2009 saw the release of big-budget animated films like Monsters vs Aliens, Up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Coraline, in which the Hollywood studios spent millions of dollars because they know parents taking the kiddies to watch these films in the summer would ensure a return of their investment many times over –Pixar’s Up for example earned a total lifetime gross of almost three quarters of a billion dollars worldwide.
Yet in that year, with only a small fraction of what the major studios spent, the fairly obscure Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon released the movie The Secret of Kells, directed by (then) 32-year-old Tomm Moore, which turned to be a revelation on several grounds: Firstly because in an era dominated by CGI and impressive visual effects, the decidedly ‘flat’ style and gorgeous designs of Kells –inspired by the movie The Thief and the Cobbler— showed you CAN captivate an audience without 3-d animation and expensive gimmicks. Secondly, because Moore’s choice to base his 1st major motion picture in an important piece of Ireland’s heirloom–the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the early Medieval period– instead of a more ‘profitable’ idea like a popular novel, a toy, or the remake of a remake, proved there’s plenty of untapped potential to tell a compelling story in ancient folklore.
Alas, The Secret of Kells was not a financial success –perhaps because it was only released one week in the US– but it gained a lot of critical acclaim and was even nominated for an Academy award in 2010.
Now Tomm Moore’s newest film Song of the Sea is about to be released in North America. Judging by the trailer below, it looks like once again there’ll be plenty of magic, ancient sites and supernatural creatures inspired by the old Irish legends of Fey folk and selkies:
Song of the Sea opens on December 19 in New York city and Toronto, followed by an expansion to Los Angeles and other U.S. and Canadian cities throughout the holidays. Here’s hoping it has a better success than its predecessor, so I can get to see it in a proper movie theater instead of the screen of my laptop. And also because 5 years is too long a wait to be illuminated by Moore’s talent.
[H/T Cartoon Brew]
