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My Chemical Romance have released a new animated short film with a pretty formidable voice cast, including Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish, Hideo Kojima, and actor John C. McGinley. “Prelude to the End,” a collaboration with visual artist Lauren Tsai, arrives just after the band dropped a 20th-anniversary reissue of their album The Black Parade last week. Check it out below.
“Prelude to The End” follows Astrid, a girl studying at a boarding school in New England overrun with trash. After falling down the school’s garbage chute in search of a beloved sketchbook, she enters a new, uncanny realm of old ideas that come to life. Bridgers voices Astrid’s sister, while Eilish lends her vocals to Astrid’s close friend. Kojima plays a character called the Teacher, and McGinley voices an even more imposing administrative figure: The Dean. The film includes a live recording of Pascal Dusapin’s Flying River, Violin Concerto, performed by Utopia Orchestra and conducted by Giuseppe Mengoli.
My Chemical Romance plan to screen the film at two forthcoming Hollywood Bowl shows on October 30 and 31. They mark the final two nights of the band’s five-night residency at the Los Angeles venue, part of a larger ongoing tour celebrating The Black Parade’s big 20th. The run kicked off last year, and MCR also played the record in full at the festival When We Were Young in 2024.
Revisit the Sunday Review of My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.