ALL ABOUT WOLFWALKERS

After THE SECRET OF KELLS, SONG OF THE SEA, and THE BREADWINNER, Irish animation producer Cartoon Studio has now outdone itself with WOLFWALKERS. With their best film to date, they definitely put their name among the absolute masters of contemporary animation.

Film screening during the 61st ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL:

FRI | 10.09 | 16:00 | GOLDEN APPLE CINEMA, projection hall 3

MON | 13.09 | 15:00 | GOLDEN APPLE CINEMA, projection hall 1

Details of the projection can be found here.

Irish folk culture seems to have found two outstanding ambassadors with directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, as this lyrical adventure is once again deeply rooted in Irish folktales. WOLFWALKERS is set in 1650 against the backdrop of the brutal colonisation of Ireland. The English occupiers send a hunter to the remote outpost of Kilkenny, a town that is expanding at the expense of the surrounding forests. The hunter and his daughter Robyn, delegates of a hostile regime, must hunt and kill the last pack of wolves. In the forest, Robyn discovers the truth behind the local legend of the so-called “wolfwalkers”. She meets Mebh, a girl who transforms into a wolf by night. Her friendship with Mebh puts Robyn's relationship with her father to the test, as she risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.

Wolf-warriors

Kilkenny (which is also home to Cartoon Saloon) is fertile ground for folk tales from an era of mystery and magic. Wolves were once so massively present in Ireland that a dog was bred especially to hunt them, the Irish Wolfhound. The most famous Irish tribe of wolfwalkers came from Kilkenny: the man-wolves of Ossory, descendants of the legendary Laignech Faelad, had the gift of turning themselves into wolves. While roaming the land in the shape of a wolf, their human body was left behind as if it were dead. It was not to be moved or the man-wolf would forever have to wander around. In their animal shape man-wolves were as bloodthirsty as real wolves.

Such legends find their origin in Irish warriors who liked to be compared to wolves and wore wolf coats and skins during their raids. Hordes of young freebooters took refuge in the wilderness, rural people imagined they lived like wolf warriors, hunting down both humans and animals. The comparison with the wolf concerned their ferocious cruelty and their vigour in sex and battle. That their place in this film is taken by two brave girls is significant.

“We were inspired by legends from our region,” says director Tomm Moore. "As a teenager I heard the stories about the man-wolves of Ossory. We took over some of that mythology and gave it our own artistic interpretation.” Co-director Ross Stewart: "We found numerous stories portraying wolves as wise characters. Those who treated them fairly could count on their help."

Ireland vs England

The villain in this story is English statesman Oliver Cromwell, here addressed as Lord Protector. It is no coincidence that the coloniser is held responsible for the extermination of the wolves, symbolising the tension between the Irish nature religion and the Christian occupation forces. According to these Puritans, nature is a wild force that must be tamed and moulded to God's will. Pagan traditions should be destroyed to establish a regime based on fear and deception, controlling not only politics but also people's thinking. Wolfwalkers don't fit that picture – wild and unrestrained they obey the laws of nature rather than God.

All things untamed cause fear, not only wolves, but also two wild, free-spirited girls. Mebh's ginger locks reveal her true nature, while the scenes in which Robyn faces her father, her hair waving in the wind, or when riding into the city on the back of a wolf, recall Studio Ghibli's PRINCESS MONONOKE’s heroic aesthetics. To the tones of Running with Wolves by Norwegian singer Aurora, the girls fully enjoy their freedom. Only adults can put their sisterly bond under pressure.

Man vs nature

WOLFWALKERS is essentially an eco-fable about the conflict between people who want to dominate nature and those who live in harmony with it. That conflict is reflected in strong visual contrasts. The city looks angular, a truncated decor in which buildings are placed one upon the other by the use of straight lines. The townspeople look square and robust. But outside the city walls, the forest sparkles with life, with lush greenery only interrupted by the orange of oak trees.

Tomm Moore: “We created the urban world by the use of artwork from those days. Wood cuts have a sharply defined geometry with solid colour underneath.” The forest, on the other hand, was sketched in pencil with loose lines and round shapes, and then coloured with organic watercolour shades. "With this hand drawn Celtic graphic we offer our audience an element of timelessness."

Wolf vision

Perhaps the most spectacular scenes are when the girls transform into wolves in a halo of pure energy. Not only do we look through their (wolf) eyes, but we even experience their sense of hearing and smell. Ross Stewart: “The action was developed in a VR environment. Those 3D models served as a reference, after which everything was then animated again with pencil and charcoal on paper. The final result is therefore handmade, but based on computer technology. That wolf vision is a real rollercoaster ride.”

Tomm Moore: “We can mine Irish legends over and over again; these timeless stories can be retold by each generation, adapted to the new needs. Like a relay race, passing a baton from the past into the present and onwards into the future." 

Thanks to our Belgian co-worker Gert Hermans for the interview.