Elton John thrilled with gnome movie

The animation has been inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic tale of star crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. In the movie, two garden gnomes – Gnomeo and Juliet, played by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt respectively – face a host of obstacles as they are caught up in a feud between their neighbours. Elton and his partner David Furnish have spent 11 years bringing the film to the big screen and they are delighted with the outcome.

Elton decided it would be entertaining to add a visually funny aspect to one of the greatest stories ever written.

“The story is obviously one of the most famous stories in the world, written by William Shakespeare. You can’t really get much higher art than William Shakespeare, he’s obviously the world’s most famous playwright and probably the best playwright that’s ever been,” he explained in an interview with Famecrawler. “With the garden gnomes, they’re probably one of the lowest forms of entertainment. So you’ve got the two of them together. The highest and the lowest. And we thought we could have fun with this, with the visual aspect of the gnomes and the great story.”

Elton and David, 48, welcomed their first child together on Christmas day in California – a son named Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John via an unnamed surrogate mother.

The 63-year-old musician says fatherhood has made him realise more than ever the importance of tolerance and love. He hopes his new movie will encourage people to be more accepting of others and he has vowed to raise his son to be respectful and loving.

“We can all have different views on everything, but we must have dialogue. As a new father, I have to pass it onto my child that you respect people’s views, respect people’s opinions, and don’t be hateful towards them,” he explained. “You can disagree to disagree but have respect. There is so much hate in the world. And I always believe love conquers hate. Always. At the end of the day we have to take stock of what we’re doing in our lives and be a little nicer to one another.”