My Chemical Romance have released a new animated short film, ‘Prelude To The End’, featuring voice contributions from Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers and others – watch below.
The film was made in collaboration with visual artist Lauren Tsai and arrives as the band continue celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark 2006 album ‘The Black Parade’.
Produced by Tsai’s independent studio UNREAL INC., the project combines the visual world of her animated film The Dying World with ‘The End.’, the opening track from the album.
The nine-minute film follows Astrid, a student at a mysterious New England boarding school that has become overrun with rubbish.
When the school’s authorities throw away her cherished sketchbook, she follows it down a rubbish chute and finds herself transported into a surreal world inhabited by forgotten ideas.
Tsai voices Astrid herself, while Eilish plays her friend and Bridgers voices her sister. Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima plays a character known as The Teacher, while Scrubs actor John C. McGinley voices The Dean.
Watch ‘Prelude To The End’ here:
The project marks a full-circle moment for Tsai, who grew up creating animated fan videos set to My Chemical Romance’s music.
“It was an absolute dream to work on this project for The Black Parade and The Dying World,” Tsai said in a statement.
She added that she deeply respected frontman Gerard Way‘s creative legacy, and that she was honoured he had drawn inspiration from her own work, having spent years admiring the worlds he created.
Tsai previously worked with Bridgers in 2023, when she directed the animated music video for Boygenius’ ‘Cool About It’.
Speaking to NME about that project, she said: “‘Cool About It’ is a beautifully melancholic and piercing song that puts words to feelings often unexplained. It is an absolute dream to collaborate with the genius that is Boygenius.”
Bridgers is also a longtime admirer of My Chemical Romance, having covered ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ alongside Sloppy Jane at SXSW in 2022.
Meanwhile, Eilish and Bridgers have previously performed together, with the latter joining her alongside Boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker for a rendition of ‘When The Party’s Over’ at London’s Electric Ballroom in 2023.
‘Prelude To The End’ will also be screened ahead of My Chemical Romance’s final two Hollywood Bowl concerts tonight (October 30) and tomorrow (October 31).
The shows will conclude the US leg of their ‘Long Live The Black Parade’ anniversary tour, which has seen the band perform the 2006 record in full alongside selections from the rest of their catalogue.
The performances have made headlines after the company behind the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders launched legal action against the band over the use of lookalike uniforms during a staged gunfight.
Meanwhile, MCR released an expanded 20th anniversary edition of ‘The Black Parade’ last Friday (October 23), featuring six bonus tracks, including previously unreleased recordings from a 2007 show in Hoboken, New Jersey.
In its original 9/10 review, NME praised the record’s theatrical ambition, writing that it belonged alongside ‘American Idiot’, ‘Doolittle’ and ‘Nevermind’ among the greatest American rock albums.
Elsewhere, Way recently told fans that the group hope to record another album, although no plans have been confirmed.
“We’ve kind of really always wanted to make another record, so we hope that life allows us to do that,” he said. “You guys deserve another record. I don’t know when it’ll be. But it’ll be awesome.”