When I interviewed Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate about their short film, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, for Filmmaker‘s 2010 25 New Faces series, both remember the project resulting from a period where they were a little down. Then a couple, Fleischer-Camp described being “unfilled” at work, while Slate said, ‘I was depressed… a little bit. We were at a time in our lives when whatever we made would have a layer of gravity. And the real magic of [the movie] to me is that it has this layer of gravity, but it’s still about an adorable little shell.” […]

Congrats to 25 New Face filmmakers Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate for busting onto Brian Williams’ NBC show, accompanied, of course, by their wonderful creation, Marcel the Shell. Here’s the spot. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is the totally winning animated short that placed writer/director Dean Fleischer Camp and writer/actress Jenny Slate on Filmmaker‘s 2011 25 New Faces list. (Read their profile here.) Now, the couple — and Marcel, the Montaigne of animated seashells — returns in a new short. He seems slightly cheerier than last time, and the production values are a smidgen better while not betraying the short’s lo-fi origins. There is no better way to start your morning.