For a movie about the tiniest of stop-motion animated creatures, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is jam-packed with big heart and big ideas. Dean Fleischer Camp’s delightful directorial feature debut tackles the concepts of community, grief, fear, love, and connection, and all through the eyes of an adorable one-inch-tall shell (voiced by Jenny Slate) and his grandmother (voiced by Isabella Rossellini).

Though it’s just the two of them now, Marcel and Nana Connie used to be a part of a sizeable community of other shells that eked out a creative existence in the nooks and crannies of an enviably attractive AirBnB. When a documentary filmmaker (Fleischer Camp) moves in, he discovers his tiny housemates and decides to tell Marcel’s story, in hopes of reuniting him with his missing family and friends.

Marcel the Shell was first introduced to audiences courtesy of a YouTube short Fleischer Camp created alongside then-partner Slate in 2010. Slate had developed Marcel’s distinctive voice as a coping mechanism in an uncomfortably crowded situation and, after hearing it, Fleischer Camp decided to cobble together a physical manifestation of the quiet but verbose little dude. One shell, one big googly eye, and a pair of tiny shoes later and Marcel had achieved the kind of internet fame often reserved for musical kittens and mischievous toddlers. The original short went on to become one of the most watched videos on the social platform–and is currently sitting at almost 33 million views–and spawned two sequel shorts and a successful children’s book series.

Now the little shell that could is getting his very own big-screen adventure, courtesy of director, co-producer and co-writer Fleischer Camp. Tune in below to hear more about Marcel’s leap to feature films, the challenges of stop-motion animation, and how the littlest thing can make the biggest of differences.

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On is in theatres now.