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Apple Aquires Rights to Cartoon Saloon Film "Wolfwalkers" (Dir. Song of the Sea)

Xe4

Xe4

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,295
Being a huge fan of Tomm Moore and Cartoon Saloon, this definitely grabbed my interest when I saw it:
Apple snapped up the rights to two-time Oscar-nominee Tomm Moore's animated film Wolfwalkers, from Cartoon Saloon and Melusine Productions. The film, which Moore co-directs with Ross Stewart (Song of the Sea), is written by Will Collins (Song of the Sea) and produced by Nora Twomey, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants.

In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn, comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when Robyn saves a wild native girl, Mebh, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
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https://deadline.com/2018/09/apple-...ronto-international-film-festival-1202460419/

I'm a bit conflicted on this. On one had I'm glad someone with deep pockets is funding Cartoon Saloon and their amazing work. On the other hand, since this is undoubtedly going on Apple's streaming service, I worry about what this means for theatrical and home video release. Hopefully Apple teams up with a third company like Shout!, GKids, or Universal for a theatrical run/home video release, or they just do it themselves.

Either way here's some cool art and a concept trailer for the film:

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wolfwalkers_trailer_c.jpg


Thoughts?
 
Moon Moon

Moon Moon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
115
Anything from Tomm Moore/ Cartoon Saloon needs to be greenlit immediately, even if it's Apple. I'll find a way to watch it. Been wondering what happened to this project.
 
koolaroo

koolaroo

Member
Dec 27, 2017
292
Man feel like this has been in development for quite a long time now. Will it be purchasable outside of Apple TV?
 
Herne

Herne

Member
Dec 10, 2017
5,312
Ick, don't like to see Apple's fingers on this. Whatever gets it out, I guess.
 
Jeremy

Jeremy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,639
The Toronto Film Festival is screening this digitally on this Saturday, fwiw.

Unlike most of the stuff they are showing it's not even geolocked to Canada.
 
UberTag

UberTag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,338
Kitchener, ON
Well, I'm happy to pass along that this film was an absolute delight. Gets off to a bit of a slow start to establish the world and the characters but the narrative comes around strong at the 30-minute mark and it's a captivating ride from there. The visuals and music are a tour de force all the way through.

Not sure this is my fave animated wolf movie - Wolf Children set a rather high bar - but this is easily an essential watch for any enthusiast of animation especially if Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells were up your alley. This should easily match their strong Metacritic performance and I actually think the Apple TV+ acquisition might well serve to get more eyes on it than it would have typically received from an art house run (although I have no doubt this would be a looker on the big screen).
 
Herne

Herne

Member
Dec 10, 2017
5,312
Everyone mentioning Song of the Sea should give The Secret of Kells a go. It was their first feature film and although telling a very different story, has much of the same tone. The Breadwinner is a departure from both but is absolutely worth the watch as well.

UberTag said:
Well, I'm happy to pass along that this film was an absolute delight. Gets off to a bit of a slow start to establish the world and the characters but the narrative comes around strong at the 30-minute mark and it's a captivating ride from there. The visuals and music are a tour de force all the way through.

Not sure this is my fave animated wolf movie - Wolf Children set a rather high bar - but this is easily an essential watch for any enthusiast of animation especially if Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells were up your alley. This should easily match their strong Metacritic performance and I actually think the Apple TV+ acquisition might well serve to get more eyes on it than it would have typically received from an art house run (although I have no doubt this would be a looker on the big screen).
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How did you get to see it so early? It's not out for another month and a half.
 
UberTag

UberTag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,338
Kitchener, ON
Just a heads up that the early reviews for Wolfwalkers are exceptionally promising... even compared with past Tomm Moore / Ross Stewart collaborations.

27haMJg.png


Not that I'm in any way surprised after screening it for myself this past weekend.
 
Feign

Feign

Member
Aug 11, 2020
2,499
<-- Coast
I had no idea this film was coming out so soon so I'm happy for the thread bump.

