The only animated feature of the festival for me - Pixar’s newest offering Soul is also premiering but only in cinema screenings so, as I’m online only this year, I’ll be waiting for that one to show up on streaming services.
Wolfwalkers
Dir. Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart / Dur. 100 mins
Strand:- Family
In A Nutshell:- In 17th century Kilkenny under the watchful eye of Oliver Cromwell, a young huntress befriends a wild girl rumoured to be part of a tribe of the legendary wolfwalkers.
The Good:- From Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon who produced The Secret Of Kells and Song Of The Sea (of which I’ve seen) and The Breadwinner (which I have) comes this tale mixing fantasy and historical fact (in sometimes surprising ways). The animation itself is gorgeous - the sort of stylised 2D animation favoured by someone like Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory, Hotel Transylvania) which is very appealing. In some instances, there are lingering traces of the sort of linework you see in initial rough animatics and it lends a very distinctive style to the whole thing. In many ways, it resembles a Disney style film - no bad thing in terms of drawing in a younger audience more used to that sort of film making. The young cast are lively and ably assisted by the likes of Sean Bean and Tommy Tiernan (providing some nice comic relief). There’s also some nice stylistic touches in the visual representations of how wolves and wolfwalkers see the world and experience smells and sounds that give another layer to the appealing visuals.
The Bad:- The story itself is not overly surprising, narratively speaking. In terms of kids, nothing we haven’t seen many times before - hunters ruthlessly pursuing nature, nature being given the room to live and fight back. It’s a valid message, of course, but it’s one that we’ve seen time and time again in many an animated film. It’s also a fairly conventional storyline with very little in the way of surprises.
The Verdict:- Animation-wise, it’s a triumph. The style is crisp and appealing with some enjoyable stylistic touches that elevate it above the norm. It’s let down a little by some less than surprising storytelling but that’s not enough to detract from what is an enjoyable animated film.
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