Cartoon Saloon’s Irish Folklore Trilogy

Description

Tomm Moore co-writes and co-directs this trilogy of animated adventures based on stories from Irish folklore. In ‘The Secret of the Kells’ (2009), young orphan Brendan (voice of Evan McGuire) is the nephew of the strict and over-protective Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson). The Abbot is obsessed with building a wall to protect the township of Kells from the marauding Vikings. When Brendan meets Brother Aidan (Mick Lally), a monk from the island of Iona, he is fascinated by an unfinished book that Aidan has rescued from the Vikings, who have already destroyed the Iona monastery. To the displeasure of his uncle, Brendan shows great talent in drawing and enlists the help of magical forest sprite Aisling (Christen Mooney) to help him finish the book and become a master illuminator. In ‘Song of the Sea’ (2014), when a woman mysteriously disappears she leaves behind her husband Conor (Gleeson), son Ben (David Rawle) and newborn daughter Saoirse (Lucy O’Connell). Blaming her for the loss of their mother, Ben becomes resentful towards his little sister and doesn’t treat her too kindly, but after it is discovered that Saoirse is actually a selkie, the siblings must team up and go on a journey, along with their sheepdog Cú, to help a group of mythical creatures return to their home. Finally, in ‘Wolfwalkers’ (2020), set in 17th century Kilkenny, while hunting in the woods surrounding her walled city, young apprentice Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey) discovers a young wolfwalker named Mebh (Eva Whittaker), who has the power to transform into a wolf when she sleeps. As they try to rescue Mebh’s captive mother, Moll (Maria Doyle Kennedy), Robyn discovers she too has gained the magical powers of a wolfwalker and attempts to protect the endangered wolf pack from her own father, Bill (Sean Bean), who seeks to destroy them.