Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Adorable Albeit Uneven Animation

Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate’s silly little short film about a precocious talking seashell with one googly eye and pink-colored shoes has had a positive impact on many people around the world, just like this reviewer, quickly making it a viral sensation. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On spawned two subsequent short films that were both accompanied by a children’s storybook. In 2014, Dean Fleischer-Camp announced that he would be working on a feature-length film revolving around Marcel the Shell. After eight long years, that film has finally come into fruition.

This mockumentary sees Slate reprising her iconic role as the titular seashell. The story follows Marcel and his grandmother Nanna Connie (Rossellini), who once lived in a large community of sea-shells, but were the only ones left behind when the couple who owned the house split up and moved out. Two years later, Marcel and Nanna Connie found themselves separated from their family as the house had since turned into a B&B, with revolving guests constantly checking in and out. When an aspiring filmmaker named Dean (Fleischer-Camp) rents out the B&B, he discovers the two talking shells, and decides to make a documentary about Marcel. The two quickly form a string friendship and help each other to grow. Through the process of making the documentary and posting videos on YouTube, Marcel accumulates a massive fanbase that aids him in his quest to find his missing family.

The Marcel the Shell YouTube shorts were absolutely adorable and the feature length film is no different. A big concern going into this film was that it would feel like a short film stretched out to feature length unnecessarily, solely for the sake of capitalizing off of the success of the shorts. Fortunately, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On justifies its feature length runtime. The film is a heartwarming adventure packed to the brim with positivity, that celebrates family and explores the importance of personal growth and change. Meanwhile, from a comedic standpoint, the film is just as clever and tongue and cheek as the source material. Slate’s comedic timing and voice work is impeccable, perfectly embodying the innocence and preciousness of Marcel, while adding a level of snakiness that makes him a more three dimensional character.

The film’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t seem to know who its target audience is. The YouTube shorts were clearly for children, despite appealing to people of all ages. The film has a similar tone to the shorts, but it’s stuck between being a film for the whole family and also desperately trying to appeal to adult audiences. The presentation and story are clearly aimed at younger audiences, but every now and then it attempts to lean more into existentialism and become a label for adults struggling with moving forward in life, without ever fully committing. Some of its jokes are shockingly low brow, with a few being too crude for children. This lack of balance makes the film feel uneven at points and holds it back from being one of the best films of the year.

That being said, Marcel the Shell with Shoes on is still an extremely cute and satisfying film that will certainly please fans of the YouTube shorts.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Tristan French