Lucasfilm has announced its newest project, and it’s not related to Star Wars. Strange Magic is a fairy tale musical inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is the first animated film released by Lucasfilm since the Disney purchase, and while it’s not what I would necessarily expect from Lucasfilm, it sounds delightful. The story will feature a cast of goblins, elves, fairies, and imps, and showcase their adventures as they battle over a powerful potion. The musical portion will showcase popular songs from the past six decades.

When Disney registered several domain names last week tied to Strange Magic, many thought it was the name of a Frozen sequel. Well played, Disney. They’ve kept the title under wraps even though Strange Magic has been in the works for at least a few years. A rumor about George Lucas working on a CGI fairy musical circulated as early as 2010, and in 2013, Brenda Chapman (Brave) told Animation Magazine she had been consulting on a film for Lucasfilm but that she completed the work and Gary Rydstrom was set to direct the movie. Around this time, Lucasfilm copyrighted the name “Primrose”. The flower is known as a fairy flower, and it lined up with other rumors about the secret animation project.

Bog King, Griselda, and Marianne in Strange Magic

Now that Strange Magic has been announced, we know that Rydstrom is indeed directing. The story is by George Lucas, and the screenplay is by David Berenbaum, Irene Mecchi, and Rydstrom. They have one heck of a line-up for the cast with Alan Cumming (Bog King), Evan Rachel Wood (Marianne), Kristin Chenoweth, Alfred Molina, Maya Rudolph (Griselda), and more starring in the musical. Mark S. Miller is on board as producer.

Strange Magic will be released by Touchstone Pictures on January 23, 2015.

Are you excited about Strange Magic? Flutter to the comments and let us know.

Image: Walt Disney Studios