Marcel The Shell With Shoes On came out and it’s been a hit with critics and audiences alike. Recently, thanks to our friends at Elevation Pictures, I had the opportunity to sit in a roundtable with the director of the film himself, Dean Fleischer-Camp. Not only did I get to talk to him about Marcel The Shell, but I was also the first person to congratulate him on his new gig as the director of Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch news, which released literally 30 seconds before it was my turn to talk to him. Here’s what he had to say about Marcel The Shell and Lilo & Stitch.

BSL: Hi Dean. Before we start, I just wanted to say two quick things. Firstly, thank you so much for making this movie. I absolutely loved it and you made me cry more times than I’ve ever cried watching a movie. Secondly, Deadline just reported that you’re going to be directing the Lilo & Stitch movie for Disney so I wanted to congratulate you on that as well!

DFC: Oh, thank you! *laughs* I did not know that they announced that.

BSL: It literally just popped up on my phone so I knew I had to bring it up. After Marcel The Shell, I think you’re gonna do a great job!

DFC: Thank you, that’s so nice! Wow, so cool it’s out there now.

BSL: Anyways, back to Marcel The Shell. Here’s my question: Why did you decide to explore dark themes like loneliness and loss in this movie? Marcel is such an innocent and happy character so I think it’s an interesting choice to make him suffer so much.

DFC: Well, I think that he’s inspiring for that reason. I think it’s part of the reason he resonates with so many people. But you can’t really have the happiness and the real nectar of life if you also haven’t been through and processed the grief of it. Part of what I was interested in portraying in this movie is that pain, grief and loss are an inherent part of the cycle of life and you cannot literally, both in nature but also, at least, I’ve found in my own life, you can’t create new growth without death and decay and those things enrich the soil that growth sprouts from.

While I only had a short time to talk to Dean, He gave me a very insightful answer and I was able to get somewhat of a confirmation on him directing Lilo & Stitch. He did such a great job with Marcel The Shell and I strongly encourage everyone to go and see it because it’s a truly incredible film. Fleischer-Camp did a great job directing and I can’t wait to see what he does with Lilo & Stitch. Thanks again to our friends at Elevation pictures for this opportunity!

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On is currently playing in theatres. Read our review here.

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