The new animated film connects The Black Parade with Tsai’s The Dying World, alongside screenings at the band’s Hollywood Bowl concerts.
Lauren Tsai’s animated universe now intersects with My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade. Their newly released short, Prelude to The End, places the album’s opening track inside a continuation of her project The Dying World.
The film follows Astrid, voiced by Tsai, after a confrontation over her sketchbook at a strange boarding school. Her journey into a world of abandoned ideas adds characters and settings to the story introduced in Tsai’s earlier work.
A cast drawn from music, film and gaming supplies the additional voices. Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers play Astrid’s friend and sister, while Hideo Kojima and John C. McGinley take the roles of Teacher and Dean.
The short arrives during The Black Parade’s anniversary celebrations and is available to watch online. It is also scheduled for screenings before My Chemical Romance’s final two Hollywood Bowl dates on October 30 and 31.
The surrounding anniversary release revisits the 2006 album with six bonus selections. Among them are recordings from Maxwell’s in Hoboken in 2007 and a previously unreleased live performance of “Someone Out There Loves You,” according to the release coverage.
Tsai’s connection to the band predates the commission: she created animated fan videos to its music while growing up. This project turns that influence into a collaboration, with her original narrative sharing space with a record now marking two decades.
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