# Strange Magic (film)
*Strange Magic* is a 2015 American computer-animated musical fantasy film directed by Gary Rydstrom, produced by [Lucasfilm](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucasfilm) and [Industrial Light & Magic](https://www.edgepedia.org/industrial-light-and-magic), and built from a story and concept by [George Lucas](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-lucas). Inspired loosely by Shakespeare's *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, it tells a love-potion-driven fairy tale through a soundtrack of existing pop songs from the past several decades, and it was the second animated feature produced primarily at Lucasfilm's Singapore studio, after *Rango* (2011).[1](https://www.lucasfilm.com/productions/strange-magic/) • [2](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/gary-rydstrom-talks-george-lucas-strange-magic)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | January 23, 2015 (wide, Walt Disney), 99 minutes, PG[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Strange-Magic) • [4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/strange-magic-2015) |
| Creative origin | Story and concept by George Lucas; screenplay by David Berenbaum, Irene Mecchi, Gary Rydstrom, and Lucas; directed by Rydstrom[1](https://www.lucasfilm.com/productions/strange-magic/) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strange-magic/) |
| Main voice cast | Alan Cumming (Bog King), Evan Rachel Wood (Marianne), Elijah Kelley (Sunny), Kristin Chenoweth (Sugar Plum Fairy), Maya Rudolph (Griselda), Sam Palladio (Roland), Alfred Molina (Fairy King)[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strange-magic/) |
| Production | Animated by Industrial Light & Magic with sound by Skywalker Sound; released under Disney's Touchstone label[6](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jan/23/george-lucas-finds-strange-magic-in-animated/) |
| Box office | $12,429,583 domestic, $1,311,760 international, $13,741,343 worldwide against a reported $100 million production budget[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Strange-Magic) • [7](https://filmdb.co.uk/box-office/movie/strange-magic-2015-box-office) |
| Critical reception | 19% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (59 reviews); 25/100 on Metacritic from 20 critics[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strange-magic/) |
| Significance for Lucasfilm | George Lucas's final project with the company, arriving after its 2012 sale to Disney[9](https://www.lucasfilm.com/news/valentines-day-strange-magic/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and setting
The film is set in a magical realm divided between the Fairy Kingdom and the Dark Forest, inhabited by fairies, elves, goblins, and imps. The Bog King ([Alan Cumming](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-cumming)), ruler of the Dark Forest, hates love and has ordered the destruction of all primroses, an essential ingredient of love potions. The fairy princess Marianne ([Evan Rachel Wood](https://www.edgepedia.org/evan-rachel-wood)), embittered after her fiancé Roland ([Sam Palladio](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-palladio)) proved unfaithful, crosses paths with him as a battle over the potion unfolds; meanwhile the elf Sunny (Elijah Kelley) ventures into the Dark Forest to gather primrose petals for a potion of his own.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic) • [1](https://www.lucasfilm.com/productions/strange-magic/) • [9](https://www.lucasfilm.com/news/valentines-day-strange-magic/)
Lucas described the underlying theme as the difference between infatuation and true love: "what's on the surface doesn't make all that much difference, but what's under the surface is what's important."[10](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2015/1/22/18458754/george-lucas-spent-years-working-to-make-strange-magic) The love-potion device came directly from *A Midsummer Night's Dream*: "It worked there so I figured it'll work anywhere," he said.[11](https://incinemas.sg/mobile/article-details.aspx?id=1794) Director Gary Rydstrom, a seven-time Oscar-winning sound designer making his feature directing debut, noted that the play supplied little beyond that premise: "very little of the film has any basis in the classic play," though like Shakespeare's story the film's romances resolve within a single day and night.[2](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/gary-rydstrom-talks-george-lucas-strange-magic) • [12](https://geekdad.com/2015/01/gary-rydstrom-strange-magic/)
## Development and production
**A fifteen-year side project.** Lucas said he came up with the idea about 15 years before release, during the period he was directing the [Star Wars](https://www.edgepedia.org/star-wars) prequels, and worked on it intermittently with a small group at [Skywalker Ranch](https://www.edgepedia.org/skywalker-ranch) for years.[13](https://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/In-Focus/2015/Sound-Ideas.aspx) • [14](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20150123_George_Lucas_works__Strange_Magic__with_new_animated_film.html) His stated goal was a fairy-tale adventure aimed at twelve-year-old girls, a counterpart to Star Wars's appeal to boys; as the father of three daughters, he drew on that experience.[11](https://incinemas.sg/mobile/article-details.aspx?id=1794) • [10](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2015/1/22/18458754/george-lucas-spent-years-working-to-make-strange-magic)
The project moved forward after the Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion in 2012, and Lucas hired his longtime collaborator Rydstrom to direct. Rydstrom had worked with Lucas since 1983, starting in the machine room on *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom*, and had directed [Pixar shorts](https://www.edgepedia.org/list-of-pixar-shorts) including the Oscar-nominated *Lifted* (2006). He described the film as homegrown: ILM did the animation, [Skywalker Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/skywalker-sound) did the sound, and Disney released it.[14](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20150123_George_Lucas_works__Strange_Magic__with_new_animated_film.html) • [2](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/gary-rydstrom-talks-george-lucas-strange-magic) Voice actor Alan Cumming later recalled the production's long gestation: he recorded many songs that were then cut amid changes of writers and director, and recording stretched over years rather than days.[15](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interview-Alan-Cumming-Talks-Getting-Bad-for-STRANGE-MAGIC-Juggling-THE-GOOD-WIFE-CABARET-and-More-20150125)
