Marcel. Upon returning home, Fleischer Camp worked with found objects, eventually settling on Polly Pocket shoes, a seashell and a single googly eye.

Release

The first short film premiered theatrically at AFI FEST 2010, where it was awarded Best Animated Short and was an official selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at the 2011 New York International Children's Film Festival. Two additional short films were released in 2011 and 2014. The first sequel, titled Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Two, was posted to YouTube on November 14, 2011. The second sequel, titled Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Three, was posted to YouTube on October 20, 2014. Each was accompanied by a tie-in storybook featuring Marcel.

Feature film adaptation

and Dean Fleischer Camp announced in 2014 that they planned to create a feature film adaptation of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on 3 September 2021 and it stars Jenny Slate, Thomas Mann, Isabella Rossellini and Rosa Salazar. The film received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.