Herne said:
Everyone mentioning Song of the Sea should give The Secret of Kells a go. It was their first feature film and although telling a very different story, has much of the same tone. The Breadwinner is a departure from both but is absolutely worth the watch as well.



How did you get to see it so early? It's not out for another month and a half.
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I was lucky enough to catch The Breadwinner in theater and I second the rec. Cartoon Saloon has yet to disappoint.
 
Herne

Herne

Member
Dec 10, 2017
5,312
I honestly don't know what I'm looking forward to more - the film, the animation, or yet another collaboration between Bruno Coulais and Kíla. The soundtracks to Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea are some of my all-time favourites.

Just another month and a half to go...
 
UberTag

UberTag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,338
Kitchener, ON
Watched The Secret of Kells for the first time earlier tonight and the big thing that jumped out at me between this earlier film from over a decade ago and Wolfwalkers is how Moore has refined his storytelling approach to be more resonant without sacrificing any of the cultural richness or the artistic flair at the core of his films. Whereas Kells comes off as a highly accomplished art house flick, Wolfwalkers feels like it's tapping into the same kind of universal appeal that one only finds outside of the Disney juggernaut in Studio Ghibli fare.

And all of these movies (I'll be catching Song of the Sea next week) are simply unlike anything else out there on a visual level. Stewart's art direction evokes the sense of paintings being brought to life. This is especially true with how the wolf pack is animated... flowing across the Irish landscape in flows and swirls as if they were liquid... an animation technique that is consciously changed in subtle ways to resonate with the tension or level of action in key set pieces. It's really quite breathtaking.

The other quality that stands out between both movies is how they foster engagement with the audience through their central protagonist. We discover these worlds almost exclusively through a single character... be it Brendan in Kells or Robyn in Wolfwalkers. We understand immediately what drives these characters. What their motivations are. What obstacles they're trying to overcome. And we understand these things immediately because we're not being distracted with wacky sidekicks or long-winded lore dumps or things that are ultimately inessential to that protagonist and their core experience.

Herne said:
I honestly don't know what I'm looking forward to more - the film, the animation, or yet another collaboration between Bruno Coulais and Kíla. The soundtracks to Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea are some of my all-time favourites.

Just another month and a half to go...
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Kila isn't the only band to get some time in the limelight here. There's a musical number at the midway point of the film courtesy of British electronica group, Aurora, that's been stuck in my head for the past several days. I'll link the track's music video behind a spoiler tag for those of you wish to scope it out.

 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
31,997
Somehow have missed this until now but it looks like a delight, will definitely be bookmarking it for release.
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,687
Darn, was hoping it was sooner than that. Most people's free year of ATV+ will have expired by then.
 
KillstealWolf

KillstealWolf

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,064
You can also book an online ticket for a screening of Wolfwalkers for the London Film Festival at 6:30pm BST this Saturday.

www.bfi.org.uk

Wolfwalkers

The filmmakers behind the award-winning The Song of the Sea and The Breadwinner deliver another beautifully realised animated drama.
www.bfi.org.uk
 
UberTag

UberTag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,338
Kitchener, ON
Looking forward to hearing impressions from those of you who get to experience Wolfwalkers for the first time tomorrow...

kxMfMS0.gif


 
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KillstealWolf

KillstealWolf

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,064
London Film Festival airing starts in 5 minutes, you have a 30 minute window to start watching after that.


www.bfi.org.uk

Wolfwalkers

The filmmakers behind the award-winning The Song of the Sea and The Breadwinner deliver another beautifully realised animated drama.
www.bfi.org.uk

edit: starting now!
 
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Sign My Guestbook!

Sign My Guestbook!