## Music
*Strange Magic* is a jukebox musical: its characters sing existing pop songs, from [Elvis Presley](https://www.edgepedia.org/elvis-presley), the [Four Tops](https://www.edgepedia.org/four-tops), and [Electric Light Orchestra](https://www.edgepedia.org/electric-light-orchestra) to Kelly Clarkson and the Black Eyed Peas, with the lyrics repurposed to advance the plot.[14](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20150123_George_Lucas_works__Strange_Magic__with_new_animated_film.html) Producer Mark S. Miller described the intended cross-generational appeal: grandparents would recognize older songs while children would know Lady Gaga or Kelly Clarkson.[11](https://incinemas.sg/mobile/article-details.aspx?id=1794) Music director and composer Marius de Vries, who had also arranged songs for Baz Luhrmann's *Moulin Rouge!*, produced scratch versions and mashups during production; critics repeatedly compared the film's sensibility to that musical.[2](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/gary-rydstrom-talks-george-lucas-strange-magic) • [16](https://www.avclub.com/lucasfilm-s-strange-magic-is-the-moulin-rouge-of-animat-1798182481) Reviewers were divided on the approach. The RogerEbert.com critic Glenn Kenny found the song-laden treatment so eclectic that the numbers never quite fit the film's flying-insect world, though he called the title-song duet "spectacularly engaging."[4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/strange-magic-2015)
## Reception and box office
Disney opened the film wide on January 23, 2015 in 3,020 theaters, where it earned $5,504,441 on opening weekend and placed seventh for the frame. Domestic grosses reached $12,429,583, with an international total of $1,311,760 for $13,741,343 worldwide, against a reported production budget of $100 million.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Strange-Magic) • [7](https://filmdb.co.uk/box-office/movie/strange-magic-2015-box-office) • [17](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2015-2/strange-magic/) [A United Kingdom](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-united-kingdom) release on August 21, 2015 in 289 theaters brought in $722,694.[17](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2015-2/strange-magic/)
Critical response was largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 19% Tomatometer from 59 reviews, with the critics consensus finding the film "lovely to look at" but with "not much going on beneath the surface," alongside a warmer 54% audience score.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 25 from 20 critic reviews, categorized as generally unfavorable, with 70% of the reviews negative.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strange-magic/) Some critics were harsher than others: one Metacritic-captured review called it perhaps the worst animated feature released under Disney's rarely used Touchstone label, while Rotten Tomatoes also quoted a reviewer calling it "the best Lucas film in 25 years."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strange-magic/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic) Common criticism targeted the story and song integration rather than the visuals; reviewers consistently praised the computer animation itself.[4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/strange-magic-2015) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic)
## Aftermath
*Strange Magic* was George Lucas's final project with Lucasfilm, arriving after the Disney sale he had shepherded through completion.[9](https://www.lucasfilm.com/news/valentines-day-strange-magic/) The film later found a modest afterlife on streaming: as of October 2026 it streams on Disney+ in 51 countries and on Prime Video in the United States.[18](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/strange-magic-2015-302429)
## References
1. [Strange Magic, Lucasfilm.com](https://www.lucasfilm.com/productions/strange-magic/)
2. [Gary Rydstrom Talks George Lucas' 'Strange Magic', Animation World Network](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/gary-rydstrom-talks-george-lucas-strange-magic)
3. [Strange Magic (2015), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Strange-Magic)
4. [Strange Magic movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/strange-magic-2015)
5. [Strange Magic Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/strange-magic/)
6. [George Lucas finds 'Strange Magic' in animated film's music, The Spokesman-Review](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jan/23/george-lucas-finds-strange-magic-in-animated/)
7. [Strange Magic (2015) Box Office, FilmDB](https://filmdb.co.uk/box-office/movie/strange-magic-2015-box-office)
8. [Strange Magic, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic)
9. [Happy Valentine's Day from the Enchanted World of Strange Magic, Lucasfilm.com](https://www.lucasfilm.com/news/valentines-day-strange-magic/)
10. [George Lucas spent years working to make 'Strange Magic', Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2015/1/22/18458754/george-lucas-spent-years-working-to-make-strange-magic)
11. [George Lucas and Team on Song Choices, Love Dust and Kelly Clarkson in 'Strange Magic', InCinemas](https://incinemas.sg/mobile/article-details.aspx?id=1794)
12. [Director Gary Rydstrom Talks About Strange Magic, GeekDad](https://geekdad.com/2015/01/gary-rydstrom-strange-magic/)
13. [Sound Ideas in Strange Magic, Computer Graphics World](https://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/In-Focus/2015/Sound-Ideas.aspx)
14. [George Lucas works 'Strange Magic' with new animated film, The Philadelphia Inquirer](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20150123_George_Lucas_works__Strange_Magic__with_new_animated_film.html)
15. [BWW Interview: Alan Cumming Talks Getting Bad for STRANGE MAGIC, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interview-Alan-Cumming-Talks-Getting-Bad-for-STRANGE-MAGIC-Juggling-THE-GOOD-WIFE-CABARET-and-More-20150125)
16. [Lucasfilm's Strange Magic is the Moulin Rouge of animated features, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/lucasfilm-s-strange-magic-is-the-moulin-rouge-of-animat-1798182481)
17. [Strange Magic (2015), Bomb Report](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2015-2/strange-magic/)
18. [Where to watch Strange Magic (2015), FlickFinder](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/strange-magic-2015-302429)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Animated films by source material and subject › Films based on folklore and religion*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license