My Chemical Romance and Lauren Tsai's "Prelude to The End": Who Made the Short Film
What's out
My Chemical Romance and visual artist Lauren Tsai released "Prelude to The End," an animated short film, on Thursday, October 29, 2026. It's on the band's YouTube channel and runs 7:42. Billboard describes it as a "stop-motion and hand-drawn animated film."
Per the release, the film merges the world of Tsai's project The Dying World with the first song on The Black Parade, "The End." It arrives alongside The Black Parade (20th Anniversary), the band's reissue of the 2006 album.
My Chemical Romance & Lauren Tsai: "Prelude to The End" (An Animated Short Film)
Who made it
The YouTube description reads "Directed by Lauren Tsai" and "An UNREAL INC. Production." The release identifies UNREAL INC. as Tsai's independent studio. Tsai also voices the lead, Astrid.
The voice cast, per the release: Billie Eilish as Astrid's friend, Phoebe Bridgers as Astrid's sister, Hideo Kojima as The Teacher and John C. McGinley as The Dean.
The release also credits a second piece of music. It says the film "features a live recording of Flying River, Violin Concerto by Pascal Dusapin, performed by Utopia Orchestra at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, conducted by Giuseppe Mengoli, with solo violin by Daniel Lozakovich."
Behind the boards on "The End."
Apple Music's credits for the song the film is built around list Rob Cavallo and all five band members as producers: Gerard Way, Raymond Toro, Frank Iero, Michael James Way and Bob Bryar. Chris Lord-Alge mixed it and Ted Jensen mastered it. Cavallo also plays piano on the track, and Jamie Muhoberac is credited on synthesizer, Hammond organ and Wurlitzer piano.
The story
Per the release, the film follows Astrid "as she navigates life at an uncanny boarding school in New England that has been overtaken by trash." Billboard calls it a sequel of sorts to The Dying World Part One: Forgetting, which premiered at the Annecy film festival in June 2025.
Tsai's tie to the band goes back to childhood. The release says "she used to create animated fan videos for the band's songs as a child." Her recent directing credits include "Cool About It" for boygenius.
"It was an absolute dream to work on this project for The Black Parade and The Dying World," Tsai said in the release. "I deeply respect MCR and Gerard's creative legacy. It has been an honor for him to find inspiration in a world that I've created, in the same way I have always admired the worlds that he has built throughout his career."
Where the band is
The release said the film would screen ahead of the band's October 30 and 31 shows, the last two of its five nights at the Hollywood Bowl, as Billboard reported. Per Consequence, the tour moves on to Asia. For another big rock tour, see U2's 2027 stadium dates, and there's more on our rock page.
My read
A band handing its opening track to a director who grew up making fan videos of its songs is a strong credits story on its own. Tsai directs, voices the lead and owns the studio that made it.
Dani Reyes, Behind the Boards. Credits check: Rob Cavallo and My Chemical Romance on "The End."