Member
May 26, 2018
23,998
KillstealWolf said:
London Film Festival airing starts in 5 minutes, you have a 30 minute window to start watching after that.


www.bfi.org.uk

Wolfwalkers

The filmmakers behind the award-winning The Song of the Sea and The Breadwinner deliver another beautifully realised animated drama.
www.bfi.org.uk

edit: starting now!
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how do I watch this?

edit: I've signed up for an account but I can't figure out how to watch! Trying to book a ticket leads to me a site telling me films are available but shows nothing, with no links to any films or anything! help! :(
 
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Sasliquid

Sasliquid

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,294
It was good, top 3 of the year so far for me (although it hasn't been a great year)

edit; also for some reason I now want an Assassins Creed in 17th Century Ireland
 
KillstealWolf

KillstealWolf

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,064
Sign My Guestbook! said:
how do I watch this?

edit: I've signed up for an account but I can't figure out how to watch! Trying to book a ticket leads to me a site telling me films are available but shows nothing, with no links to any films or anything! help! :(
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Sorry I wasn't able to respond, I had started watching the film at the time you posted, there was a big booking page of films and you could buy a ticket to Wolfwalkers, I don't know if it was still listed on the Booking Page at that point though? I posted that with 5 minutes to go, so they might have delisted it when it his half past the hour, if you were able to watch, that's great, if you missed out, don't worry, you don't have to wait too long for it's Apple TV Release.

And I fully recommend you do check this out. This is probably my favourite film of the lot from Cartoon Saloon. I know I am a huge mark for this type of content (Wolves, duh) but even if this was about say... Frogs instead, I'd still probably put this as my favourite of the lot. Visually the film is gorgeous (Espicially the one sequence with the Aurora song in it. Not going to say too much since this ain't a spoiler thread.) The use of colour is grand to set the contrast between The Town the Forest. I love how they use Comic Book cutouts and Sketch Lines during the film. All the characters are great (Having a hard time deciding if Robyn or Maev is my favourite) and the soundtrack is sublime as well.

Shame the lockdown is preventing me watching it on a big screen, I guess my slightly less big TV and Speaker will have to suffice. Maybe when the lockdown is over my local arthouse cinema may do a catchup on this? We shall see. I have to keep my eye out for artbooks of this if nothing else. Give this one a watch when you can. Very strongly recommended. May end up my favourite film of the year if a second watch holds up well. And it would have ranked very well compared to last years films as well. Probably would have been my favourite 2019 animated feature had it came out last year.
 
UberTag

UberTag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,338
Kitchener, ON
For those of you with COVID-19 being kept somewhat in check, Wolfwalkers will also be receiving a limited theatrical release beginning November 13th in advance of its Apple+ rollout the following month.

We also have an official title poster for the film...

MV5BNTA4MWQ4NGUtOGQ0MS00M2QyLWE5MDItZWM2YzA0ZDgxZTA2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjY1MTg4Mzc@._V1_.jpg
 
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HotHamBoy

HotHamBoy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,423
They're charging $17 for this at both of AMCs near me. Normal ticket price is $11.29/$13.49. That's quite a premium upcharge.

Pre-pandemic, the AMC down here was charging $10.79 for normal tickets and $12.50 for these Fathom/G-Kids type screenings.

$17 is a hard sell in Indiana, man. Especially because the theaters here severely under-project.
 

Deleted member 14518

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,731
The founders of this place did there Animation degrees around the corner from where I live. I've been meaning to check out their stuff for a long time.

Best place to get it? Netflix?
 
Cosmonaut X

Cosmonaut X

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,947
Vagabundo said:
The founders of this place did there Animation degrees around the corner from where I live. I've been meaning to check out their stuff for a long time.

Best place to get it? Netflix?
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The Secret of Kells - Amazon Prime, rent HD for £3.49
The Breadwinner - Netflix UK
Song of the Sea - Amazon Prime, included with Prime

I think that's the easiest way to watch everything bar Wolfwalkers at the moment, if you're based in the UK. Song of the Sea is the best of the three - just a fantastic film - but all worth watching.
 
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