Queen icons Brian May and Roger Taylor today, Sunday December 15, posted their personal Christmas messages to worldwide fans with the gift of a new specially created animation film for the band’s ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ track originally released in November 1984.
‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ was a rare song writing collaboration between Roger and Brian. The song spent six weeks in the UK charts over the Christmas/New Year period 1984/1985. It enjoyed a second lease of life Christmas 1995 coupled with the hit single ‘A Winter’s Tale’ from the Made In Heaven album. Here the track receives a fully animated treatment.
The concept for this new animated film came directly from Brian and Roger who explain their thoughts behind it with Roger saying: “Ironically, Christmas tends to be such a stressful time for so many of us. So many emotions, joyful memories of past Christmas’ as delighted children and responsible adults / parents. Its just a great relief when it finally happens.”
Brian adds: “The video goes a little further by including a subtle reminder that we as humans now need to feel a responsibility for the welfare of ALL creatures on Earth — not just for our own benefit, and that of our grandchildren, but out of respect for the rights of the animals themselves.”
Working with Brian and Roger, the film was directed
On Set and Behind The Scenes stills taken from the Fox Bohemian Rhapsody Movie.
Greg Brooks, Queens’ Official Archivist was part of this process and he worked with the band and the movie production team on a daily basis for months to re-create every tiny detail of each scene and to make it as authentic as possible.
«My role was to give the Fox ‘Props’ team access to authentic Queen tapes, notes, handwriting, memorabilia, costumes and photographs — anything and everything remotely useful — which they could then create replicas of, to dress various sets.»
«Working on this project with such a brilliant gathering of dedicated talented people, was a rare privilege. Fox have created a Queen universe that is scarily convincing. It is real in every way that it could reasonably be.»
Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound, their near-implosion as Mercury’s lifestyle spirals out of control, and their triumphant reunion on the eve of Live Aid, where Mercury, facing a life-threatening illness, leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. In the process, cementing the legacy of a band that were always more like a family, and who continue to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day.
With over 6.5 million copies sold worldwide to date, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is one of the world’s most well known and well loved songs.
The single has been covered by everyone from Kanye West during his 2015 controversial Glastonbury headline slot, Axl Rose, Elton John and Pink to The Flaming Lips and Elaine Paige and forever immortalized again by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in the smash hit 90’s film, Wayne’s World.
To mark the anniversary, this weekend kicks off a month of celebrations and unique opportunities for fans to get involved all over the world.