Directors: Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart
Release date: October 30, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★ ♕
Review:
When these films were released, I doubt that many people were aware of that, but Irish studio Cartoon Saloon’s ‘The Secret of Kells’ (2009) and ‘Song of the Sea’ (2014) were part of an Irish folklore trilogy, which was rounded up in 2020 by ‘Wolfwalkers’.
All three films are indeed deeply rooted in Irish culture, and could not have been made elsewhere, but certainly ‘Song of the Sea’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ also feature universal stories, ‘Song of the Sea’ one of loss and grief, ‘Wolfwalkers’ one of repression.
The idea of ‘Wolfwalkers’ is rooted in the fact that Ireland once used to be a forested country, with wolves roaming around. According to Wikipedia the last wolf in Ireland was killed in 1786, thus the species has long since been extinct on the island. The film goes further back, though, to the town of Kilkenny in 1649-1650, during Oliver Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland (who, without doubt, is the Lord Protector of the film, even though the film makers turn him into a fictional character, resulting in an alternate history ending).
In this town we follow English hunter Goodfellowe, who is deployed by the Lord Protector to hunt down the wolves of the forests surrounding the town, and his feisty daughter, Robyn, who befriends an even livelier mysterious forest girl called Mebh. In an interview on the Kaboom! Animation Festival director Tomm Moore told us they first thought of Robyn as a boy, but a girl fitted better, as she would feel the repressive times even more than a boy would do. And indeed, the film is not necessarily about repression of the Irish, but about repression in general, not in the least of women, with Robyn being forced into a gender role very unsuitable for her (or any other woman of the era, for that matter). It’s painful to see that Robyn’s own father ties the knots to in order to protect her (this story arc is reminiscent of ‘Finding Nemo’ – both films star over-protected fathers stifling their children). This makes ‘Wolfwalkers’ one of at least two great feminist animation films of 2020, the other one being ‘Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary’ from France.
Apart from repression the film discusses deep topics like man vs. nature, Christianity vs. paganism, certainty vs. softness, man vs. woman, and single truth fanatism vs. a multi-voiced and more ambivalent reality, all packed in a perfectly told and family friendly adventure fantasy film. ‘Wolfwalkers’ is also vaguely reminiscent of Ghibli’s ‘Princess Mononoke’ from 1997: both films show the problems of man’s handling of nature, without regressing to a mere good and evil. Indeed, the Lord Protector as depicted, is less cruel than I presume the real Oliver Cromwell would have been (no one gets killed in the movie, for example), and his motivations are clearly explained. The film makes clear that the Lord Protector is not necessarily evil, but a fanatic, who is certain that he is on the right path.
As with the previous two Irish folklore films ‘Wolfwalkers’ is an absolutely delight to look at. The film uses very stylized designs and strong color arrangements, both in characters and in the background art. The rigid straightforwardness of the Lord Protector and the city is translated by the straight horizontals and verticals depicting the town, and even of many of its inhabitants. The film makers even show the town as a straight grid when seen in the distance, showing the town with a daringly complete lack of perspective. The grid-like is greatly contrasted by the curves of the forest, which symbolize freedom from the societal straitjackets of the city. The film becomes even more free, when showing the raw animation drawings of running wolves, with the digital pencil lines themselves becoming free from restriction. In this respect, this film is even more beautiful than the two earlier pictures – in fact every frame is a beauty, making this film one of the most beautiful animation films ever made.
The animation is of a high standard anyway: despite all the flat designs there’s a lot of perspective animation and there are even quite a lot of moving backgrounds, especially during the scent and running scenes. The character animation is subtle and often understated. For example, the character difference between Robyn and Mebh is shown by the different movements of the two characters, while Goodfellowe becomes less mobile when the repression ties him further and further.
In all, ‘Wolfwalkers’ is easily the best animation film of 2020, even outcompeting the strong Pixar film ‘Soul’, and must be ranked among the best animation films of all time. Strongly recommended.
Watch the trailer for ‘Wolfwalkers’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Wolfwalkers’ is available on the Blu-Ray or DVD set ‘Cartoon Saloon’s Irish Folklore Trilogy’
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 