Taglines: An epic tale on a tiny scale.
Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet (Julie Walters and Richard Wilson) are two elderly neighbours who despise each other. When they leave their respective gardens, their garden gnomes come alive. The Montague garden is filled with blue-hat gnomes, and the Capulet garden has red-hat gnomes. Like their human gardeners, the gnomes also despise each other.
The gnomes hold a back alley lawnmower race, with Gnomeo (James McAvoy) driving for the blues and Tybalt (Jason Statham) for the reds. Tybalt cheats to win the race, destroying Gnomeo’s lawnmower. Gnomeo and his best friend, Benny (Matt Lucas), are disappointed to see Mrs. Montague ordering a new “kitty” lawnmower.
That night, Gnomeo and Benny infiltrate the red garden in black disguise. Benny sprays Tybalt’s well and accidentally triggers a security light. During the escape Gnomeo ends up in a nearby garden where he bumps into a disguised Juliet (Emily Blunt), the daughter of the red gnomes leader Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine). Juliet is attempting to retrieve a unique orchid, and the two romantically fight over it. They each discover the other’s color before fleeing the garden. When they both go back to their own gardens, Juliet tells her frog-sprinkler friend Nanette (Ashley Jensen) about her newfound love. Nanette states that the relationship is romantically tragic.
Directed by Kelly Asbury (“Shrek 2”) and showcasing both classic and original songs by Elton John, the film features the voices of James McAvoy and Emily Blunt as Gnomeo and Juliet, who have as many obstacles to overcome as their quasi namesakes when they are caught up in a feud between neighbors. But with plastic pink flamingos and thrilling lawnmower races in the mix, can this young couple find lasting happiness?
Classic Literature Gets Nose to Plaster Nose
Filmmakers Say, “Why Not Gnomes?”
The original “Romeo and Juliet” was penned by William Shakespeare in the late 1500s. The tragic tale of two teenage lovers endures today with countless interpretations—from Georg Benda’s operatic adaptation in the 1700s to the popular 1950s stage musical “West Side Story” to 1996’s MTV-inspired “Romeo + Juliet.” In 2010, Twitter premiered “Such Tweet Sorrow”—an improvised tweeted version of the play presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Mudlark Production Company. And now we have garden gnomes.
The filmmakers were instantly drawn to the irony of the film’s premise. Says producer David Furnish, “The concept of the film gave us the opportunity to take a classically well-known story and turn it on its head—reinvent it for a modern audience in a very funny way. The sheer fact that we have the high art of Shakespeare, the most revered playwright of all time, and the kitschy garden gnome gives us so many fantastic opportunities for comedy.”
The challenge, says producer Steve Hamilton Shaw, was making the fun premise into an interesting big-screen movie. “It’s important that while this movie makes people laugh, it also presents a world the audience can believe in; they need to feel the characters’ emotions. We needed to give it the heart and soul that would allow people to emotionally engage with the movie, so that the comedy plays that much better.”
Enter Kelly Asbury, a director whose comedic experience and artistic roots made him a natural fit for the project. Asbury’s directorial credits include the Oscar-nominated “Shrek 2” (2004) and “Spirit—Stallion of the Cimarron” (2002). He also worked as an artist on such notable films as “Shrek” (2001), “Toy Story” (1995), Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) and “Beauty and the Beast.” The producers felt Asbury had a proven ability to showcase a comedic character’s emotional side. Says Asbury, “If you’re going to make an animated feature for a big audience to enjoy, you have to have a little bit of laughter, you have to have a little bit of tears—but I think the main thing is sincerity.”
But is it safe to transform one of Shakespeare’s most beloved tragedies into an animated comedy suitable for the whole family? James McAvoy, who provides the voice of Gnomeo, considered the question. “It’s strange, isn’t it, because it probably shouldn’t work,” says McAvoy. “But you know what? In most Shakespeare plays these days, the director goes out on a limb to set it in some new environment. We’re probably not that far away from seeing a version in the West End or on Broadway where the actors are garden gnomes anyway. This is just getting there ahead of time. We’re trailblazers here.”
Aptly set in Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon, “Gnomeo & Juliet” highlights the heated rivalry between neighbors Mr. Capulet and Miss Montague, who’ve taken their zeal for gardening to a whole new level. Their gardens overflow with kitsch plaster garden gnomes who, when the humans are out of sight, have taken up their respective owner’s non-neighborly behavior. The feud has taken on an even more personal nature with the gnomes, where simply being a Red from the Red Garden or a Blue from the Blue Garden comes with a host of prejudices that most don’t understand, yet fail to question. “Why gnomes?” asks producer Baker Bloodworth. “Why not gnomes? This story is worth telling; it’s relevant. I think the artwork is joyous and vibrant and colorful and it has Elton John tying it all together.”
Fortunately for the garden gnomes, in addition to an extraordinary soundtrack featuring both new songs and classics from the Elton John-Bernie Taupin library, this version offers an all-new third act— replacing Shakespeare’s tragic conclusion. “I think this is definitely the ending that people always wanted from Romeo and Juliet,” says Emily Blunt, who lends her voice to Juliet (and actually kicked off her career on stage as a more traditional Juliet at the 2002 Chichester Festival).
Gnomeo and Juliet
Directed by: Kelly Asbury
Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen, Michael Caine, Matt Lucas, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters
Screenplay by: Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Emily Cook
Production Design by: Karen deJong
Film Editing by: Catherine Apple
Art Direction by: Karen deJong: Andrew Woodhouse
Music by: Chris Bacon, James Newton Howard, Elton John
MPAA Rating: G for general audiences.
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Release Date: February 11, 2011
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